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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) » Ichneumonid Wasps (Ichneumonidae) » Pimplinae » Ephialtini » Polysphincta genus-group » Acrotaphus

Genus Acrotaphus

Representative Images

Acrotaphus wiltii - female Acrotaphus wiltii Hymenoptera - Acrotaphus wiltii Ichneumon Wasp - Acrotaphus wiltii - male Acrotaphus wiltii? - Acrotaphus wiltii unknown insect - Acrotaphus wiltii black-wing-tipped orange wasp - Acrotaphus wiltii - female Acrotaphus wiltii

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 Ichneumonidae (Ichneumonid Wasps)
Subfamily Pimplinae
Tribe Ephialtini
No Taxon (Polysphincta genus-group)
Genus Acrotaphus

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Townes placed this genus in his Ephialtinae, for which the currently valid name is Pimplinae.

Numbers

3 spp.* in the US; a total of 10 spp. are known worldwide(Brambila & Porter, 2005)
*Species not yet in the guide: Acrotaphus tibialis (TX)

Identification


A. fuscipennis - head, antennae, entirety of wings, and most of legs black; thorax, abdomen, coxae, and bases of femora red (FL only)


A. wiltii - head, antennae, two bands on forewings, and apex of abdomen black; thorax, rest of abdomen, legs, and rest of wings orange (widespread eastern)

-no photo, see BOLD specimens-
A. tibialis - much like A. wiltii but with brighter wings, black band on hind wings, and black hind femora (TX only)

Range

Nine of the 10 spp. are Neotropical, of which 2 reach the only as far north as the southern states (TX, FL). Only 1 (A. wiltii) is prevalent in the Nearcic and reaches to southern Canada.(Brambila & Porter, 2005)

Food

Parasites of orb-web spiders of the families Araneidae and Tetragnathidae (Gauld 2000, quoted by Brambila & Porter (2005))
Contributed by Eric R. Eaton on 3 March, 2006 - 2:37pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Vox Sciurorum, v belov, Bob Carlson, PaleoJon
Last updated 2 June, 2022 - 9:12am

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