Gasteruptiidae

Gasteruptiidae
Gasteruption jaculator
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Evanioidea
Family: Gasteruptiidae
An Australian species in flight

The Gasteruptiidae are one of the more distinctive families among the apocritan wasps, with surprisingly little variation in appearance for a group that contains around 500 species in two subfamilies (Gasteruptiinae and Hyptiogastrinae) and with 9 genera worldwide.

Genera

This family include the following genera:[1]

  • Gasteruptiinae Ashmead, 1900
  • Hyptiogastrinae
    • Crassifoenus Crosskey, 1953
    • Eufoenus Szépligeti, 1903
    • Hyptiogaster Kieffer, 1903
    • Pseudofoenus Kieffer, 1902
  • Incertae sedis
    • Aulacofoenus Kieffer, 1911
    • Dolichofoenus Kieffer, 1910
    • Hemifoenus Kieffer, 1911
    • Plutofoenus Kieffer, 1911
    • Trichofoenus Kieffer, 1910
    • Trigonofoenus Kieffer, 1911

Description

The propleura form an elongated "neck", the petiole attaches very high on the propodeum, and the hind tibiae are swollen and club-like. The females commonly have long ovipositor (except in the genus Pseudofoenus), and lay eggs in the nests of solitary bees and wasps, where their larvae prey upon the host eggs, larvae and provisions.

The absence of "teeth" on the crown of the head and the somewhat thickened antennae readily separate these wasps from those in the unrelated family Stephanidae, which also contains very slender wasps with long necks.

Distribution

The smaller of the two gasteruptiid subfamilies, Hyptiogastrinae, has a restricted Gondwanan distribution, with most species being found in Australia, and 2 species in New Zealand, 2 species in South America, and 8 species in the south-west Pacific (New Britain, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu).

References

  1. ↑ Hymenoptera Online Database


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