Subfamily Ophioninae

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

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon (parasitic Apocrita)

Superfamily Ichneumonoidea (Braconids and Ichneumons)

Family Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon Wasps)

Subfamily Ophioninae

Numbers

The American Entomological Institute lists 7 genera in the Nearctic region.

Size

6-29 mm.

Identification

Ocelli (usually?) large. Females have a very compressed abdomen and a short, very sharp ovipositor. The ovipositor of Ophioninae can penetrate the skin; most other Ichneumons can't really sting.

Gavin Broad (Dept. of Entomology, Nat. Hist. Mus., London, UK) has produced a very useful key to the subfamilies of Ichneumonidae which can be downloaded as PDF. Though written for the UK, on the subfamily level (for the subfamilies occurring in North America, and certainly for the Ophioninae), it seems to be a useful tool.

Habitat

Wide range of habitats. Most species are crepuscular or nocturnal, some diurnal. They are known to come to lights.

Food

They are parasites of caterpillars.

Remarks

Solitary koinobiont endoparasitoids of the larvae of other holometabolous insects, mostly Lepidoptera, although a Nearctic species of Ophion is known to parasitize a beetle larva.

Print References

(1)

Internet References

The American Entomological Institute. Ophioninae description, biology, etc.

Works Cited

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

Contributed by john and jane balaban on 22 February, 2006 - 10:25pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Hartmut Wisch, Vox Sciurorum
Last updated 28 September, 2009 - 9:34am

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