Family SCOLEBYTHIDAE
Compiler and date details
6 July 2012 - Danielle N. Stringer, John T. Jennings & Andrew D. Austin, Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide SA 5005
Introduction
This small, very rarely collected family is known from the genera Clystopsenella and Ycaploca, and only two species from Australia. They are 4–8 mm in length, and can be recognised by the antennae inserted low on the face just above the mouth; the pronotum elongate and neck-like; the prosternum (ventral part of the 1st segment of the mesosoma) visible and diamond-shaped; and both sexes fully winged with the distal venation in the fore wing missing, a pterostigma present, and the hind wing lacking any closed cells. The family has a southern hemisphere distribution and, until recently, its biology was only inferred from collecting records that indicated species may be gregarious ectoparasitoids of wood-boring beetle larvae. However, this has now been confirmed for one species from Brazil.
General References
Azevedo, C.O. 1999. A key to world species of Scolebythidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea), with description of a new species of Dominibythus from Brazil. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 8: 1–5
Melo, G.A.R. 2000. Biology of an extant species of the scolebythid genus Dominibythus (Hymenoptera: Scolebythidae), with a description of its mature larvae. pp. 281–284 in Austin, A. D. & Dowton, M. (eds). Hymenoptera: Evolution, Biodiversity and Biological Control. Collingwood, Victoria : CSIRO 468 pp.
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07-Aug-2012 | 25-Jul-2012 | MODIFIED | ||
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |