Rhyssa

Rhyssa
Rhyssa persuasoria - Female
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Ichneumonidae
Subfamily: Rhyssinae
Genus: Rhyssa
Gravenhorst, 1829
Synonyms
  • Cryptocentrum Kirby, 1837
  • Pararhyssa Walsh, 1873

Rhyssa is a genus of ichneumon wasps belonging to the family Ichneumonidae subfamily Rhyssinae.

Etymology

The Latin name of the genus comes from the Greek and means "wrinkled".

Description

Female of this parasitic species drills deep into wood by its hair thin ovipositor (terebra) and lays its eggs on larvae living in timber, which become a food supply and an incubator for the progeny, until it is fully grown.

Distribution

Species of this genus are present in most of Europe, in the Australian Region, in the Near East, in the Nearctic ecozone in the Oriental ecozone and in North Africa.

Selected species

References

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