Platygastridae

Platygastridae Temporal range:
Platygaster pupae inside gall
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Superfamily:	Platygastroidea
Family:	Platygastridae Haliday, 1833
Subfamilies
Platygastrinae Scelioninae Sceliotrachelinae Teleasinae Telenominae incertae sedis

The hymenopteran family Platygastridae (sometimes incorrectly spelled Platygasteridae) is a large group (over 4000 species) of exclusively parasitoid wasps, mostly very small (1–2 mm), black, and shining, with elbowed antennae that have an eight-segmented flagellum. The wings sometimes lack venation, though they may have slight fringes of setae.

Platygaster sp. in copula

The traditional subfamilies are the Platygastrinae and the Sceliotrachelinae. The former subfamily includes some 40 genera, all of which are koinobionts on cecidomyiid flies; the wasp oviposits in the host's egg or early instar larva, and the wasp larva completes development when the host reaches the prepupal or pupal stage. The latter subfamily is much smaller, including some 20 genera, and they typically have the rudiments of a vein in the forewings. They are generally idiobionts, attacking the eggs of either beetles or Hemiptera.

The former family Scelionidae is now considered to be another subfamily of Platygastridae, along with the subfamilies Teleasinae and Telenominae. The oldest known record of the group is an indeterminate specimen from the Burmese amber.

• 
  Platygaster sp. female
• 
  Platygaster sp. on goldenrod (Solidago)
• 
  Trissolcus sp. on Chinavia eggs

References

• Peter N. Buhl and David G. Notton, 2009 A revised catalogue of the Platygastridae of the British Isles Journal of Natural History Vol. 43, Nos. 27-28,1651-1703 [1]

External links

• a citrus blackfly parasitoid, Amitus hesperidum on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
• Baeus latrodecti Dozier on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site