Ichneumon...but which species??

[theresa dockery]

Hi all!

I photographed this wasp in August: it looks to me like a male Ichneumon sp. Can anyone identify it further?



Thanks in advance!

[Jason Green]

Evening Theresa,

Good question! These are a bit of a nightmare group. I used to try to go to try to go to sub-family level, but having tried going that far with actual specimens under the microscope I realised just how complex they can be.

We have about 2-3,000 species I think. Nice to photograph, but too difficult to identify! Colours aren't really a strong factor of most IDs.

Certainly Ichneumonidae.

Take care,

Jason

[theresa dockery]

I knew it was a long shot - thanks anyway!