ichneumonid wasp

Charops annulipes is a small parasitic wasp. Adults are slender and just ¼″ (7 mm) in length.

The head and thorax are black, minutely pitted, and covered with white hairs. The antennae are thread-like and entirely black except for the basal segment (scape), which is pale on the underside.

The abdomen is long and slender, twice as long as the head and thorax together. The first abdominal segment is a long slender petiole connecting the thorax with the rest of the abdomen. The petiole is black at the base and tip, pale in the middle, and knobbed at the end. The second abdominal segment is black above and is a little shorter than the petiole. The third, fourth, and fifth segments are reddish-brown. The remaining segments are black. On the female the ovipositor is short. It rises in front of the tip of the abdomen and cannot be withdrawn into the body.

The front and middle legs are mostly pale yellow. There is some white on the fourth segment (tibia) and on the last part of the leg (tarsus) that corresponds to the foot. The hind legs are mostly black. The tibia is white just at the base. There is a pair of spurs at the end to the tibia. The spurs are white.

The wings are clear with dark veins and a dark cell (stigma) on the leading edge (costal margin). The thickened costal margin does not have a cell. In the lower part of the forewing there are two recurrent (backward-turning) veins forming a cell.

¼″ (7 mm)

Larva parasitize the caterpillars of small bird-dropping moth (Ponometia erastrioides) and green cloverworm moth (Hypena scabra).

June to September

The larva pupates in a black and white cocoon suspended from a leaf or twig by a single silken thread. The distinctive markings on the cocoon help to identify the species inside.

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82, 83.

David Holder
9/27/2024

Location: Austin, MN

Egg found hanging on my mailbox this morning.

Location: Slinger, Wisconsin