Does anyone know what this wasp might be? An 'expert' at a local field naturalists group identified it as a hornet - but other sources say there are no hornets in Australia.
It looks a little like some potter wasps but I cannot find a close match on any web site.
dghewitt,
This forum is for question relating to adding data to the BugFiles database.
We have a forum on Insect and Spider Identification here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/bugid/all/
and if you post your question there, you may get some help,
If you have an image, you could attach it to the message you post for a better chance of getting an identification
Having said that, I may be able to help with this one. I think that your wasp is in fact an adult sawfly. It looks very close indeed to the Bottlebrush Saw Fly - Pterygophorus cinctus. The markings on the image of the adult on this page: http://www-staff.it.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/none/cinctus.html
looks very close to yours, although the bright colour shown is yellow where yours is deep orange, but the description below the image refers to orange bands.
We have a page for this species in BugFiles: http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/go/1753/ and would be pleased to have your image of the adult sawfly added to that page,
Kennedy
BugFiles Administrator
