Blue Hairy Flower Wasp

Alice Springs Fauna •

Alice Springs WaspsAbispa ephippium Agriomyia maculata Bembicinae Bembix Blue Hairy Flower Wasp Cryptocheilus Cryptocheilus bicolor Delta latreillei Delta philantes Eumeninae Mud Nests and Potter Wasps Orchid Dupe Wasp Paralastor (Potter Wasp) Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides Sceliphron laetum Thynnid Flower Wasps Velvet Ant Family (Tribe Dasymutillini) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris radula) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis)

The Blue Hairy Flower Wasp are a dark looking wasp, with smoky black colour wings that have a blue sheen. They are also known as the Black Flower Wasp and belong to the genus Austroscolia, family Scoliidae.

The wing veins of the wasp do not reach the end of the wings, and they have thick antennae. These wasps grow up to 3 cm in length and the adult wasp feed on nectar. The female Blue Hairy Flower Wasp lay her eggs on larval beetles.

Pictured here is thought to be the species Austroscolia nitida and was photographed next to a fish pond in Alice Springs (Central Australia), Northern Territory.

There are currently 3 recognised species in the genus Austroscolia (listed below). Both Austroscolia nitida and Austroscolia soror are very similar in appearance.

With thanks to Matthew Connor^{1, 2, 3}, it is highly likely that this is Austroscolia nitida, being completely blue-black.

Austroscolia soror is described by Museums Victoria⁴ as being

Wings with distinctive, metallic, blue-purple sheen; veins reaching the margin of the wing. Body black with short antennae. Adult approximately 2.5-3 cm.
Museums Victoria

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Informal: Pterygotes
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Vespoidea
Family: Scoliidae
Genus: Austroscolia
Species:
- Austroscolia commixta Turner, 1909
- Austroscolia nitida (Smith, 1858)
- Austroscolia soror (Smith, 1855)

Footnote & References

Many thanks for ID to Matthew Connors and Cath McInnes, members of Entomology Australia “Invertebratology” Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/507004496955277/
Impact of obscure external species records on IDing abundant species, iNatForum, https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/impact-of-obscure-external-species-records-on-iding-abundant-species/30558/10
Austroscolia nitida varifrons (Cameron, 1905), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/acde790e-dc55-4623-87c3-39631b17482d
Austroscolia soror (Smith, 1855), Hairy Flower Wasp, Museums Victoria, https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/8108
Austroscolia Betrem, 1927, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/7d6c2f9b-6455-49e8-908b-9995a82515e2
Austroscolia soror (Smith, 1855), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/b9e3095d-089d-4190-92ae-3be727ebcd9b

Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders

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