The Cheloninae are a cosmopolitan subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps.
Description
Most Cheloninae are small and uniformly colored. They have a characteristic metasomal carapace formed from the fusion of the first three tergites.
Biology
They are solitary koinobionts which parasitize Lepidoptera, especially Pyraloidea and Tortricoidea, but also other taxa whose larvae bore in stems, buds or fruits. Chelonines are egg-larval parasitoids, meaning they oviposit into a host egg, but the wasp larvae do not complete development until the caterpillar has hatched and matured. Chelonines carry polydnaviruses which aid in overcoming their hosts' immune system.[1]
Genera
Genera placed in Cheloninae include:
- Ascogaster Wesmael, 1835 (paraphyletic?)
- Austroascogaster Kittel and Austin, 2014
- Chelonus Panzer, 1806
- Dentigaster Zettel, 1990
- †Diodontogaster Brues, 1933
- †Eobracon Cockerell, 1920
- Huseyinia Koçak and Kemal, 2008
- Leptochelonus Zettel, 1990
- Leptodrepana Shaw, 1990
- Megascogaster Baker, 1926
- Odontosphaeropyx Cameron, 1910
- Phanaustrotoma Kittel and Austin, 2014
- Phanerotoma Wesmael, 1838
- Phanerotomella Szépligeti, 1900
- Phanerotomoides Zettel, 1990
- Pseudophanerotoma Zettel, 1990
- Siniphanerotomella He et al., 1994
- Wushenia Zettel, 1990
Previously belonging to the Adeliinae, but now confirmed to be nested within Cheloninae[2] in the tribe Adeliini are:
- Adelius Haliday, 1834
- Paradelius de Saeger, 1942
- Sinadelius He and Chen, 2000
- Sculptomyriola Belokobylskij, 1988
References
- ^ Murphy, Nicholas; Banks, Jonathan C.; Whitfield, James B.; Austin, Andrew D. (2008-04-01). "Phylogeny of the parasitic microgastroid subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) based on sequence data from seven genes, with an improved time estimate of the origin of the lineage". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (1): 378–395. Bibcode:2008MolPE..47..378M. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.022. PMID 18325792.
- ^ Kittel, R.N.; Austin, A.D.; Klopfstein, S. (2016). "Molecular and morphological phylogenetics of chelonine parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), with a critical assessment of divergence time estimations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 101: 224–241. Bibcode:2016MolPE.101..224K. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.016. PMID 27179700.
External links
photos on BugGuide.net