Blacini is a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

of braconid

Parasitoid wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causin ...

s. Formerly the subfamily Blacinae, this group was demoted to a tribe and placed within the

Brachistinae Brachistinae is a subfamily of braconid wasps in the family Braconidae. The genera of Brachistinae were formerly classified under the subfamily Blacinae, which became the tribe Blacini, and tribes Diospilini, Brulleiini and Brachistini of the s ...

based on molecular evidence in 2011.

Description and distribution

Members of this tribe are tiny and generally black or brown in color. They have non-cyclostome mouthparts and a carina, or ridge, along the back of the head. These wasps have a worldwide distribution. The genus ''Blacus'' is by far the most common and has a cosmopolitan range, with about 40 described species in the New World. The other genera are more restricted, and mostly found in South and Central America.

Biology

Little is known about the biology of species within Blacini, but ''Blacus'' species are known to be parasitoids of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e. Two species of the genus ''Dyscoletes'' Halyday are parasitoids of ''

Boreus ''Boreus'' is the most diverse of three genera of insects in the family Boreidae. They are commonly known as winter scorpionflies due to their close relation to the true scorpionflies and preference for cold habitats. Description and distribu ...

'' larvae. Males of some ''Blacus'' species are known to form mating swarms.

Species

These genera are members of the tribe Blacini: * '' Aspicolpus'' Wesmael, 1838^{c g} * '' Aspigonus'' Wesmael, 1835^{c g} * '' Blacometeorus'' Tobias, 1976^{c g} * '' Blacus'' Nees von Esenbeck, 1818^{c g b} * ''

Diospilus ''Diospilus'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Braconidae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in ...

'' Haliday, 1833^{c g b} * ''

Eubazus ''Eubazus'' is a genus of braconid wasps in the family Braconidae The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,00 ...

'' Nees von Esenbeck, 1812^{c g b} * '' Foersteria'' Szépligeti, 1896^{i c g} * '' Schizoprymnus'' Förster, 1862^{c g b} * '' Taphaeus'' Wesmael, 1835^{c g} * '' Triaspis'' Haliday, 1838^{c g b} * '' Vadumasonium'' Kammerer, 2006^{c g} Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

External links

BugGuide.net. Tribe Blacini

DNA barcodes at BOLD systems
Braconidae Parasitica tribes {{Ichneumonoidea-stub