This week's image fulfills a special request for a blue insect, something not uncommon among parastoid wasps. This very large specimen comes from Borneo and belongs to the genus Sparasion which can also be found in Eurasia, Africa, and temperate North America. Host records indicate that these wasps are parasitoids of katydids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Sparasion and 4 other genera form a tribe called the Sparasionini and display many ancient, or plesiomorphic, characters. If you would like to read more about this tribe, the following link to a recent paper is provided.
http://128.146.250.117/pdfs/
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