Netelia inedita (Netelia inedita)

Netelia inedita Strictly speaking this species ID is a "probable", but since that ID was provided by one of the foremost experts on the subject in the UK, it's a lot more confident than had it been me offering that "probable" ID.

Netelia are a sub-species of Ichneumon, a parasitoid of Geometrid larvae, particularly the genus Xanthorhoe.

At first (and second) glance they are very similar to Ophion wasps, which is what I first identified this specimen to be, but under the microscope, there are numerous differences.

Like the distantly related Ophioninae and some other groups of orange Ichneumonidae and Braconidae, Netelia are largely nocturnal.

All Netelia are koinobiont ectoparasitoids, which means their hosts continue to grow and develop even after they have been parasited. Once the host larva host has prepared a pupation site, the parasitoid rapidly consumes it and spins its own black cocoon. Netelia inedita

Appearance

A rather small species of Netelia, a parasitoid of geometrid larvae, particularly Xanthorhoe. Males have fairly distinct yellow lines on the mesoscutum.

Naming

Kokujev, 1899

Distribution

Europe - United Kingdom

Behavior

Nocturnal

Reproduction

Parasitic

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://www.ispotnature.org/communities/uk-and-ireland/view/observation/203563/netelia-inedita

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Animalia
Division	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Ichneumonidae
Genus	Netelia
Species	Netelia inedita

Photographed in
United Kingdom