Family Ceraphronidae ?

Moved

Moved from "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps.

… Bob Zuparko, 15 April, 2022 - 10:34am

It might be a ceraphronid ...

... but it could also be a scelionid. The best character to separate these two families is the venation of the forewing. If the stigmal vein is fairly long with a distinct curve (bending towards the leading edge of the wing), then its a ceraphronid. But if the vein is relatively short and straight, then it is a scelionid. The problem is that the stigmal vein length of ceraphronids does vary a bit, and I'd seen a few specimens where the stigmal vein is not that much longer than a scelionids, and therefor the curve is not very evident. Unfortunately, these images don't present a good enough view of the venation for me to tell you which group this is. And because scelionids and ceraphronids are placed in separate superfamilies, the best I can do is to keep these images under Parasitica.

… Bob Zuparko, 14 April, 2022 - 11:15am

Thanks very much

for your explanation. I just added a few more images to see if they might help you in your determination.

… Susan Leach Snyder, 14 April, 2022 - 2:06pm

Thank you ...

... and I think you are correct - this does indeed appear to be a ceraphronid, so I'll move it to that page.

… Bob Zuparko, 15 April, 2022 - 10:34am

It looks more like a Scelionidae to me.

Lens-shaped metasoma in cross section, with sides sharply angulate, makes suggest to me that it is SP Platygastroidea.

Also in some keys the presence of the latero-ventral suture as shown in the image indicates that it is SP Platygastroidea.

Tergum 2 much longer than tergum 3 , makes me think it is Scelionidae

In the case of the SP Ceraphronoidea tergum 1 very small and invisible, fused into tergum 2. Giving the appearance that tergum 1 is very large, in this case the large tergum is the second, not 1 and 2 fused.

… manuelmsni, 26 July, 2023 - 3:37am

Thanks,

Bob!

… Susan Leach Snyder, 15 April, 2022 - 10:37am