Family BETHYLIDAE

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Introduction

There are some 2,200 species of bethylids worldwide and they are particularly abundant in the tropics. Over 50 species are described for Australia. They are generally small to medium-sized (2–8 mm) and are characterised by lacking an elongate neck, having 12–13-segmented antennae, the pronotum extending posterior to the tegulae or the tegulae being absent, and having at least seven visible metasomal tergites. In addition, the head is usually prognathous (facing forwards), and the sexes are often strongly sexually dimorphic with males usually being fully winged (rarely brachypterous or with reduced wings), while females may be fully winged, brachypterous or apterous (wingless). Reduced-winged species often have very small eyes and are ant-like, except they lack the nodiform waist of Formicidae.

Bethylids are ectoparasitoids of larvae, and occasionally pupae, of Coleoptera (beetles) and Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). Reduced-winged species are commonly collected in leaf litter. Several bethylids have been used in biological control programs. For example, Goniozus jacintae, has been used in Australia and introduced to New Zealand for the control of lightbrown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Tortricidae).

Jennings & Austin (2015) list 26 unidentified species from Lord Howe Island in the Australian Museum.

General References

Azevedo, C.O. 2005. A new species of Allobethylus (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) from Australia, with a key to world species. Zootaxa 1064: 25–30

Azevedo, C.O. 2006. Two new genera of Sclerodermini (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae; Epyrinae) with large, scolebythid-like prosternums. Zootaxa 1191: 35-47

Azevedo, C.O. & Barbosa, D.N. 2010. Two new species Pararhabdepyris Gorbatovskii (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Australia and Thailand. Zootaxa 2668: 55–62

Barbosa, D.N. & Azevedo, C.O. 2011. Phylogeny and reclassification of Laelius (Hymenoptera:Bethylidae) and description of four new species. Insect Systematics and Evolution 42: 237–275

Danthanarayana, W. 1980. Parasitism of the light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), by its larval ectoparasite, Goniozus jacintae Farrugia (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae), in natural populations in Victoria. Australian Journal of Zoology 28: 685–692

Gordh, G. & Moczar, L. 1990. A catalog of the world Bethylidae (Hymenoptera: Aculeata). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. Gainesville, Florida : American Entomological Institute Vol. 46 pp. 364.

Jennings, J.T. & Austin, A.D. 2015. Synopsis of the hymenopteran fauna of Lord Howe Island with a preliminary checklist of species. Zootaxa 3931(3): 423–432

Terayama, M. 2004. Descriptions of new taxa and distribution records of the family Bethylidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) II. Subfamily Bethylinae and fossil taxa. Academic Reports Tokyo Polytechnic University Faculty of Engineering 27: 39-52

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