Tenthredo campestris, Heesch, the Netherlands

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comments (11)

Jivko Nakev

Lion

Hm, what about spider wasp? Posted 11 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Not sure. I've been doing some reading on spider wasps. Dutch Wikipedia suggest that they always have 12 or 13 antennae segments (based on gender), whilst this one seems to have less.
  
  That said, superficially they look similar. To make matters worse, there's a whole range of groups of species mimicking spider wasps, creatures that aren't even real wasps. Posted 11 years ago

Jivko Nakev

Lion

It couldn't be more complicated!
There is a FB group (forum):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HymenopteristsForum88/
You may join it and post the photo. They would help with the identification. Posted 11 years ago

Christine Young

Lion

Actually, I think it's a sawfly. It has a thick waist, while wasps have a thin waist. Compare to Tenthredo campestris:
https://www.commanster.eu/Commanster/Insects/Bees/SpBees/Tenthredo.campestris.html
https://www.gbif.org/species/4490508
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/138598994 Posted 2 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Spot on! 9 years younger me is so embarrassing lol. Posted 2 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    Not at all, lol. How were you supposed to know! Rather, in the past 9 years, you have learned so much -- thanks to your hard work and curiosity! Practice makes progress. ;) Posted 2 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      I have to add a story here -- When I was working on my master's degree, I had to identify tons of mosquito larvae for my thesis. My professor came in one day to check my work and only about 10% of my mosquito larvae were actually mosquitoes. They were larvae from other types of flies! I had no idea and had IDed them to species-level as mosquitoes. It was so mortifying, lol. He was like, "Uh, nearly none of these are actually mosquitoes. Start over." Posted 2 years ago, modified 2 years ago
    2. 1. Ferdy Christant
        
        Lion
        
        Brutal, but importantly you didn't take it as an insult, instead improved. Posted 2 years ago
      2. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Oh definitely. My professor was an awesome guy -- so smart, yet super humble and approachable. He wouldn't have ever meant it as an insult and I wouldn't have taken it as one. It was a good lesson, though! Posted 2 years ago
    3. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      Thank you and very much true, you don't tend to notice the gradual progress until you're confronted with the before and after lol. Posted 2 years ago
    4. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        So true! Posted 2 years ago