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Encyrtidae

Encyrtid wasps of the Afrotropical Region

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Chalcidoidea)

ClassificationIdentification keys

Distribution

Worldwide.

Diversity

Worldwide: 3300 species in more than 450 genera.

Biology

Most species are parasitoids of Homopteran bugs (Coccidae, Diaspididae, Pseudococcidae), but a wide variety of other insects and arachnids are also targeted: eggs or larvae of beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera), butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), lacewings (Neuroptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), bugs (Heteroptera), tick nymphs or spider eggs (Arachnida). Some species are parasitoids or hyperparasitoids of other wasps (Hymenoptera).

References

Annecke, D.P. & Insley, H.P. 1971. Catalogue of Ethiopian Encyrtidae and Aphelinidae. Entomology Memoir of the Department of Agricultural Technical Services of the Republic of South Africa 23: 1-53.

Boucek, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. pp. 832pp. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, U.K., Cambrian News Ltd; Aberystwyth, Wales.

Burks R, Mitroiu M-D, Fusu L, Heraty JM, Janšta P, Heydon S, Papilloud ND-S, Peters RS, Tselikh EV, Woolley JB, van Noort S, Baur H, Cruaud A, Darling C, Haas M, Hanson P, Krogmann L, Rasplus J-Y. 2022. From hell’s heart I stab at thee! A determined approach to rendering Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera) monophyletic. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 94:13-88. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.94.94263

Cruaud A, Rasplus J-Y, Zhang J, Burks R, Delvare G, Fusu L, Gibson GAP, Gumovsky A, Hanson P, Huber JT, Janšta P, Mitroiu M-D, Noyes JS, van Noort S, Baker A, Böhmová J, Baur H, Blaimer BB, Brady SG, Bubeníková K, Chartois M, Copeland RS, Dale-Skey Papilloud N, Dal Molin A, Darling C, Dominguez C, Fisher N, Gates MW, Gebiola M, Guerrieri E, Haas M, Hansson C, Heydon S, Kresslein RL, Krogmann L, Moriarty Lemmon E, Mottern J, Murray E, Nidelet S, Nieves Aldrey JL, Perry R, Peters RS, Pinto JD, Polaszek A, Sauné L, Schmidt S, Torréns J, Triapitsyn S, Tselikh EV, Ubaidillah R, Yoder M, Lemmon A, Woolley JB, Heraty JM. 2024. The Chalcidoidea bush of life – Evolutionary history of a massive radiation of minute wasps. Cladistics 40: 34-63. http://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12561

Gibson G.A.P. 1993. Superfamilies Mymarommatoidea and Chalcidoidea (pp. 570-655). In GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World: an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.

Gibson, G.A.P., Huber, J.T., Woolley, J.B. (Editors) 1997. Annotated keys to the genera of Nearctic Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) :794pp National Research Council Research Press, Ottawa, Canada.

Heraty, J.M., Burks, R.A., Cruaud, A., Gibson, G.A.P., Liljeblad, J., Munro, J., Rasplus, J.-Y., Delvare, G., Janšta, P., Gumovsky, A., Huber, J., Woolley, J.B., Krogmann, L., Heydon, S., Polaszek, A., Schmidt, S., Darling, D.C., Gates, M.W., Mottern, J., Murray, E., Dal Molin, A., Triapitsyn, S., Baur, H., Pinto, J.D., van Noort, S., George, J. & Yoder, M. 2013. A phylogenetic analysis of the megadiverse Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). Cladistics 29: 466–542. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cla.12006

Iwabuchi K. 2019. Polyembryony in Encyrtid Parasitoids. In: Polyembryonic Insects. Entomology Monographs. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0958-2_2

Noyes, J.S. & Prinsloo, G.L. 1998. A review of the Afrotropical and Malagasy taxa of Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) described by J. Risbec (1949-1959). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 34(1): 71-97.

Prinsloo, G.L. 1983. A parasitoid-host index of Afrotropical Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Entomology Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture, Republic of South Africa 60: 1-35.

Prinsloo, G.L. 1997. Parasitoids. Encyrtidae. World Crop Pests 7B:78-85

Prinsloo, G.L. & D.P. Annecke. 1979. A key to the genera of Encyrtidae from the Ethiopian region, with descriptions of three new genera (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa 42: 349-382.

Credits

Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa) or Vida van der Walt (Pretoria).


Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2024. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

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