Braconid Wasps are small parasitic Wasps which can typically lay several eggs on a large host species (typically another Insect or Spider). The larval Wasps grow inside the host, before emerging to pupate on its surface; unusually for parasitic Wasps the host is not usually killed. Braconid Wasps of the Afro-tropical region are very poorly understood, with little taxonomic sampling in many areas, and no overall phylogenetic analysis of relationships between different groups having been carried out to date.
In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 16 July 2014, Miles Zhang and Barbara Sharanowski of the Department of Entomology at the University of Manitoba, describe a new species of Braconid Wasp from the Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar.
The new species is placed in the genus Eudiospilus, which currently contains only a single species found in Cameroon and Angola, and is given the specific name rubrumbarus, meaning ‘Red Baron’ in honour of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, due to the resemblance of the head colouration to a leather aviator helmet. Eudiospilus rubrumbarus is described from two female specimens. These are 6.5 mm in length and bright yellow in colour except for the head which is black.
Eudiospilus rubrumbarus in lateral view. Zhang & Sharanowski (2014).
See also…
Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (i.e. Wasps whose larvae mature inside the living bodies of other insects, which generally die as a result) related to the more familiar Ichneumon Wasps, but much smaller. They have a formidable appearance, but are in fact stingless, making them harmless to non-host species. There are about...
Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (i.e. Wasps whose larvae mature inside the living bodies of other insects, which generally die as a result) related to the more familiar Ichneumon Wasps, but much smaller. They have a formidable appearance, but are in fact stingless, making them harmless to non-host species. There are about 150 000 known species found across the globe.
Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East.Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (Wasp's whose larvae grow inside the bodies of other insects) related to Ichneumon Wasps, but...
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