Drydinid Wasps (Dryinidae) are small (under 10 mm) solitary Wasps found across the globe. Their larvae are parasitoids (i.e. the develop inside the body of a living host), typically of Leafhoppers and other True Bugs (Hemiptera). Drydinid larvae are unusual in that they often outgrow their hosts, protruding from the host body in a sac-like case. Male adult Drydinids are typical Wasps, but the females often lack wings and resemble Ants.
In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 15 March 2013, Chang-Jun Kim and Jong-Wook Lee of the Department of Life-Sciences at Yeungnam University describe a new species of Drydinid Wasp from South Korea, as part of a wider study into Drydinid Wasps of the genus Anteon in South Korea.
The new species is given the name Anteon magnatum, meaning large and wide. Anteon magnatum is a 6.38 mm black and dark brown Drydinid Wasp. As with all members of the genus Anteon, the females are winged and Wasp-like rather than wingless and Ant-like. The species is described from eight specimens, all female, collected from across South Korea.
Anteon magnatum, female in lateral view. Scale bar is 1 mm. Kim & Lee (2013).
See also An invasive American Paper Wasp in northern Spain, A new species of Platygastrid Wasp from South Dakota, A Chalcid Wasp from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, Four new species of Wasp from Cretaceous amber and Two new species of Potter Wasps from Yunnan Province, China.
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