Woodlands Historic Park Wasps

Black wasp (family Tiphiidae) at Woodlands Historic Park
Parasitic Wasp, mid February (photo Andrew Allen)

This species is a parasite of Sawfly Larva. Like all wasps in this family, the wasp lays it's minute eggs on leaves, and they have to be eaten by a host larva before they can hatch. The Wasp develops inside the larva which does not die until after it pupates. The adult Wasp emerges from the cocoon of the Sawfly (Raff, 1934).

Classification

from Australian Faunal Directory

Order Hymenoptera - Wasps, Ants, Bees and Sawflies, 12202 named species in Australia
Family Trigonalidae - 10 named species in Australia
Genus Taeniogonalos
Species Taeniogonalos maculata

References