For help with ichneumonid identification, visit my website: ichsona.org. For Ichneumonines in particular, check out the filterable gallery: http://ichsofna.org/Ichneumoninae/guide.html. It does not include every species (by far) but will work for many common genera/ species. If you use the website and have feedback please message me.

Graduate student at USU studying ichneumonid systematics. Mainly interested in Nearctic Ichneumoninae and Phaeogenini worldwide.

The vast majority of ichs cannot be identified to species (based on field photos) let alone genus in many cases. There are simply too many species, many of them look too similar and can only be separated by examination under a scope, and our knowledge of them is extremely poor. This is why physical collections are still greatly needed and collecting (especially by amateurs) is the single best way to contribute to ichneumonid research! Here is a great article about why killing and collecting insects is still so important: http://malaiseprogram.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/whywekillbugs-1.pdf.

Almost all observations are of specimens in my personal collection, though often not collected by myself. ID's are based on my personal knowledge and published literature and verified with reference specimens from the USU ichneumonid collection (formerly the American Entomological Institute). My imaging system consists of a Canon Rebel T5 with either a Canon EFS 60mm macro lens for habitus shots or a Laowa 2.5-5.0x macro lens for closer shots. The camera is mounted on a dissecting scope stand and relatively diffused lighting is achieved with a cheap LED ring light covered in vellum paper and with a circular piece of styrofoam on the end. Around 10-25 images are taken then stacked in Helicon focus. For more details on setting up a macro imaging system for mounted specimens visit http://ichsofna.org/blog_pages/imaging.html

For anyone interested in making a significant research contribution, I'm looking for help sampling ichneumoninae biodiversity, particularly in the western US. It's not hyperbole to say that no matter where you are you will collect an undescribed species. Ichneumoninae is the largest ichneumonid subfamily, yet it is very poorly known in the Nearctic and there are potentially hundreds of undescribed species. The vast majority of species in the western US are undescribed. There are even some undescribed species in the northeastern US, where a decent bit of taxonomic effort has been spent by Gerd Heinrich. If you are interested, send me a message for more details. The easiest way to collect ichneumonines is with a Malaise (flight intercept) trap which I would be happy to provide. Specimens caught using other methods (rearing, sweeping, aerial net, etc.) would be much appreciated as well.

Also, I'm looking for people to trade any by-catch Diptera, Chalcidoidea, etc. for ichneumonids!

Big thanks to Dan Cavan, Jody Frey (@schoolstreetflowers), Andrée Sanborn (@andreerenosanborn), Spencer Hardy (@beeboy), Ryne Rutherford (@ryruther), Royal Tyler (@royaltyler), Dr. Ollie Flint, Dr. David Smith, Dr. Scott Shaw, Dr. Bill Warner, for sending me very valuable specimens!

*Journal articles: *

Claridge, B. (2021). Revision of Nearctic Heterischnus Wesmael, 1859 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae, Phaeogenini). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 85, 57–79. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.85.67792

Claridge, B. (2021). Revision of the genus Jethsura Cameron, 1902 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae: Phaeogenini). Zootaxa, 5071(2), 223–241. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5071.2.3

Pos, D. D., Claridge, B., Diller, E., Noort, S. V., & Giovanni, F. D. (2023). Still counting: New records, nomenclatural notes, and three new species of Phaeogenini (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae) from the Afrotropical region. European Journal of Taxonomy, 868, 1–71. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2023.868.2105