Rhyssa

Rhyssa
	Rhyssa persuasoria - Female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Hexapoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Ichneumonidae
Subfamily:	Rhyssinae
Genus:	Rhyssa; Gravenhorst, 1829
Synonyms
	Cryptocentrum Kirby, 1837; Pararhyssa Walsh, 1873;

Rhyssa is a genus of ichneumon wasps belonging to the family Ichneumonidae subfamily Rhyssinae.

Etymology

The Latin name of the genus comes from the Greek and means "wrinkled".

Description

Female of this parasitic species drills deep into wood by its hair thin ovipositor (terebra) and lays its eggs on larvae living in timber, which become a food supply and an incubator for the progeny, until it is fully grown.

Distribution

Species of this genus are present in most of Europe, in the Australian Region, in the Near East, in the Nearctic ecozone in the Oriental ecozone and in North Africa.

Selected species

Rhyssa alaskensis Ashmead, 1902
Rhyssa amoena Gravenhorst, 1829
Rhyssa crevieri Provancher, 1880
Rhyssa curvipes Gravenhorst, 1829
Rhyssa hoferi Rohwer, 1920
Rhyssa howdenorum Townes, 1960
Rhyssa kriechbaumeri Ozols, 1973
Rhyssa lineolata Kirby, 1837
Rhyssa nigricornis Ratzeburg, 1852
Rhyssa nigritarsis
Rhyssa persuasoria Linnaeus, 1758
Rhyssa petiolata Brues, 1906
Rhyssa ponderosae Townes 1960

References