News: Rare braconid found...

Jason Green · #1 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 09:41 PM

Hi all,

I saw this in the paper on the way to (o early!) work this morning. These wasps are very rarely, if indeed ever, in the papers and so was good to see. I found a good article of it online for you.

Rare wasp found in Sutton Park

I think it may be more of a case of being under-recorded than it being genuinely rare. You?

Still nice to see though!

Take care,

Jason

ChrisR · #2 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 09:51 PM

Definitely under recorded, I'd say. But then again a lot of species genuinely seem to exist in very low population densities and very scattered distributions. In the tachinid recording scheme we have lots of examples of things being only recorded in a few localities ... then 40 years later another record crops up in the same place or within 10 miles of the original record. The species is vulnerable but isn't declining - it just isn't spreading either!

Recently I had a chance to correct a mistake in the British tachinid list from a specimen taken in Kent this year. The last documented records were 1955-1956 from a wood a few miles from this new record. Turned out that the original specimens had been misidentified and were a new species for the UK - but hardly 'new' - just a correction of a very local species.

Oh, and a chap has already posted a photo of a Pimpla-type wasp on iSpot asking if it is this rare braconid

I had to disappoint him

Jason Green · #3 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisR

Oh, and a chap has already posted a photo of a Pimpla-type wasp on iSpot asking if it is this rare braconid

I had to disappoint him

It'll start a craze! I'm already planning to go through my 20+, similar wasp images to look for matches

Oh, and heartbreaker

ChrisR · #4 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 10:05 PM

I actually hope that exhibits like the new Darwin Center educate people into understanding some of the complexity behind the science of entomology. When you say you identify wasps I get the feeling that most people can only think of 1 or 2 wasps so they think it must be an easy job ... but butterflies, now that's a different thing entirely ... there's got to be at least 10 species of those!

JRsbugs · #5 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 10:12 PM

Hmmm, I have a few wasps with very fat reddish legs too!

Here's a better pic, I googled and got very few results, 3 in fact! That is worldwide google, I wonder if the spelling is correct...

Helconidea rustator and Strangalia quadrifasciata in Sutton Park

ChrisR · #6 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 10:17 PM

Nice story and pics - but really ... no records for braconids in the park?! The park must be stiff with braconids but nobody has done a survey because they are a really tricky group to identify. Strangalia quadrifasciata is not a rare beetle either so it is very likely to be much more widespread than records suggest.

Acutipuerilis · #7 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 10:25 PM

I like that the NHM has one recent specimen, too. I'm betting that's at least one more recent one than they have of most braconids...

ChrisR · #8 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acutipuerilis

I like that the NHM has one recent specimen, too. I'm betting that's at least one more recent one than they have of most braconids...

Ahh, Gavin Broad & David Notton are at the NHM now and they seem to have a fairly active Hymenoptera section so the situation might not be so bleak.

The main problem is that most curators don't have time to do research and end up just looking after the collections and doing paperwork.

The NHM are actually asking round for people to donate specimens to fill gaps in their collection. The problem is that people think that they have everything so they don't bother donating specimens - especially British stuff. They are trying to create a complete British collection for the new Angela Marmont Center for UK Biodiversity. It's an ambitious project but having examples of everything in a place that will be easy for entomologists to access is a great step forward

JRsbugs · #9 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 10:42 PM

A search for just Heliconidea brought up more results, the spelling on that site is incorrect, it should be 'ruspator'.

Helconidea ruspator

Acutipuerilis · #10 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 10:44 PM

Tell me about it, Chris - I'm a curator too, and worked at the NHM for a couple of years (albeit not in curation). Glad to hear the wee beasties are getting some attention down there, at least, even if there's the perennial backlog to contend with.

Interesting about getting a complete biodiversity collection for the UK - as you say, and ambitious idea, but that would indeed be tremendous if it could be done. They need to publish a list of what's missing online - as you say, I'd assume that even among the Auchenorrhyncha and psyllids, they'd have most things already. It would be interesting to know how incomplete it currently is....