I am absolutely rubbish at rearing insects but I'm trying to be a good Hymenopterist by rearing parasitoids out from their hosts. In theory, this should make my life easier by making the emerging insects easier to identify - but things often don't go to plan. I collected a Bedeguar Gall (Robin's Pincushion), caused by the wasp Diplolepis rosae, on 24.07.2026. Miraculously, it survived my tender care (only slightly moldy) until on 05.09.2026 a wasp emerged. But it wasn't Diplolepis rosae, a brownish wasp, but instead a bright metallic green wasp with a long ovipositor. The obvious candidate was Torymus bedeguaris, but there are 19 confirmed inquilines (from the Latin inquilinus, "tenant" or "lodger"), of Diplolepis rosae, and this squatter had an ovipositor only slightly longer than its body (that of Torymus bedeguaris is typically twice as long as the body). Torymus species are very difficult to identify, but with some help I was able to confirm that this is Torymus rubi. This species is a polyphagous parasitoid of Dasineura acrophila; Diastrophus rubi; Diplolepis mayri, nervosa, rosae, spinosissimae; Lasioptera rubi; Liposthenes glechomae; Stereonychus fraxini, on host plants including Fraxinus, Pteridium aquilinum (Bracken), Rubus, and Rosa.
There's a lot going on inside Robin's Pincushions and I'm hanging on to this one for now to see if anything else emerges.
Graham MWR de Vere & Gijswijt MJ (1998) Revision of the european species of Torymus Dalman (s.lat.) (Hymenoptera: Torymidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden 317: 1-202.
Leicestershire Entomological Society Newsletter 37, September 2007: https://www.naturespot.org/sites/default/files/downloads/Newsletter037.pdf
