I’m not affiliated, just sharing…
Registration closed for 2023, but maybe there will be another in 2024
https://waspidcourse.wordpress.com/
Downloadable textbook (PDF) here (scroll down for link):
https://scholarsphere.psu.edu/resources/a0edbed3-a28f-4212-a8bc-7742851ecbd4
I decided not to take it because they don’t have proper CC this year, but are hoping to have a better solution for us HOH & deaf folk next year. They were very nice! and are aware it is something that needs addressed :)
I signed up last month. Looking forward to it but sorry to know there is a limited reach for some. I had downloaded the text earlier today before your post and had spent part of the afternoon reading it.
Would be cool if we had local iNat group meetings, as what dipterologist have, some for those who need family identification, but more precise identification is very much in need too, for some families it’s easy to find keys to subfamilies, for others it’s almost impossible, so sharing knowledge is valuable.
Do you have meetups.com groups there? Common way for folk to find /organise groups here. Or a naturalist organization? We have master naturalist programs that have meetups. And things like sierra club and such too.
I have no idea, but experts here on iNat can definitely utilize it. I’m only familiar with bird society and it only has offline meetings that they translate for people who can’t come, but birds are much easier than insects.
Anyone know where to submit mistakes?
The figure is correctly Netelia, but Netlia is in Tryphoninae
yes, give me a sec
@egordon88 Found it: "Additionally, comments, suggestions, or errors regarding the textbook may be submitted here: " https://forms.gle/YC52AKEDvMWNwPvq6
This is crazy cool. Family Trigonalidae:
Awl wasps are rare; as hyperparasitoids, they rely on several specific events occurring in
succession in order to complete their life cycle, and thus have limited opportunities for
population growth. Females lay thousands of minute (~0.1 mm), thick-shelled eggs within leaf
tissue; the most posterior sternite of the female metasoma is often awl-shaped in order to
pierce plant tissue, hence the common name given herein. The eggs do not hatch until
ingested by a caterpillar or sawfly larva. Growth then pauses until a suitable primary host
appears within the secondary host, usually the larva of another parasitoid. However, if the
caterpillar or sawfly larva is ingested by a vespid wasp larva, the awl wasp may instead use the
vespid as a host.
Agreed. I’m just reading the chapter on Ecology of Parasitic Hymenoptera. Now I understand monophagous solitary idiobiont endoparasitoids…sort of?
Yeah I saw it on twitter and downloaded the textbook. Going to digest it slowly:)
And you can see them in the https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ovipositing-insects ;)
FWIW there is a 1.1 version now downloadable via the same above link with corrections to minor errors.
Just finished day three of lectures and workshops and I am quite impressed by the whole thing. 100% worthwhile. They have prerecorded videos of the slide presentations, as well as slides and transcripts. There is a Qand A as well after each session. Very approachable instructors and the breakout rooms for the workshops have been a great experience. 406 students, 49 countries, 19 instructors, 85 wasp families (+2). Three more days to go.
The resource linked by the OP claims to be Open Source but attempts to download the PDF fail with a Permission denied error. You need an account to successfully download the PDF.
I don’t have an account, and it downloads upon click:
size: 635 MB | mime_type: application/pdf | date: 2023-01-12 | sha256: 2f70294
That fails for me too :(
There are sometimes issues with allowing it to fully download before opening.
Okay, resolved.
Left click, (wait for load into Chrome’s PDF viewer), download - fails (Forbidden access)
Right click, save link as … - works.
Is March a good time of the year for Hymenoptera in your part of the year?
I wish I had time for the course. I’ll look later at the updated text, because I ended up suggesting several improvements.
Edit: didn’t add Mickel’s Chyphotes key and a few others yet