#chalcidoid

the hymenopteran family Pteromalidae is a hyper-diverse (probably polyphyletic) group of parasitoid wasps. there's currently thousands of described species but with how understudied parasitoid wasps are, there's probably actually a shitload more than that. anyway most species are somewhere around 1-3mm long, often barely discernible without a microscope. but i read somewhere that they range up to almost 50mm, about 2 inches, which is huge for any insect and positively gargantuan for a pteromalid. so of course i had to go and look up what the biggest one was. turns out it's Doddifoenus wallacei and while a big chunk of that 50 mm length is ovipositor, it's still way less than i expected!

@kingofthecastle submitted: I saw the prettiest little bug on the car ride home. Stuck to our window for at least 15 minutes and stayed with us to our stop.