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Brown Flower Wasp - ? Gymnothynnus sp.

FAMILY TIPHIIDAE

This page contains pictures and information about Brown Flower Wasps that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.

Winged male 15mm, female 8mm 
 
We saw a wasp landed and rested on a dry grass with its abdomen tip attached with something. Looked a bit closer we found that the attachment was a wingless wasp. Then we understand it must be a flower wasps mating pairs. They flied away after we took a few photos.
 
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It is common to see male winged Flower Wasp carrying a wingless female, with tail to tail attached, flying between plants.
 
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To a female, wingless is an advantage when living on or under soil but it is also a problem to feed on flowers. Flower wasp evolved a mating behaviour which the male help the female on feeding. Their mating time is very long. It is common to see a male Flower Wasp carrying a wingless female, with tail to tail attached, flying between flowers. The transportation is part of the mating procedures. 
 
Photos were taken on August in Karawatha Forest.
 

 
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Picture taken on Jun 2008 in Karawatha Forest.
 

Reference:
1. Tiphiid parasitoid wasp - Gymnothynnus sp 2 - Pests and Diseases Image Library PaDIL, 2009. 

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Up ] Yellow Flower Wasp ] White-banded Flower Wasp I ] White-banded Flower Wasp II ] [ Brown Flower Wasp ] Steel-black Flower Wasp ] Brown-black Flower Wasp ] Yellow-antenna Flower Wasp ] Small Black Flower Wasp ]

                                                

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Last updated: July 16, 2012.