Wasp(s) for ID please

[loripo]

Are these paper wasps?

[Jason Green]

Evening Lori,

These are Nomada spp., as far as I can see. Not sure which ones, though - when was this taken?

Take care,

Jason

[loripo]

Thanks for reply - One in May this year, the other about 12 mths prior, both in the Park. I'm trying to complete my list with some reasonable ID's
Are they actually bees then?

[Jason Green]

Yes, bees. They are in the Apidae family, and so related to Honeys and Bumbles, but different sub-families.

[loripo]

Thanks Jason - I'm going to have to do a bit more reading up on this!

[ChrisR]

Just as an addition ... there isn't much of a difference between what separates "bees" from "wasps" ... however, if you get both up close you'll notice that a bee's body hairs are branched and a wasp's are straight.

Also, Jason - empty your message box - it's full and I can't reply to you

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by ChrisR

...however, if you get both up close you'll notice that a bee's body hairs are branched and a wasp's are straight.

Ah... now I know what I'm going to have to do on my next day-off with my microscope

Originally Posted by ChrisR

Also, Jason - empty your message box - it's full and I can't reply to you

Will do!

[ChrisR]

Originally Posted by Jason Green

Ah... now I know what I'm going to have to do on my next day-off with my microscope

It's quite fun actually ... Nomada look so much like a "wasp" but when you look at the thorax closely it does have some hairs and they have little branches along their length, showing that it is really a bee Nomada's are just parasitic bees (on Andrena I think) ... in a similar way to cuckoo bees (Bombus (Psithyrus)). There are these parasite/host relationships all through the bee world.

[tristanba]

This is Nomada goodeniana - one of the commonest species and a generalist parasite on a range of mining bees Andrena sp

Cheers
Tristan

[loripo]

So might these be the bees they parasitise? (Found in the same location)

I also had these lined up for ID too