Cheloninae

Description

Cheloninae consists of small, robust and heavily sculptured wasps. They are usually recognized by a bowl-shaped carapace formed from the first three tergites that covers the largely unsclerotized abdomen (This structure is only missing in Adelius). Most Chelonines are black in color, though the genus Phanerotoma is dominated by reddish to yellow species. Another characteristic of the subfamily is a complete postpectal carina of the mesosternum, a character shared by the closely related Cenocoeliinae which can be distinguished from Cheloninae by the abdomen being inserted unusually high on the propodeum.

The abdominal carapace can also be found in two genera of Brachistinae, Triaspis and Schizoprymnus, though these lack a complete postpectal carina and have forewings with only two submarginal cells while Cheloninae always have three (except Adelius). There are several other genera of different subfamilies wih partial carapaces, though always of a different shape or with the first two tergites not inflexibly joined.

Ecology

All known members of Cheloninae are ectoparasitoids of Lepidoptera, hosts usually being species with concealed larvae such as leaf-miners. Females oviposit the eggs of their hosts while not killing it, normally letting it live until the end of its larval cycle. Many of the hosts are economically important pests, prompting extensive study into using Chelonines as biological pest-control.

Some species are known to inject polydnaviruses while ovipositing to help neutralize the host immune system.

Distribution

Cheloninae is a cosmopolitan subfamily.

Gallery

Ascogaster abdominator, Mölnlycke

Ascogaster albitarsus, Bäckebo

Ascogaster annularis, Hamburgsund

Ascogaster klugii, Kulbäckslidens försökspark

Ascogaster quadridentata, Hjo

Ascogaster rufipes, Ransäter

Ascogaster scabricula, Ransäter

Ascogaster varipes, Mölnlycke

Chelonus corvulus, Tjolöholm

Chelonus gravenhorstii, Gamla skogsby

Chelonus inanitus, Ransäter

Chelonus scabrator, Hjo

Chelonus sp., Torslunda

Phanerotoma dentata, Hamburgsund

Phanerotoma tritoma, Linköping

References

SHAW M.R. & T. HUDDLESTON (1991): Classification and biology of braconid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). — Handbooks of the Identification of British Insects 7 (11): 1-126.

SUBFAMILY CHELONINAE sharkeylab.org (website down). Retrieved 03 Mars 2023

Murphy, Nicholas; Banks, Jonathan C.; Whitfield, James B.; Austin, Andrew 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

SLU Artdatabanken (2024). Artfakta: Cheloninae. https://artfakta.se/taxa/1000065 [2024-04-24]

Finlands Artdatacennter (2024). LAJI.FI: Cheloninae. https://laji.fi/sv/taxon/MX.297053 [2024-04-24]

BugWeb

Cheloninae

Keys

Northern European genera

Gallery

References