Embolemidae

Embolemidae is a small family of around 64 species and 3 genera distributed around the world.[1] They are small solitary parasitoid wasps, and are parasites on planthopper nymphs of the families Achilidae and Cixiidae.[2]

Embolemidae Temporal range: Barremian–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Embolemus nearcticus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Superfamily:	Chrysidoidea
Family:	Embolemidae Förster, 1856
Genera
Ampulicomorpha Ashmead, 1893 Embolemus Westwood, 1833 Trogloembolemus Olmi, Mita and Guglielmino, 2014

Biology

Females are wingless while males have wings, and in temperate regions emerge later than the females, which overwinter as adults.[3] The wingless females have been recorded from the nests of ants and small mammal burrows,[1] or under stones in pastures and grasslands and they appear to act as ant mimics. A Palearctic species, Embolemus ruddii, has been found in association with the ant species Formica fusca and Lasius flavus, while in Japan, Embolemus walkeri was taken in a nest of another ant, from the genus Myrmica.[4] A Nearctic species, Embolemus confusus, has been reared from nymphs of a planthopper in the family Achilidae, where the host fed on fungi beneath the bark of rotting logs. The wasp larva lives in a bulging sac attached to the host nymph between the second and third segments.[4][5]

Fossil species

After[2]

• Ampulicomorpha Ashmead 1893
  • †Ampulicomorpha janzeni Olmi et al. 2014 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Ampulicomorpha perialla Ortega-Blanco et al. 2011 Spanish amber, Albian
  • †Ampulicomorpha quesnoyensis Chény, Guillam, Nel and Perrichot, 2020 Oise amber, France, Ypresian
  • †Ampulicomorpha succinalis Brues 1933 Baltic amber, Rovno amber, Eocene
• †Baissobius Rasnitsyn 1975
  • †Baissobius carolianus Rasnitsyn 1996 Dzun-Bain Formation, Mongolia, Aptian
  • †Baissobius minimus Rasnitsyn 1996 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
  • †Baissobius minutus Olmi et al. 2010 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
  • †Baissobius parvus Rasnitsyn 1975 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
• †Cretembolemus Olmi et al. 2014
  • †Cretembolemus orapensis Olmi et al. 2014 Orapa, Botswana, Turonian
• †Embolemopsis Olmi et al. 2010
  • †Embolemopsis baissensis Olmi et al. 2010 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
  • †Embolemopsis maryannae Olmi, Jarzembowski, Capradossi and Perkovsky, 2020 Wealden amber, Wessex Formation, United Kingdom, Barremian
• Embolemus Westwood 1833
  • †Embolemus burmensis Perkovsky, Olmi, Müller, Guglielmino and Rasnitsyn, 2020 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus cretacicus Perkovsky, Olmi, Müller, Guglielmino and Rasnitsyn, 2020 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus excitus Perrichot and Engel 2011 Baltic amber, Eocene
  • †Embolemus ohmkuhnlei Perkovsky, Olmi, Müller, Guglielmino and Rasnitsyn, 2020 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus zherikhini Perkovsky, Olmi, Müller, Guglielmino and Rasnitsyn, 2020 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
• †Ponomarenkoa Olmi 2010
  • †Ponomarenkoa ellenbergeri Olmi et al. 2013 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Ponomarenkoa polonica Ponomarenko 1988 Baltic amber, Eocene

References

1. Simon van Noort (2017). "Embolemidae". WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the Afrotropical region. Iziko Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
2. Perkovsky, Evgeny E.; Olmi, Massimo; Müller, Patrick; Guglielmino, Adalgisa; Jarzembowski, Edmund A.; Capradossi, Leonardo; Rasnitsyn, Alexandr P. (November 2020). "A review of the fossil Embolemidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea), with description of seven new species and history of the family". Cretaceous Research: 104708. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104708.
3. J.T. Burn (1997). "Embolemus ruddii (Westwood,1833)". Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
4. C. van Achterberg; R.J.M. van Kats (2000). "Revision of the Palaearctic Embolemidae (Hymenoptera)". Zoologische Mededelingen. 74: 251–269.
5. "HYMENOPTERA, Embolemidae (Chrysidoidea) (formerly Bethyloidea)". University of California, Riverside. Retrieved 8 July 2017.