Family Braconidae - Braconid Wasps

classification in the guide follows(1)

>1700 spp. in >200 genera of 36 subfamilies in our area. About 17,000 spp. in __ genera of ~50 subfamilies worldwide (info courtesy Drs Carlson, Fortier, and Sharkey). Published estimates as of 1984 estimate that only one half to one third of all existing species had been formally described at that time. Hassan Ghahari, Dicky S. Yu & Kees van Achterberg (2003) estimate 120,000 species.

subfamilies not yet in the guide:

rarely over 15 mm; smallest 1-3 mm.

For more info see also[ (2). Also see pp. 98-99 of Fortier 2009, downloadable as a PDF for labeled diagrams of braconid body and wing morphology used in identification.

Parasitize many species of Lepidoptera.

on Acharia stimulea

See parasitoid life cycle

Many life histories adapted to parasitizing hosts as diverse as aphids, bark beetles, and foliage-feeding caterpillars. Many species are egg-larval parasitoids, laying eggs within host eggs and then not developing until the host is in the larval stage. Unlike ichneumon wasps, many pupate in silken cocoons outside the body of the host and others spin cocoons entirely apart from the host.(3) Also unlike ichneumonid wasps, very few braconids use host pupae to complete their life cycles, except for fly parasitoids in Alysiinae and Opiinae.

Examples of life cycles:

Identification keys to Braconidae such as Wharton et al. 1997(2) group cyclostome braconids within the first few couplets and then distinguish them into subfamilies further along in the key. According to the results of a phylogenetic study (Sharonowski et al. 2011(1) this practice corresponds well with strong molecular phylogenetic evidence that the group has descended from a unique common ancestor, and thus is monophyletic.. The key morphological evidence for this is the very character used in keys to define the group: the 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.

Some are used for pest control, especially in agriculture.