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Genus Chelonus

Cheloninae wasp - Chelonus wasp - Chelonus Chelonus? - Chelonus - female Parasitoid of Mompha passerella - Chelonus Another dark braconid on Ericameria nauseosa - Chelonus Suborder Apocrita? - Chelonus Braconidae, lateral - Chelonus chelonine brconid found moribund in shop attic, against window - Chelonus
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 Cheloninae
Genus Chelonus
Explanation of Names
Chelonus Panzer 1806
Numbers
Nearctica lists 139 species; 111 described North American species of Chelonus subgenus Microchelonus Szepligeti 1908 and about 28 described New World species of Chelonus subgenus Chelonus Panzer 1806 (Shaw, S.R. 1997. Subfamily Cheloninae. In:(1)), most of which are probably Nearctic.
Identification
Species in subgenus Chelonus can be distinguished from those in subgenus Microchelonus by the number of antennal segments: 17 or more in Chelonus and 16 or fewer in Microchelonus. (Shaw, S.R. 1997. Subfamily Cheloninae. In:(1))


Wing venation
Range
Cosmopolitan
Habitat
Chelonus species tend to be heat and drought tolerant and are common in meadow, prairie, and grassland habitats, but may be found in any vegetated habitat where concealed-feeding lepidoptera are present. (Shaw, S.R. 1997. Subfamily Cheloninae. In:(1))
Food
Lepidoptera larvae that feed in concealment, such as in stems, buds, or fruit, or by constructing their own concealment, such as by rolling, folding, or tying leaves with silk. Chelonine larvae feed chiefly on larvae of moths in superfamilies Tortricoidea and Pyraloidea. (Shaw, S.R. 1997. Subfamily Cheloninae. In:(1))
Print References
Clausen, C.P. 1956. The egg-larval host relationship among the parasitic Hymenoptera. Bollettino del Laboratory di Zoologia Generale e Agraria Portici 33:119-133.
Works Cited
1.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.