Identification from head only?

[gwo]

Hey everyone.  I'm currently working on a photo project of insect heads.  Not all the sellers I'm purchasing specimens from know the exact species.  Would it be possible to get IDs from the heads only?  I would also have the location the specimen was located in, which I hope would at least help to narrow it down.  Just wanted to know if it was worth the time to post the photos or not

Thanks!

[Adam Cotton]

I suspect that in many cases across the insect world it would be very difficult to identify to species from heads alone, indeed even genus would often be difficult to confirm. Some insects have obvious head ornamentation or other characters that can at least help in identification, but in general I expect it may be rather difficult.

Adam.

[gwo]

Apr 21, 2020 8:56:46 GMT Adam Cotton said:

I suspect that in many cases across the insect world it would be very difficult to identify to species from heads alone, indeed even genus would often be difficult to confirm. Some insects have obvious head ornamentation or other characters that can at least help in identification, but in general I expect it may be rather difficult.

Adam.

I figured that might be the case.  However, I went back and found some of the pics from the seller, so maybe I can post those too.  They aren't the greatest shots, but at least they show the body shape.  I'll upload them somewhere and post them up shortly 

[gwo]

Here we go. I'll just post the listing images as the head shot might not be much help. This wasp was collected in Texas.  Any help narrowing it down would be greatly appreciated 

[gwo]

Picture is too crappy I assume?

[nomihoudai]

Most people here know about butterflies and then beetles. Does this insect have 2 or 4 wings? If it has 2 wings it actually is some species of fly. I'm not even sure from the pic if it is a wasp.

[nomihoudai]

Actually it is a wasp. Seems to be a thread-waisted wasp from the genus Prionyx. Impossible to narrow down the species.

[gwo]

Thanks nomihoudai. Didn't realize this was a butterfly specialist forum. I'm photographing these for a project and didn't want to mislabel them, so I thought I'd try here. I assumed getting it down to the species was out of the question, but wanted to narrow down as far as possible. The seller said it was likely a spider wasp of some sort, but couldn't provide any more info.
However, a third person recently mentioned that it might be from the genus Sphex. Can I get your opinion on how it compares to the following reference shot? Would you still lean toward Prionyx?
pbase.com/tmurray74/image/63882279

[Adam Cotton]

Apr 24, 2020 1:48:22 GMT gwo said:

Didn't realize this was a butterfly specialist forum.

Actually the forum does not specialise on butterflies or any other group of insects, but since butterflies and beetles are the most popular groups there are many more members here interested in those. There are certainly some members interested in Hymenoptera here, but most of them tend to be more Euro-centric. On the sister site, insectnet.proboards.com/, there are more US based members, but that is not deliberate. The reason is mainly because Insectnet is by far the older site, and it was originally set up by a US based enthusiast. Maybe someone there will be able to help identify your wasp. Note that if you join that forum you can sign up with the same user name and password and it will log you in to both forums automatically.

Adam.

[gwo]

Apr 24, 2020 11:38:50 GMT Adam Cotton said:

Apr 24, 2020 1:48:22 GMT gwo said:

Didn't realize this was a butterfly specialist forum.

Actually the forum does not specialise on butterflies or any other group of insects, but since butterflies and beetles are the most popular groups there are many more members here interested in those. There are certainly some members interested in Hymenoptera here, but most of them tend to be more Euro-centric. On the sister site, insectnet.proboards.com/, there are more US based members, but that is not deliberate. The reason is mainly because Insectnet is by far the older site, and it was originally set up by a US based enthusiast. Maybe someone there will be able to help identify your wasp. Note that if you join that forum you can sign up with the same user name and password and it will log you in to both forums automatically.

Adam.

Thank you, Adam.  I'll give that forum a go

[Adam Cotton]

One problem may be that the thread isn't attracting the right members. The subject line is not obviously asking for a wasp identification as it is hidden in a question about identification from heads only.

Perhaps you should start a new thread "black wasp from Texas" or similar.

Adam.