braconidae biology

8/10/2019 Braconidae biology

1/90


2/90

EPICNEMIAL CARINA


3/90


4/90


5/90


6/90


7/90

Adeliinae

All of the species so far knownare solitary endoparasitoids of

leaf-mining moths, especially

(perhaps exclusively) of the

family Nepticulidae (Whitfield

and Wagner, 1991), and theyemerge from the host cocoon.

At least some of the species

resemble ants when they run

about on plants, and one species

is known to produce a formic

acid-like odor when handled

(Whitfield, 1989).


8/90

Agathidinae

Members of the Agathidinae are solitary

koinobiont endoparasitoids of concealed

lepidopterous larvae except for members

of the tribe Disophrini which attack free-

living larvae. Members of the tribes

Agathidini, Earinini, and Eumicrodini

attack the first or second instar larvae of

their hosts; those of the Disophrini attack

later instars, and members of Cremnoptini

appear to be able to parasitize any larval

stage. In all cases the adult parasitoid

emerges after the final instar of the host

has spun its cocoon (Nickels et al., 1950;Dondale, 1954; Odebiyi and Oatman,

1972, 1977). Most species are diurnal but

many members of the Disophrini are

nocturnal with typical pale coloration and

enlarged ocelli.


9/90


10/90


11/90

Alysiinae

All alysiines are koinobiont

endoparasitoids of cyclorrhaphousDiptera. They oviposit in host larvae

or eggs and emerge from the

puparium. Most species are solitary,

but several of the species of

AphaeretaFoerster are gregarious.

The Alysiini use a wide variety of

cyclorrhaphous hosts, often in moist

habitats and decaying, ephemeral

substrates.


12/90


13/90


14/90

Aphidiinae

Aphidiines have been reared

extensively; all are solitary,koinobiont endoparasitoids of adult

and immature aphids.


15/90


16/90


17/90

Apozyginae

The biology ofA. penyaiis

unknown but due to its

basal phylogenetic position

within the Braconidae and

its general similarity tosome members of the

Doryctinae (Sharkey 1993)

it may be an idiobiont

ectoparasitoid ofxylophagous coleopterous

larvae.


18/90

Betylobraconinae

Biology unknown.Probably

enodparasitic on lepidopterous

larvae


19/90


20/90


21/90

BraconinaeAs far as is known, all New World

braconines are idiobiont ectoparasitoidsof concealed holometabolous insect

larvae, especially of the Lepidoptera and

Coleoptera, though a few species,

mostly in the genusBracon, attack

concealed dipterous or sawfly larvae.

Braconines are synovigenic and theirlarge eggs are usually laid on the host

which was previously paralyzed by

injection of venom. Host feeding

appears to be quite common among the

smaller species and sometimes involves

the construction of feeding tubes. Bothsolitary and gregarious parasitism occur,

sometimes with closely related species

displaying different strategies.


22/90


23/90


24/90

CardiochilinaeAll of the species for which host data are

available parasitize the larvae of Lepidoptera.

As far as is known, all of the species are

solitary, internal parasitoids, attacking the early

instar larvae and emerging from the late instar

larvae or prepupae. The known hosts are most

commonly from the Pyralidae and Noctuidae,

but a number of other host groups have been

recorded. All species appear to carrypolydnaviruses (Stoltz et al., 1984) with which

they compromise the immune system and

physiology of their host insects. The most fully

studied species is Toxoneuron(usually referred

to as Cardiochiles)nigriceps(Viereck), a

parasitoid of the tobacco budworm,Heliothisvirescens.


25/90


26/90

Cenocoeliinae

As far as known, all species aresolitary koinobiont

endoparasitoids of coleopteran

larvae with an endophytic way

of life. Most of the host records

for Nearctic species are fromCerambycidae, but some

Neotropical species have been

reared from seed-eating

Curculionidae.


27/90

Capitonius


28/90


29/90


30/90


31/90


32/90

Dirrhopinae

The only host records are fromleaf-mining moth larvae of the

family Nepticulidae.


33/90

DoryctinaeVery little is known about the habits of this

subfamily relative to the number of

described species. Most species appear to be

idiobiont ectoparasitoids of wood-boring

beetle larvae but a few attack stem boring

lepidopterous and sawfly larvae. The host

larva is paralyzed before the egg is

deposited and the parasitoid cocoon isusually formed in the host tunnel or mine.

One described and several undescribed

species of the genusAllorhogasare

phytophagous in seeds. Species of

Psenobolushave been reared from figs in

Costa Rica where they display extremesexual dimorphism in the males, similar to

that found in chalcid fig wasps.


34/90


35/90


36/90


37/90


38/90


39/90


40/90


41/90


42/90


43/90


44/90

Gnamptodontinae

Gnamptodontines have been rearedexclusively from leaf-mining

Lepidoptera of the family

Nepticulidae. Although apparently

koinobiont parasitoids (Shaw and

Huddleston, 1991), it is not yetknown whether gnamptodontines are

endo- or ectoparasitic. Detailed

biological studies are lacking.


45/90


46/90


47/90


48/90


49/90


50/90


51/90


52/90


53/90

HisteromerinaeObservations on the Eurasian species

H. mystacinusWesmael indicate that

Histeromerinae are gregarious

idiobiont ectoparasitoids of wood-

inhabiting beetle larvae, prepupae

and pupae. Hosts are paralyzed and

the female appears to remain with asingle host after oviposition. Shaw

(1995) suggested that the ovipositor

may not be used for oviposition but

rather that the egg may emerge

directly from the genital orifice at the

ovipositor base.


