small fly
Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 4:32 AM
This little bug landed on my book over the summer. From the size of the letters, you can see the size of the bug. I have been unsuccessful in trying to identify it.
margie
central ny
- Unknown Hymenopteran
Hi Margie,
This is a Booklouse in the order Psocoptera. We are uncertain how to further classify it but we will check with Eric Eaton to see if he can narrow the identification more. According to BugGuide: “Book lice are best known for feeding on the starch in book bindings.” Your photo is quite detailed for a tiny insect.
Daniel:
The recent comment is absolutely correct. No way this is a booklouse. I hope I didn’t previously agree that it was! It is indeed some kind of wasp, perhaps a braconid, but it is an awkward angle to make a determination from the image alone.
Eric
I like This
Actually, this doesn’t look like a psocid to me. According to Borror and DeLong, psocid ‘wings at rest are usually held rooflike over the abdomen.’ – this specimen is definitely holding its wings flat. Also ‘the tarsi (of psocids) are two- or three-segmented’, but the picture clearly shows four or more tarsomeres. When I first saw the picture, I thought Hymenoptera. And looking closer, I’m more convinced. Just my thoughts.