Scelionidae (family)

Scelionid wasp at Melba, ACT

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Identification history

	Scelionidae (family)	29 Aug 2024	MichaelMulvaney
	Unidentified	31 Jul 2024	kasiaaus

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User's notes

They were tiny. About 2mm.

6 comments

kasiaaus wrote:

31 Jul 2024

I think they are tiny wasps. Possibly Family Scelionidae, subfamily Telenominae. I have a couple of them in a test tube in my fridge but I don't dare take them out for a better photo because I worry they will fly away. Any advice?

KimberiRP wrote:

31 Jul 2024

Yes, wasps. Not sure what family without reading up on them and examining them - under a microscope.

kasiaaus wrote:

31 Jul 2024

@KimberiRP Would you be interested in looking at the ones I have collected? Would anyone else be interested?

kasiaaus wrote:

27 Aug 2024

@KimberiRP I have just added 4 photos of one of the frozen wasps that I took at home with my MPE65 lens. It was very hard. The whole house is shaking when you look at something that close ;-)

KimberiRP wrote:

29 Aug 2024

@kasiaaus I think you are right about the family: Scelionidae. I can't suggest a subfamily, might be either Scelioninae or Telenominae; the former has over 500 Australian species and the latter nearly 100, and that's just the ones that are named.
https://tasmanianinsectfieldguide.com/hexapoda/insectsoftasmaniahymenoptera2/superfamily-platygastroidea/scelionidae/

kasiaaus wrote:

29 Aug 2024

Thanks @KimberiRP. Wow!. So many species in that family. Are they all very small like these ones?

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