Gold-lined Flower Wasp
Dorsal
Ellura
Gold-lined Flower Wasp
Face
 
                      
Gold-lined Flower Wasp (Aeolothynnus cf sp ES05)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Family: Flower Wasp (Wasp: Thynnidae: Thynninae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Gold-lined Flower Wasp (Aeolothynnus cf sp ES05)
This Photo:     Profile

Thank you Dr Graham Brown for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~10mm long, with bluish/grey pale blotches on the abdomen. We couldn't get a clear view of the top side, but ventrally these blotches are like ellipses with off centre hole in the middle.
We think this is a male, as in some shots it looks like an ovi-positor but in one shot you can see 3 clear appendages. We've seen similar in other males.
The facial markings are quite unusual in that they graduate from orangy brown on top to bluish white/grey at the bottom.
The clearest wing venation we were able to get was in the ventral shot.

Copyright © 2019-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 23-Nov-2019
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.