Platygastridae

Taxobox
name = Platygastridae
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
subordo = Apocrita
superfamilia = Platygastroidea
familia = Platygastridae
subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
subdivision = see text

The Hymenopteran family Platygastridae (sometimes incorrectly spelled Platygasteridae) is a large group (over 1100 species) of exclusively parasitoid wasps, mostly very small (1-2 mm), black, and shining, with elbowed antennae that have an 8-segmented flagellum. The wings most often lack venation, though they may have slight fringes of setae.

There are two subfamilies, the Platygastrinae and the Sceliotrachelinae. The former subfamily includes some 40 genera, all of which are koinobionts on cecidomyiid flies; the wasp oviposits in the host's egg or early instar larva, and the wasp larva completes development when the host reaches the prepupal or pupal stage. The latter subfamily is much smaller, including some 20 genera, and they typically have the rudiments of a vein in the forewings. They are generally idiobionts, attacking the eggs of either beetles or Hemiptera.

External Links

* [http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/beneficial/amitus_hesperidum.htm a citrus blackfly parasitoid, "Amitus hesperidum"] on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site