Photo Details
1. side view, 2. abdomen, 3. ovipositing,  October 17, 2005, Antelope Island, Davis County, Utah  ©Nicky Davis



Family Tree
Order: Hymenoptera, Sub-Order: Apocrita, Super-Family: Ichneumonoidea, Family: Braconidae, Sub-Family: Agathidinae, Genus: Bassus, Species: sensu  stricto


I have just consulted with Dr. Mike Sharkey (my graduate advisor and an expert on agathidine braconids at the University of Kentucky)and he identifies this as belonging to the genus Bassus sensu stricto. This is based on the following logic.

There are three main agathidine genera with the "long face" (Agathus, Bassus, and Cremnops). Agathus is almost always entirely black, whereas Bassus and Cremnops are red & black. Cremnops has a carina extending from the lateral margin of the antenna to the lateral ocelli (a great image of this is found here: http://bugguide.net/node/view/119521/bgimage). The carina is absent in Bassus. There are other characters but these are the easiest to see in these images.  Ray Fisher