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Post by boghaunter1 on Feb 23, 2011 13:18:07 GMT -8
Shaking things up a little in this thread...not a lep or a coleop, but a lowly Hymenopteran! This one has been a favourite of mine since I 1st collected it in Feb. 1990 in Costa Rica (nr. Tuis). I don't know which sp. it is... Pepsis heros?...closely related no doubt? This thing is BIG...  ... wingspan is 112mm (4.3"), body length excluding stinger 55mm (2.3"). G. Beccaloni in "Big Bugs" says world record P. heros is 121mm (4.75") X 62mm (2.4"). Will never forget catching this giant...I was unsuccessfully chasing Morphos up & down the rocky & slippery banks of a small mountain stream when I suddenly heard a tremendous angry buzzing directy behind me  . I cautiously peered over my shoulder & down near the back of my right heel...there was the largest wasp I had ever seen! I was only a few inches from accidentaly stepping on it as it was struggling to become airborne among the heavy wet grass. I managed to spin around & quickly clamp my net down over it & after several cautious attempts I finally corralled it into a killing jar. What a magnificent creature...I was sad to end it's life  (every collector's dilemma), but oh, what a specimen...what a memory  John K. |
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Post by rayrard on Feb 23, 2011 14:15:28 GMT -8
nice wasp! I always felt leery about catching the big cicada killers down in SC. They are just so big and angry sounding even when not in the net. The transfer to the killing jar seems like a big risk! I have a few nice hymenoptera I've taken, but more modest ones like Sphex spp., Anoplius spider wasps, and the eastern version of Pepsis: Attachments:
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evra
Full Member
Posts: 230
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Post by evra on Feb 24, 2011 11:28:05 GMT -8
Yeah the way to catch large hymenoptera is to put them out when they're still in your net, then transfer them to the jar (with forceps is preferred). Unlike leps you can spray killing agent directly onto them without doing any damage, but it can dry them out a bit.
Last September I had just set up my light trap and turned it on when a large Pepsis thysbe female (ws~70mm) came in very disoriented and buzzed around for a while. I was going to leave her alone until she smacked directly into my chest on one flight, so I decided to collect her for my own safety.
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Post by lucanidae25 on Feb 25, 2011 1:57:44 GMT -8
Not only America has some ture giant Hymenopteran but Asia has some Hymenopteran nearly as big as the Pepsis heros from S. America.
This one is from E.Java, wingspan 85mm. body length 45mm.
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Post by lucanidae25 on Feb 25, 2011 2:03:03 GMT -8
This one is from Chiang Mai Thailand, wingspan 80mm, body length 50mm.
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Post by lucanidae25 on Feb 25, 2011 2:13:11 GMT -8
The one on the left is from Chiang Mai Thailand, body including to the tip of the egg depositor 120mm and the one on the right is from W. Malaysia, body including to the tip of the egg depositor 94mm.
These two have the longest egg depositors I've ever seen.
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Post by lucanidae25 on Feb 25, 2011 2:17:29 GMT -8
These are some of the biggest and hardest Asilidae to catch in Australia. The biggest one here has body lenght 36mm.
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Post by lucanidae25 on Feb 25, 2011 2:28:30 GMT -8
This is the one and only Apoidea that I've seen with large mandibles in any where in Australia or Asia. I only ever came across this one specimen in my life time. This one is from QLD. Attachments:
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Post by johnnyboy on Feb 25, 2011 2:44:56 GMT -8
John,
Your big female is not P. heros, in heros the antennae are all black and the head is much bigger. Also it's range doesn't include central America. Looking at my Colin Vardy guides I am pretty sure that yours is a big specimen of Pepsis optima. The antennal colour, beginning diffusely orange from about one quarter of the way from the base of the AS3 segment is diagnostic.
Well done on getting it, superb big specimen. I caught a Pepsis mildei female (about 80mm wingspan) in Monte verde Costa Rica in the late 80's. Colin Vardy, the world expert on Pepsis, at the BMNH, ID'd it for me.
Johnny
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Post by lucanidae25 on Feb 25, 2011 3:56:14 GMT -8
Nice one John, it should be "Say Hello to my not So Little Friend..." . Your heart must be beating so fast it was coming out of your body. I know I would.  I'm still waiting for my 1st visit to S. America.  Raymond |
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Post by timmsyrj on Feb 25, 2011 8:32:29 GMT -8
I don't know what it's like elsewhere in the world but if you come out with "say hello to my little friend" here in the uk, you'd probably be added to her majesties collection behind bars... ;D ;D ;D Rich |
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Post by boghaunter1 on Feb 25, 2011 9:03:24 GMT -8
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Post by boghaunter1 on Feb 25, 2011 9:20:21 GMT -8
For Johnnyboy, A big [glow=red,2,300] THANK YOU [/glow]for the I.D. on this 21 yr. old mystery! I was going to post a pic in the old forum, but never got around to it, until now, while I was rearranging drawers & saw the huge beast again... To Timmsyrj, "Say Hello to my Little Friend" is a famous movie line by Al Pacino at the end of the movie in "Scarface" when he pulls out heavy firepower in final bloodbath scene!! LOL...Never thought of it in that way...  ...I can read between the lines your meaning also!! ;D John K. |
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Post by lucanidae25 on Feb 25, 2011 23:28:33 GMT -8
John, I've collected my fair share of Hymenopteran but I used a killing jar mixed 2% water with acetone. Water would keep the specimen nice and soft. Once I caught the wasp inside the net, I would put the kiiling jar under the wasp from the inside of the net and trap the wasp between the net and inside the opening of the killing jar, then I put the lid on the killing jar on top the net. Give it a shake and killed INSTENTLY. ;D ;D ;D But I think John, you will need a killing jar with opening big enough to trap "your little friend" at the mouth of the killing jar and inside the net before you can put a lid on top. ;D You will need a big one. Raymond |
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Post by timmsyrj on Feb 26, 2011 2:04:48 GMT -8
John, i know the film well, one of the best, my comment was the first thing that came to mind, which probably says more about me than anything else ;D ;D I once came across a very large black bee whilst collecting in greece, it was hovering around some thistle heads that were covered it all varieties of butterflies, as i walked past it stopped and turned and hovered 2ft in front of me as if staring me out, it was me who had to move around it, stuck with butterflies ever since. ;D Rich |
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... wingspan is 112mm (4.3"), body length excluding stinger 55mm (2.3"). G. Beccaloni in "Big Bugs" says world record P. heros is 121mm (4.75") X 62mm (2.4").
. I cautiously peered over my shoulder & down near the back of my right heel...there was the largest wasp I had ever seen! I was only a few inches from accidentaly stepping on it as it was struggling to become airborne among the heavy wet grass. I managed to spin around & quickly clamp my net down over it & after several cautious attempts I finally corralled it into a killing jar. What a magnificent creature...I was sad to end it's life 
(every collector's dilemma), but oh, what a specimen...what a memory 
...I can read between the lines your meaning also!! ;D