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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Ornate Ichneumon Wasp (Thyreodon sp.)

This wasp was huge with beautiful orange antennae and orange striping on the abdomen. What really caught my eye was the violet iridescence of the wings. I'm not sure what these would look like under ultraviolet light (the spectrum that many insects see the world in), but the wings look mostly black until the light hits the surface just so.

ornate ichneumon wasp
ornate ichneumon wasp (Thyreodon sp.) with iridescent wings

1 comment:

J Hoskins said...

This is most likely Thyreodon fernaldi.

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Portland, Oregon, United States
Husband, Father, Student Of Natural History, Photographer