Subfamily Euphorinae

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Introduction

This is a moderately speciose subfamily comprising mostly small to medium braconids. The group can be recognised by having an open subdiscal cell in the fore wing, and many species have a petiolate metasoma. The genus Meteorus is included in this subfamily but is often treated as a separate group, even though it is definitely placed as the basal genus to the remaining euphorines.

The subfamily is worldwide in distribution and the Australian fauna is diverse, although largely undescribed. Euphorines are endoparasitoids of beetle or lepidopteran larvae, and numerous species have been used as biological control agents. Stigenberg et al.( 2015) presented results of a molecular analysis of the phylogeny of the subfamily, and discussed the evolution of its host preferences.

General References

Huddleston, T. & Short, J.R.T. 1978. A new genus of Euphorinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Australia, with a description of the final instar larva of one species. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 17: 317-321

Shaw, S.R. 1985. A phylogenetic study of the subfamilies Meteorinae and Euphorinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Entomography 3: 277-370

Stigenberg, J., Boring, C.A. & Ronquist, F. 2015. Phylogeny of the parasitic wasp subfamily Euphorinae (Braconidae) and evolution of its host preferences. Systematic Entomology 40: 570–591

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