Red-legged Antenna-kink Wasp
Size 8mm. This wasp was found exploring our spotted gum wood slats for our new fence. It seemed interested in the saw dust (some of it can be seen in the photos on its head) and crevices between slats. I am pretty confident that it is an Eurytomid wasp. It looks similar to Eurytoma nox. According to a European revision of this group https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262528747_Revision_and_phylogeny_of_the_European_species_of_the_Eurytoma_morio_species_group_Hymenoptera_Eurytomidae_parasitoids_of_bark_and_wood_boring_beetles accessed 1/10/2017) these wasps are parasitic of wood boring beetles. Well, maybe the presence of the wasp advertised that our wood slats show some infestation. The wasp appears black, is longish and seems to move like an ant, its body held close to the ground. It has a relatively large head and lateral eyes. The antennae are kinked forward and downwards. The head looks like it is covered in short silver hair. The thorax is shimmering similar to the head. Its shoulders lead into quite peculiar wings, with two large wings hardly covering the length of the body. On the outside one can clearly see another set of wings, at least on the right hand side of the animal. The abdomen is shiny black, tapering to a point, but not showing a stinger.
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