British Insects: the Families of Hymenoptera
| British Insects: the Families of Hymenoptera | |
Chalcid Wasps.
Adults minute to small; 1.5–5.5 mm long.
Head. Antennae geniculate.
Thorax. Pronotum short, not extending back to the tegulae. Cenchri absent. Wings not folding longitudinally. Fore-wings with very reduced venation (reduced to a proximal submarginal vein, which becomes marginal distally before giving off the stigmal vein); combining greatly reduced venation with a conspicuous, blind-ending stigmal vein. Closed fore-wing cells 0. Submarginal cells 0. Discoidal cells 0. Hind-wings without closed cells. Tarsi 5 segmented. Fore tibiae with a curved spur. Hind femur not toothed below; with a clear trochantellus. Hind tibiae not curved around the femora; without specialised spurs.
Abdomen. The abdomen with a marked basal constriction. Visible abdominal segments highly metallic in appearance. Ovipositor of females visibly protruding; adapted for piercing.
Larvae. Larvae with segmented legs; parasitic on hosts selected by the mother (hyper-parasitic on tachinid and ichneumonid parasites).
Classification. Species in Britain 7; genera 1 (Perilampus). Suborder Apocrita; Series Parasitica; Superfamily Chalcidoidea.
Illustrations. • Perilampus ruficornis (Perilampinae: Pale-footed Pallipes: B. Ent. 158). • Perilampus ruficornis (detail: B. Ent. 158). • Perilampus ruficornis (dissections: B. Ent. 158). • Perilampus ruficornis (B. Ent. 158, legend+text).
To view the illustrations with detailed captions, go to the interactive key. This also offers full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. British insects: the families of Hymenoptera. Version: 9th April 2007. http://delta-intkey.com’.
