possible Ichneumon identity help

Misanthrope · #1 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 03:39 PM

I thought at first that this was Ichneumon suspiciosus but the middle and rear pairs of legs seem to be completely black and I'm not too happy with the white spot at the tip of the abdomen. I'm assuming that there are similar species not shown in my books. Can anyone put a name to this one please.

Dogghound · #2 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 08:05 PM

Its an ichneumon from the Ichneumoninae sub-family, unfortunately there are alot of very similar species to this. So wouldnt like to say exactly.

Misanthrope · #3 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 09:10 PM

Thanks for that, Dogghound.
The small print always tells you that there are similar species without going into any detail, and the specialised books are far too expensive even if they are available!
I soon abandoned the idea it was suspiciosus because the illustrations I could find showed pale yellow on the body rather than white, and a smaller spot on the end of the abdomen.

hedgerow · #4 (**permalink**) 06-09-2008, 07:07 AM

Try among the Ambeletes genus some like A. suspiciosus have yellow spots but other have white ones as well

dmclean2 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-09-2008, 06:32 PM

Hi there,
I was checking up on an Ichneuman for myself and came accross this one which I think may the one you took a photo of, I saw your thread a couple of days ago and remembered the white spots, Try a google on -
Vulgichneumon bimaculatus

popgen.unimaas.nl/~jlindsey/.../SuBees/Vulgichneumon.bimaculatus.html

Cheers,
Duncan