Chrysididae (family)

1 Cuckoo wasp or Emerald wasp at Parkes, ACT

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Identification history

	Chrysididae (family)	21 Jan 2025	SimoneC
	Chrysididae (family)	20 Jan 2025	TimL

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User's notes

Four Cuckoo wasps were sighted waiting patiently on the side of a scar tree, focussed on one of the holes being actively used as a nest by another wasp. This is the hole at the top centre of the first and second images. Every now and again one of the Cuckoo wasps would check the hole, entering it and quickly backing out to resume the wait. The third and fourth images show two of the waiting Cuckoo wasps. The final image shows one of the wasps trying unsuccessfully to mate with another. It appears that of the four wasps, three might have been female and one an opportunistic male. Whilst the Cuckoo wasps were waiting, a much smaller parasitic wasp turned up and checked out the holes and cracks of the scar tree, as seen in following sighting 4640041.

1 comment

SimoneC wrote:

21 Jan 2025

Great to see both male and female

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Location information

Coordinates 149.138132 -35.299577
Altitude 571.0m
Maps Lake Burley Griffin Central/East
Places Parkes, ACT

Sighting information

4 Abundance
25 Dec 2024 02:20 PM Recorded on
TimL Recorded by
Collections
TimL NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Other wasps Wasps (Hymenoptera, Apocrita) Insects

Additional information

5mm to 12mm Animal size
Mixed Gender
Alive / healthy Animal health

Species information

Chrysididae (family) Scientific name
Cuckoo wasp or Emerald wasp Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 951m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania