Family Orussidae - Parasitic Wood Wasps

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

Orussidae, head lateral - Orussus minutus

Orussidae, Parasitic Wood Wasp, ventral - Orussus minutus

O. thoracicus - Orussus thoracicus - male

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon ("Symphyta" - Sawflies, Horntails, and Wood Wasps)

Family Orussidae (Parasitic Wood Wasps)

Numbers

7 spp. in 3 genera in our area(1), 85 spp. worldwide(2)

Size

8-14.5 mm(1)

Identification

Mesonotum divided by nearly straight, transverse groove between bases of fore wings, the groove separating from the mesoscutum a triangular area (axilla) on either side of scutellum. Head with crown of backward-pointing teeth around median ocellus. Abdominal tergum 1 not divided medially. Abdominal terga evenly rounded at sides. Front wing with a single submarginal cell; antennae inserted below the eyes, just above the mouth(3).

Key to world genera in (4), pg.387.

Food

Larvae are ectoparasitoids of xylobiontic insect larvae, primarily of Buprestidae, but also of Cerambycidae, Xiphydriidae & Siricidae(2)

Remarks

relatively rare

Print References

Middlekauff, W. W. (1983). A revision of the sawfly family Orussidae for North and Central America (Hymenoptera: Symphyta, Orussidae). University of California Press.

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.

2.	Discovery of new species confirms Oriental origin of Orussus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Orussidae) Vilhelmsen L., Blank S.M., Liu Z., Smith D.R. 2014. Insect syst. evol. 45: 51–91.

3.	A Field Guide to Insects Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson. 1998. Houghton Mifflin Co.

4.	Phylogeny and classification of the Orussidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera), a basal parasitic wasp taxon Vilhelmsen L. 2003. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 139(3): 337–418.

Contributed by Tony DiTerlizzi on 25 March, 2005 - 6:25pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Bbarnd, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, Arturo Santos, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 13 January, 2025 - 9:55pm

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