54/90

Homolobinae

Homolobines are solitary, koinobiont

endoparasitoids of Lepidoptera. Noctuidae

and Geometridae are the most commonly

recorded hosts ofHomolobus. Most species

are nocturnal.


55/90


56/90

HormiinaeAll of the genera treated here are either

known to be or suspected to be

ectoparasitoids, usually attacking

concealed hosts. An important exception

isMonitoriella Hedqvist, which is

phytophagous. Many or most species

usually placed in the Rhyssalini,Hormiini, Pambolini and probably also

Hydrangeocolini are gregarious. Most of

the Hormiinae are also idiobionts and

develop rapidly on late-instar host larvae.

As far as is known, the vast majority of

the species parasitize hosts that areconcealed in some way (e.g. leaf-miners,

leaf-rollers, leaf-tiers, stem borers, seed

borers, gall formers, or borers in fungi).


57/90

Pambolus


58/90


59/90

Ichneutinae

Most members of the Ichneutinae are

koinobiont endoparasites of sawfliesof the families Argidae and

Tenthredinidae, however one lineage,

comprised of the genera

Oligoneurus,Paroligoneurus, and

Lispixys, has switched to leaf-mininglepidopterous hosts. The few species

with known biologies suggest that all

members of the family may be egg-

larval parasitoids, attacking the egg

but emerging from the last larvalinstar.


60/90


61/90


62/90


63/90


64/90

Masoninae

Biology unknown.


65/90

Mendesellinae

Only one species of thesubfamily has been reared

from its host. Epsilogaster

bicoloris a parasitoid of a

momphid (Lepidoptera)stem galler on Cephalanthus

occidentalis(buttonbush).


66/90


67/90

M i


68/90

Meteorinae

The Meteorinae are solitary or gregarious

koinobiont endoparasitoids of larval

Coleoptera or Lepidoptera, and many species

ofMeteorushave broad host ranges. The vast

majority of meteorines are solitary parasitoids

attacking exophytic (exposed-feeding)

lepidopteran larvae, and many are nocturnal.

Others utilize hosts that are only weaklyconcealed (e.g. in leaf rolls or under

webbing). The solitary parasitoids of arboreal

Lepidoptera typically emerge from the host

larva and pupate away from the host remains

in a cocoon that is often suspended by a long

slender thread, and it is from this

characteristic cocoon that the genusMeteorus

gained its name.


69/90


70/90


71/90

Mi t i


72/90

Microgastrinae

Microgastrine species attack virtually the

entire taxonomic and biological spectrum of

Lepidoptera, with the possible exception of

Hepialidae and a few other primitive

lineages of Lepidoptera. All species are

koinobiont, endoparasitoids of larvae, and

exit the host to pupate. A few species spin

their cocoons within the cocoon or shelter ofthe prepupal host. The majority of the

species are solitary, but a very large number

of species are gregarious, and from larger

hosts such as Sphingidae and Saturniidae,

hundreds of larvae may emerge to spin theircocoons either singly or in masses, and the

structure of these cocoon masses can be

diagnostic.


73/90


74/90


75/90


76/90

Microtypinae

As far as is known, all species aresolitary koinobiont endoparasitoids of

microlepidopteran larvae with an

endophytic way of life. The known

hosts of Microtypinae belong to the

lepidopteran families Pyralidae,Tortricidae, Gelechiidae, and

Yponomeutidae.


77/90

Miracinae

Many of the species have beenreared, always from leaf-miners,

usually from Nepticulidae or

Heliozelidae but also from some

Gracillariidae and Tischeriidae.The larvae are endoparasitoids;

the adults emerge from the host

cocoon.


78/90

Opiinae


79/90

Opiinae

Opiines oviposit in either the egg or

larval stage of their host and emergefrom the host puparium. Solitary

endoparasitoids, with the vast majority

of the rearings from either

Agromyzidae or Tephritidae. Although

at least 13 other families of Dipterahave been recorded as hosts of the

Opiinae (Fischer, 1971), many of these,

particularly from the earlier literature,

need confirmation.


80/90

Most Opiinae


81/90


82/90


83/90


84/90

Orgilinae


85/90

Orgilinae

As far as known, all species are

solitary koinobiont endoparasites

of lepidopteran larvae. The

largest genus, Orgilus, contains

species attacking

microlepidopteran larvae with a

partly endophytic way of life,especially those with leaf-mining

or tunnelling early instars, whose

activities are detectable by

extruded frass. The known hosts

of Orgilinae belong toColeophoridae, Gelechiidae,

Tortricidae, Pyralidae and

Oecophoridae.


86/90


87/90


88/90


89/90

Sigalphinae

Members of the Sigalphinae arekoinobiont endoparasites of larval

Noctuidae (Lepidoptera).

Cushman (1913) observed first

instar larvae being attacked by

Sigalphus bicolor(Cresson)though no adults were successfully

reared. Van Achterberg and

Austin's (1992) hypothesis that

sigalphines may be egg-larval

parasites because they have acarapace-like metasoma appears

somewhat contradicted by this

evidence.

Ypsistocerinae


90/90

Ypsistocerinae

All known species in two of the three

genera, viz. Ypsistocerus manni,Y.

vestigialisand Termitobracon

emersoni, have been recorded from

nests ofNasutitermesspecies.

Whether ypsistocerines are actually

parasitoids of the termites themselves

rather than of some group of

inquilines, is unknown.

braconidae biology

Documents