مشوهات

Chalcidoidea, Mymaridae Non-type FemaleCollected in BelizePhotograph by Natalie Dale-Skey

Chalcidoidea; Mymaridae; MymarinaeNon Type FemaleCollected in St HelenaPhotograph by Natalie Dale-Skey

Chalcidoidea, Mymaridae Paratype female collected in Costa Rica by John NoyesThe original description states that the name "is Russian for a member of the elite cavalry troops in the czarist army in Russia; gusars were also famous for having large moustaches, thus referring to the peculiar long, massive, and hairy antennae in this new species".Photograph by Natalie Dale-Skey

Chalcidoidea, MymaridaeNon-type female collected in the United Kingdom, slide-mounted by Frederick EnockFred Enock (1845-1916) was a gifted microscopist with a passion for Mymaridae, and is thought to have coined the term "fairyflies" for them.Photograph by Harry Taylor

Lateral. Scale bar 1 mm.Paratype 6165:2

Chalcidoidea, Mymaridae, AlaptinaeNon-type FemaleCollected in the United KingdomSeveral Mymaridae taxa are known to parasitise aquatic insects and have been observed swimming under water to reach their hosts' eggs. Individuals of Litus cynipseus were observed by Brocher (1910) emerging from aquatic Hemiptera eggs and walking "under and against [the water surface] as on a ceiling" before using a piece of floating cork to exit the water. Photograph by Natalie Dale-Skey

a 0.4mm long female Litus cynipseus parasitoid wasp of the Mymaridae family found in short grass at the foot of the sandstone outcrop of the West Hill in Hastings. This tiny wasp is an egg parasitoid of aquatic insects, it swims underwater in order to parasitise the eggs using those beautiful wings as flippers. Additional pictures below are viewable larger with a click - note 6 funicle segments and 5 tarsal segments.

Chalcidoidea, Mymaridae, Non-type female (slide-mounted specimen)Collected in South AfricaP. saga is one of the 90 Polynema species described by Arsene Girault. Girault, a controversial figure who often included philosophical and political comments in his privately published papers, also famously described a Polynema-like fictional chalcidoid which he dedicated, as an insult, to J.F. Illingworth, his manager at the time: "Shillingsworthia: Like Polynema but petiole, head, abdomen, mandibles absent. S. shillingsworthii, blank, vacant, inaneness perfect. Nulliebiety remarkable, visible only from certain points of view. Shadowless. An airy species whose flight cannot be followed except by the winged mind. From a naked chasm on Jupiter, August 5th, 1919."Photograph by Natalie Dale-Skey

a 0.5mm long male Anagrus atomus parasitoid wasp of the Mymaridae family found in the same colutea/rose bush in the garden as the female of this species a couple of days ago. Additional pictures below can be viewed larger with a click but show little extra detail because half a millimetre is pushing the capability of my set up! Lowest two pictures show the even tarsal segment length, and glabrous area of forewing toward the lower apex - both points are specific (note that the glabrous area is much more clearly defined in this male than the female a couple of days ago).

a 0.6mm long female Anagrus atomus parasitoid wasp of the Mymaridae family found in the colutea/rose bush in the garden. Additional pictures below can all be viewed larger with a click. Sessile body and 4 tarsal segments = tribe Anagrini. Funicle segments are all roughly equal in length, forewings broaden toward apex = Anagrus. 1st segment of hind tarsi not longer than 2nd, area of forewing toward apex in lower half thinner pubescence than rest of wing, 0.6mm length = Anagrus atomus. An egg parasitoid of leafhoppers.

A beautiful 0.6mm long female Anagrus atomus parasitoid wasp of the Mymaridae family found in rough grass in the garden. Additional pictures below show details that help with identification when compared to a key. Note glabrous patch on lower half of forewing at its widest point.

FemaleUnited KingdomPhotograph by Koorosh McCormack