Unverified
Can you identify this sighting?
Identify this sighting
| Ichneumonoidea (Superfamily) | DiBickers | 1 Jul 2025 | |
| Unverified | kasiaaus | 8 Jun 2025 |
Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.
3 comments
9 Jun 2025
@kasiaaus if these spiders were found near a broken mud nest it’s likely the grub is a wasp larva. If you found it out in the open with no nest nearby it’s likely this is a fly larva. An example that target spiders are the small-headed flies (Family Acroceridae). Unfortunately, I’ve never seen them ID’d in these instances & the only way to ensure identification is truly accurate would be to raise it and see what hatches after the larva pupates.
9 Jun 2025
Thank you @DiBickers. I did not see any mud nest nearby so it is probably a fly larva. The spider with the parasite was on a gum tree trunk about 1.5m off the ground.
1 Jul 2025
@kasiaaus ruling out the mud-nesting spider wasps & potter wasps, it’s also possible this could be the larva of one of the parasitoid wasps like the Ichneumon/Braconid Wasps. Apparently their larvae can feed openly on the host like this but I’m still not sure how we can go about verifying the ID without raising the larva☹️
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- kasiaaus Recorded by
- A Cryptachaea veruculata spider Associated animal
- Less than 5mm Animal size
Collections
- kasiaaus NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Parasitic wasps (numerous families) Wasps (Hymenoptera, Apocrita) Insects
Record quality
Quality score
4 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- GPS evidence of location
- Additional attributes
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- Description