Family Pteromalidae - Pteromalids

Classification · Numbers · Identification · Food · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Amotura (=Euchrysia) hyalinipennis - Amotura hyalinipennis - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon (parasitic Apocrita)

Superfamily Chalcidoidea (Chalcid Wasps)

Family Pteromalidae (Pteromalids)

Numbers

About 350 Nearctic species, 3000 in the world.

Identification

"The armored expanded thorax and swollen femora are characteristic of pteromalids." (comment by Ross Hill)

Minute, black, bronze or metallic green.

Food

Parasites on a wide variety of hosts.

Some are hyperparasitoids.

The adults of some species feed on the body fluids of the host, after puncturing it with the ovipositor.

Remarks

"The pteromalids represent one of the largest "families" of the Chalcidoidea, consisting of about 2800 world species of morphologically and biologically diverse habits. In our view, this "family" is the most artificial of the Chalcidoidea. It seems to be defined primarily by what it does not have in relation to other families, and yet there are always exceptions. Thus, for example, it does not have the enlarged hindfemora of the Chalcididae (except Chalcedectini), it does not have the quadrate (rectangular) pronotum of the Eurytomidae (except Spalanginae), it does not have the exserted ovi-positor of the Torymidae (except for Cea and Roptrocerus), and so on." Chalcidoid site.

Some are used as biocontrols

Print References

(1)

Internet References

Chalcidoid site

Works Cited

1.	Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects By Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn

Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 5 May, 2005 - 8:46am
Additional contributions by ceiseman
Last updated 9 September, 2009 - 3:31pm

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