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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps » Braconid and Ichneumonid Wasps (Ichneumonoidea) » Braconid Wasps (Braconidae) » Braconinae

Subfamily Braconinae

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Works Cited
Small Red Wasp on MIlkweed - Bracon - female Ichneumonid - female Parasitc wasp - Atanycolus - female Red and black wasp Bibbed Braconid - Bracon - female Braconid wasp Cryptus albitarsis - female Braconidae
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon ("Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps)
Superfamily Ichneumonoidea (Braconid and Ichneumonid Wasps)
Family Braconidae (Braconid Wasps)
Subfamily Braconinae
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Atanycolimorpha is synonymized under Ipobracon
Our Iphiaulax are transferred to Digonogastra
Ipobracon is demoted to a subgenus of Cyanopterus
Numbers
~ 187 spp. in 7 genera and #4 tribes in our area;(1)(2)(3) >2,000 spp. total(4)
Tribe Aphrastobraconini
1. Atanycolus (37 spp.)
2. Cyanopterus (6 sp.)
3. Digonogastra (23 spp.)
4. Vipio (23 spp.)
Tribe Braconini
5. Bracon (87 spp.)
Tribe Coeloidini
6. Coeloides (10 spp.)
Tribe Compsobraconini
7. Compsobracon (1 sp.)
Size
~2-8 mm (some even larger)
Identification
cyclostome mouth
occipital carina absent
sometimes black, red, orange and white coloration
sometimes with dark or yellow-banded wings
female usually with long ovipositor
hind wing vein M+CU short, less than 1/2 length of 1M (diagram)

For morphological diagrams and terms, see(5)
Range
worldwide(4)
Food
In most species, larvae feed on larvae of Lepidoptera or Coleoptera. Some feed on concealed dipterous one sawfly larvae. In smaller species, adult female feeding on hosts is common.(4)
Life Cycle
idiobiont ectoparasitoids; across the subfamily, solitary and gregarious parasitism occur.(4)
Remarks
Several species are used for biocontrol of agricultural and forest pests in North America. One of these is important in controlling the Boll Weevil. Others contribute to what natural control exists of bark beetle forest pests.(4)
Works Cited
1.Marsh, Paul M. Braconidae catalog (online 2009) — in Krombein et al. (1979) Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico
2.Nomina Insecta Nearctica
Poole, Robert W. Nearctica.com, Inc.
3.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
4.Manual of the New World Genera of the Family Braconidae (Hymenoptera)
Wharton, R.A., P.M. Marsh, M.J. Sharkey (Eds). 1997. International Society of Hymenopterists.
5.A Revision of the Tetrasphaeropyx Ashm. Lineage of the Genus Aleiodes Wesmael (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae)
Fortier, Joseph C. 2009. Magnolia Press.
Contributed by Ethan Friedman on 2 April, 2007 - 6:51am
Additional contributions by josephfortier, v belov, Bob Carlson, PaleoJon
Last updated 12 April, 2024 - 9:48pm

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