Platygastridae

Platygastridae
Platygaster pupae inside gall
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Platygastroidea
Family: Platygastridae
Subfamilies

see text

The hymenopteran family Platygastridae (sometimes incorrectly spelled Platygasteridae) is a large group (over 1100 species) of exclusively parasitoid wasps, mostly very small (1-2 mm), black, and shining, with elbowed antennae that have an eight-segmented flagellum. The wings most often lack venation, though they may have slight fringes of setae.

Platygaster sp. in copula

The two subfamilies are the Platygastrinae and the Sceliotrachelinae. The former subfamily includes some 40 genera, all of which are koinobionts on cecidomyiid flies; the wasp oviposits in the host's egg or early instar larva, and the wasp larva completes development when the host reaches the prepupal or pupal stage. The latter subfamily is much smaller, including some 20 genera, and they typically have the rudiments of a vein in the forewings. They are generally idiobionts, attacking the eggs of either beetles or Hemiptera.

The former family Scelionidae is now considered to be another subfamily of Platygastridae, along with the subfamilies Teleasinae and Telenominae.

References

External links

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