Family TRACHYPETIDAE Schulz, 1911

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• TRACHYPETIDAE Schulz, W.A. 1911. Zweihundert alte Hymenopteren. Zoologische Annalen. Würzburg 4: 1-220 [85].
  Zoobank Registration Number:http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5418F709-D724-4F14-89D8-1E054D1D27D0

  Type genus:

   Trachypetus Guérin de Méneville, 1831.

Introduction

Trachypetidae was previously treated as a subfamily of Braconidae, one of only two subfamilies of braconids that are endemic to Australia (see also Mesostoinae). In the past, genera have been variously treated; Trachypetus in its own subfamily and Megalohelcon as an aberrant member of the Helconinae. Tobias (1979) described several new taxa and placed them, along with Megalohelcon, in a new subfamily, the Cercobarconinae. In revising the eight known species, Austin et al. (1993) synonymised Cercobarconinae with Trachypetinae. Following a molecular and morphological phylogenetic analysis, and buiulding on a growing consensus that the Trachypetinae fall outside the Braconiodae, Quicke et al. (2020) raised the subfamily to family level, placed as sister to the Braconidae.

Members of the Trachypetidae are large, robust wasps that are superficially ichneumonid- or aculeate-like in appearance. Among other characters, the group possesses unique, specialised sensory pits or plates on the outer surface of the mandibles (Austin et al. 1993). The hosts of trachypetines are unknown, but Austin et al. (1993) speculate that the Hepialidae or Sphingidae are likely groups. Several species are known to have arid-zone distributions and be nocturnal.

General References

Austin, A.D., Wharton, R.A. & Dangerfield, P.C. 1993. Revision of the endemic Australian subfamily Trachypetinae Schulz s.l. (including Cercobarconinae Tobias) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Systematic Entomology 18: 97-119

Quicke, D.L.J., Austin, A.D., Fagan-Jeffries, E.P., Hebert, P.D.N. & Butcher, B.A. 2020. Recognition of the Trachypetidae stat.n. as a new extant family of Ichneumonoidea (Hymenoptera), based on molecular and morphological evidence. Systematic Entomology 45: 771-782

Tobias, V.I. 1979. Two new and one little known subfamilies of Braconidae (Hymenoptera) from Australia. Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie (English translation as Entomological Reviews) 58(1): 128-142

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