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Pelecinidae

Pelecinid wasps of the world

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

Classification

Pelecinus Latreille, 1800

Distribution

Nearctic, Neotropical.

Biology

Parasitoids of dung beetle larvae Phyllophaga (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) developing in the soil. Females use their extremely long abdomen to probe through the soil to reach the host larvae to lay an egg on.

References

Johnson, N.F. 1992. Catalog of world Proctotrupoidea excluding Platygastridae. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 51: 1-825.

Masner, L. 1961.  Proctotrupidae. Key to the genera of the world (Hymenoptera Proctotrupoidea). Exploration Parc National de l' Upemba Mission G. F. de Witte 1946-1949  60(4): 37-47.

Masner, L. 1993. Superfamily Proctotrupoidea (pp. 537-557). In GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World: an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.

Naumann, I.D. & Masner, L. 1985. Parasitic wasps of the proctotrupoid complex: a new family from Australia and a key to world families (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea sensu lato). Australian Journal of Zoology 33: 761-783.

Townes, H. K. & M. Townes. 1981. A revision of the Serphidae (Hymenoptera). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 32: 1-541.

Credits

Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa).


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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