Adelius

Adelius Haliday, 1833

Hymenoptera Braconidae Cheloninae Adelius

Description

A small and unusual member of Cheloninae that lacks the hard abdominal carapace that is otherwise characteristic of the subfamily. The head and metasoma are relatively small, antennae long. Eyes setose. Posterior transverse carina on the mesosoma complete. Ovipositor short. Forewings with two submarginal veins and with the venation reduced so that vein RS don’t reach the outer edge.

It is unclear whether there are one or two northern European species. A. subfasciatus is largely black while A. clandestinus has historically been defined by having a lighter coloration. Since intermediate specimens exist these two species might in actuality represent natural variation within one species.

Ecology

All Adelius species with host records are parasitoids of small leaf-rolling Lepidoptera.

Distribution

Adelius has a near-global distribution.

References

Eriksson, M. (2013). The Hymenopteran subfamily Adeliinae (Braconidae): A morphological and ecological study of specimenscollected in Sweden. [Bachelor thesis]. Linneuniversutetet.

Finlands Artdatacenter (2024). LAJI.FI: Adelius. https://laji.fi/sv/taxon/MX.297034 [2024-04-24]

Murphy, N., Banks, J. C., Whitfield, J. B., & Austin, A. D. (2008). Phylogeny of the parasitic microgastroid subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) based on sequence data from seven genes, with an improved time estimate of the origin of the lineage. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 47(1), 378–395.

Shaw, M. R., & Huddleston, T. (1991). Classification and biology of braconid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Handbooks of the Identification of British Insects, Vol. 7, part 11. Royal Entomological Society.

SLU Artdatabanken (2024). Artfakta: Adelius. https://artfakta.se/taxa/1014258 [2024-04-24]

BugWeb

BugWeb

Keys

Northern European species