Tiny "parasitic wasps" on White Sage - Torymus, Chalcidoidea?
Here are two shots of tiny "parasitic wasps" (""Parasitica", Hymenoptera) on seed husks of native White Sage (Salvia apiana, Lamiaceae) on the wild edge of our garden. These wasps are really tiny, about 520 pixels long in these 1:1 macro shots without the ovipositor, which comes to 2.0 mm, less than 1/10 inch. (See here for how I figured.) The wasps sure look like genus Torymus in the group of Chalcid Wasps (Chalcidoidea), see this photo. But BugGuide says that "...90% of Torymus with known hosts are ectoparasitic upon gall-forming insects of the families Cecidomyiidae and Cynipidae" - and this is not a gall. I have found similar wasps on galls, see this photo. I've also found similar wasps on seed husks before, see this photo of a wasp on a different shrub. These wasps typically use that long "stinger" - really an ovipositor - to lay eggs on the gall wasp larva inside. I'm not sure what the wasps in this photo are after, maybe critters like weevils living in the developing seeds? (San Marcos Pass, 31 July 2018)
Tiny "parasitic wasps" on White Sage - Torymus, Chalcidoidea?
Here are two shots of tiny "parasitic wasps" (""Parasitica", Hymenoptera) on seed husks of native White Sage (Salvia apiana, Lamiaceae) on the wild edge of our garden. These wasps are really tiny, about 520 pixels long in these 1:1 macro shots without the ovipositor, which comes to 2.0 mm, less than 1/10 inch. (See here for how I figured.) The wasps sure look like genus Torymus in the group of Chalcid Wasps (Chalcidoidea), see this photo. But BugGuide says that "...90% of Torymus with known hosts are ectoparasitic upon gall-forming insects of the families Cecidomyiidae and Cynipidae" - and this is not a gall. I have found similar wasps on galls, see this photo. I've also found similar wasps on seed husks before, see this photo of a wasp on a different shrub. These wasps typically use that long "stinger" - really an ovipositor - to lay eggs on the gall wasp larva inside. I'm not sure what the wasps in this photo are after, maybe critters like weevils living in the developing seeds? (San Marcos Pass, 31 July 2018)