Hairy Antenna Micro Wasp
Size 2mm. This wasp is a regular visitor to our flowering plants. They are very inconspicious, can hardly be seen when resting. Observers may think that they are sand flies. Airborne they behave like the tiny bloodsucking flies. It is their hovering that makes them visible and it often surprises how many individuals are around. They seem to forage on their own though. They definitely target nectar, constantly seem to move. Since they are so small and crawl around it is quite a challenge to get good photos. Wind certainly does not help, but even without external disturbances I doubt that many people have good photos of this species in their natural habitat. I leave my first attempts posted for a while. Taxonomically, like with so many species in the macro/micro spectrum chances are not big to ever get an identification. Representative photos are usually not published or are even withheld. The diversity is huge. I would not even dare an identification beyond Hymenoptera. Of course, I'd be interested to hear about better photos of this species, or getting an ID by someone in the knowing. When photographed the seemingly black fly turns into a green shimmering wasp. The antennae are segmented with hairs coming out of the segment joints pointing upwards. They look like the lamellae of some lepidopterans, like a funnel. I assume the hair have more than a sensory function and are probably covered with pollen after a flower visit. The abdomen is tapering into a point but I didn't see an ovipostor. Legs are yellow-orange with black bases. Wings are transparent membranes, covered in tiny hair and the odd vein near its end. Eyes are multifacetted composite, round and big on an otherwise narrow head well separated from its thorax.
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First document of the species and published in gallery with wasps to be identified.
ArthropodaGalleryHairy Antenna Micro WaspHexapodaHymenopteraInsectaPterygotes
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