Aphidiinae

Taxobox

---

image_caption = "Praon" cocoon below hollowed aphid
image_width = 240px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
subordo = Apocrita
superfamilia = Ichneumonoidea
familia = Braconidae
subfamilia = Aphidiinae
diversity_link = Aphidiinae
diversity = c. 50 genera, 400 species
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision =

The Aphidiinae are a subfamily of parasitoid wasps that use aphids as their host. While the larva of the 2-3 mm long "Praon" leaves the hollowed shell of the aphid from below to pupate in a volcano-like cocoon, most other Aphidiinae pupate inside the dead aphid.

Several species have been used in biological control programs of aphids.

ystematics

Although they have often been treated as a separate family, the Aphidiidae, the Aphidiinae are a lineage within the Braconidae. It is not yet clear to which braconid subfamilies they are most closely related.

clade|style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%
1=Ephedrini
2=clade
1=Praini
label2=Aphodiini
2=clade
1=Monoctonina
2=Trioxina
3=Aphidiina Aphidiinae relationships
(after Shi & Chen 2005)

The Aphidiinae are subdivided into several tribes, the Ephedrini, Praini and Aphodiini, with the latter subdived into three subtribes [Shi & Chen 2005] . Most species reside in the Aphodiini. The Praini's loss of internal pupation is likely to be secondary [Belshaw & Quicke 1997] .

Genera

Ephedrini
* "Ephedrus"

Praini
* "Praon"
* "Dyscritulus"

Trioxini
* "Trioxys"
* "Monoctonia"
* "Lipolexis"

Aphidiini
* "Aphidius"
* "Diaeretiella"
* "Diaeretus"
* "Lysaphidus"
* "Pauesia"
* "Protaphidius"
* "Pseudopauesia"
* "Adialytus"
* "Lysiphlebus"
* "Xenostigmus"

Footnotes

References

* aut|Belshaw, R. & Quicke, D.L.J. (1997): A Molecular Phylogeny of the Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution" 7(3): 281-293. [http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/fy/1997/00000007/00000003/art00400?token=00371330b3c275c277b422c4967567d76345f2c506e2f592f3f3b2c Abstract]
* (2005): Molecular phylogeny of the Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) based on DNA sequences of 16S rRNA, 18S rDNA and ATPase 6 genes. "Eur. J. Entomol." 102: 133-138. [http://www.eje.cz/pdfarticles/1000/eje_102_2_133_Shi.pdf PDF]

External links

* BugGuide.net: [http://bugguide.net/node/view/42264/bgimage Pictures of Aphoniinae]
* Cedar Creek: [http://www.cedarcreek.umn.edu/insects/album/025014003ap.html Picture of a "Praon" sp.]
* [http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/beneficial/bca_parasitoid.htm brown citrus aphid parasitoid, "Lipolexis scutellaris"] on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site