HomeWasp classificationExpeditionsLinksFigWebBiodiversity ExplorerPermits

Bracon Fabricius

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera;  Superfamily: Ichneumonoidea; Family: Braconidae; Subfamily: Braconinae)

Bracon Fabricius, 1804. Type species: Ichneumon minutator Fabricius,1798.

Afrotropical region:
 

Bracon (Bracon) Fabricius, 1804

 

Bracon (Habrobracon) Ashmead, 1895

 

Bracon (Lucobracon) Fahringer, 1927

 

Bracon (Ophthalmobracon) Tobias, 1957

Bracon species (Bracon sensu lato) (South Africa)

Bracon species (Bracon sensu lato) (South Africa)

Distribution

Worldwide.

Biology

Mostly ectoparasitoids (idiobiont) of concealed larvae of xylophagous and stem-boring Coleoptera and Lepidoptera and less commonly of Diptera, Hemiptera and Symphyta. Hosts that are attacked are usually developing in living plant tissue, including tree bark, stems of annual and biennial plants, galls, seed heads or vessels, as well as leaf rollers, leaf miners and case-bearers - females lay large eggs on the hosts after they are paralysed by venom injected by the female (Shaw & Huddleston, 1991; Quicke 1993; Ranjith et al. 2016).

References

Ashmead, W.H. 1900. Classification of the Ichneumon flies, or the superfamily Ichneumonoidea. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 23(1206): 1-220.

Baltazar, C.R. 1962. The genera of parasitic Hymenoptera in the Philippines, Part 1. Pacific Insects. 4(4):737-771.  

Brues, C.T. 1926. Studies on Ethiopian Braconidae with a catalogue of the African species. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 61:206-436.  

Brues, C.T. 1924. Some South African parasitic Hymenoptera of the families Evaniidae, Braconidae, Alysiidae, and Plumariidae in the South African Museum with a catalogue of the known species. Annals of the South African Museum. 19:1-150.

Brullé, M.A. 1846. Tome Quatričme. Des Hyménoptčres. Les Ichneumonides. In: Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau A. "Histoire Naturelles des Insectes." Paris. 680 pp. pp. 56-521.

Cameron, P. 1905. On the Hymenoptera of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa (Second paper). Record of the Albany Museum. 1: 185-244

Cameron, P. 1905. On some new genera and species of Hymenoptera from Cape Colony and Transvaal. Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society 15: 195-257.

Cameron, P. 1906. Descriptions of new species of parasitic Hymenoptera chiefly in the collection of the South African Museum, Cape Town. Annals of the South African Museum 5: 17-186.

Cameron, P. 1911. On the parasitic Hymenoptera collected by Mr. A.J.T. Janse, Transvaal. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 2: 173-217.

Granger, C. 1949. Braconides de Madagascar. Mémoires de l'Institut Scientifique de Madagascar. (A)2:1-428.

Quicke, D.L.J. 1985. Further reclassification of Afrotropical and Indo-Australian Braconinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Oriental Insects. 18:339-353.  

Quicke, D.L.J. 1987. The Old World genera of braconine wasps. Journal of Natural History 21:43-197.

Quicke, D.L.J. 1988. Inter-generic variation in the male genitalia of the Braconinae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Braconidae). Zoologica Scripta. 17:399-409.  

Quicke, D.L.J.1988. Higher classification, biogeography and biology of the Braconinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Pages 117-138 in Gupta, V.K., ed. Advances in parasitic Hymenoptera research. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands. 546 pp.

Quicke DLJ. 1993. A remarkable new genus of Braconini (Hym., Braconidae) reared from plant galls in India. Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 129: 135–138.

Ranjith AP, Quicke, D, Saleem, U, Butcher, B, Zaldívar‐Riverón, A, Nasser, M. 2016. Entomophytophagy ('Sequential Predatory, then Phytophagous Behaviour') in an Indian Braconid ‘Parasitoid’ Wasp (Hymenoptera): Specialized Larval Morphology, Biology and Description of a New Species. PLoS ONE. 11. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156997

Shaw MR, Huddleston T. 1991. Classification and biology of braconid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 7: 1–126.

Shenefelt, R.D. 1978. Braconidae 10. Braconinae, Gnathobraconinae, Mesestoinae, Pseudodicrogeniinae, Telengainae, Ypsistocerinae, plus Braconidae in general, major groups, unplaced genera and species. Hymenopterorum Catalogus (nova editio). Pars 15. pp.1425-1872.

Szépligeti, G. 1901. Tropischen Cenocoeliden und Braconiden aus der Sammlung des Ungarischen National-Museums. Természetrajzi Füzetek 24: 353-402.

Szépligeti, G. 1913. Neue afrikanische Braconiden aus der Sammlung der Ungarischen National-Museum. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici. 11:592-608.  

Szépligeti, G. 1914. Afrikanische Braconiden des Königl. Zoologischen Museums in Berlin. Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum in Berlin 7: 153-230.

Szépligeti, G.V. 1914. Central-Afrikanische Braconidae des Congo-Museums. Revue de Zoologie Africaine. 3: 403-420.

Thunberg, C.P. 1822. Ichneumonidea, Insecta Hymenoptera illustrata. Mémoires de l'Académie Imperiale des Sciences de Saint Petersbourg. 8: 49-281.

Thunberg, C.P. 1824. Ichneumonidea, Insecta Hymenoptera illustrata. Mémoires de l'Académie Imperiale des Sciences de Saint Petersbourg. 9: 285-368.

Yu, D.S., Achterberg, van C. & Horstman, K. 2012. Taxapad 2012, World Ichneumonoidea 2011. Taxonomy, biology, morphology and distribution. Database on flash-drive. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. www.taxapad.com

van Achterberg, C. 1982. Notes on some type-species described by Fabricius of the subfamilies Braconinae, Rogadinae, Microgastrinae and Agathidinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Entomologische Berichten. Amsterdam 42: 133-139.

van Achterberg, C. 1997. Revision of the Haliday collection of Braconidae (Hymenoptera). Zoologische Verhandelingen. 314. 115 pp.

van den Bosch K, van Noort S & Cron GV.  2019. Predation of fruit and seed of Aloe pretoriensis – a little known effect on reproductive output. Austral Ecology https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12705

Credits

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


Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2025. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

Copyright 2004-2025 Iziko Museums of South Africa

customisable counter