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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) » Caterpillar Mummy Wasps (Rogadinae) » Polystenidea

Genus Polystenidea

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited
Braconid parasitoid of Bucculatrix ivella - Polystenidea Braconid parasitoid of Bucculatrix ivella - Polystenidea Braconid parasitoid of Bucculatrix ivella - Polystenidea Braconidae? - Polystenidea - female
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 Rogadinae (Caterpillar Mummy Wasps)
Genus Polystenidea
Explanation of Names
Polystenidea Viereck 1911.
Numbers
2 described species in the New World with several undescribed species.
Size
tiny, 3 mm or less
Identification
See general Braconidae identification
cyclostome "mouth." Also see this image.. As can be seen from these 2 images, the cyclostome mouth is defined by the dorso-ventrally short clypeus and the concave labrum, bordered ventrally by the mandibles.
Mummification of host remains. Here and here are examples of rogadine mummies.
Occipital carina present. (See p. 99 in Fortier 2009 (PDF)(1) for image of occipital carina.
Metasomal tergites 1-4 forming a carapace-like structure that covers most of remaining tergites when viewed from above. Surface sculpturing of this structure granular or pitted.
Malar space long, about equal to eye height
fore wing vein r arising from middle of stigma & vein r-m absent (thus no 2nd submarginal cell). (For vein r-m present, 2nd submarginal cell present, click here). (Absence of 2nd submarginal cell distinguishes this genus from Stiropius (Shaw, S.R. 1997. In: Subfamily Rogadinae(2)
4th metasomal tergite with a semicircular groove or depression
Range
World wide, most diverse in the Nearctic
Food
larvae feed on larvae of Lyonetiidae (Lepidoptera).
Life Cycle
larval koinobiont endoparasitoids. As with other rogadines, Polystenidea larvae mummify the host when they finish feeding on it and kill it, and pupate inside the mummy.
Remarks
Polystenidea belongs to a genus-group within Rogadinae. See Remarks under Stiropius for more details.
Print References
Shaw, S.R. 1997. Subfamily Rogadinae. In:(2)
Whitfield, J.B. 1990. Phylogenetic review of the Stiropius group of genera (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) with description of a new Neotropical genus. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 92:36-43.
Works Cited
1.A Revision of the Tetrasphaeropyx Ashm. Lineage of the Genus Aleiodes Wesmael (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae)
Fortier, Joseph C. 2009. Magnolia Press.
2.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.
Contributed by Bob Carlson on 5 February, 2013 - 10:53am
Additional contributions by josephfortier
Last updated 21 May, 2017 - 10:24am

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