#PlumariidaeFemale

[addicted2wasps]

This is the start of my next wasp drawing, which will be very challenging. I'm very fascinated by the females of Plumariidae (Chrysidoidea), in fact, they seem to be so obscure and rare that there are no photos of any specimens online (other than one black and white scientific illustration). This one that I'm drawing is a female Plumarius sp. I was privately sent 2 reference photos of a specimen and I also have an old black and white illustration from a Hymenoptera book to work with. I find it peculiar that this particular wasp is so under-documented, at least in terms of visual material, such as photos. There must be some specimens in collections around the world, but it seems no one has ever taken a photo of one, or at least posted it online anyway! I'm intrigued to know if my drawing is accurate enough. I hope I've done a decent job, and I'm very excited to colour this one! Modifications will probably be inevitable, but this creative process is really inspiring and fun! For now, I've only drawn an outline in black pen to practice, but once the finished product is satisfactory, I will begin colouring. This should be interesting! I love the understudied, elusive weirdos of the wasp world! I welcome any constructive criticisms!