Numbers
7 species in 1 genus (Ibalia) in North America
less than 50 species worldwide
Identification
"Abdomen usually red or orange; head and thorax may be extensively orange; wings sometimes banded; abdomen laterally compressed, knifelike."
(1)Food
Larvae are parasitoids of Siricidae and Anaxyelidae.
Life Cycle
larvae develop beneath bark of trees as parasitoids of larval horntails; early instars are internal feeders; later instars emerge from the larval horntail and eat the remainder of the host's body from the outside
Internet References
overview of family, numbers, biology (E.F. Legner, U. of California at Riverside)
scanning electron micrographs of larvae; PDF doc plus description, biology, hosts (J.L. Neves-Aldrey
et al, Zoologica Scripta, 2005, courtesy Florida State U.)
