Dirhinus Giffardii on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Dirhinus'' is a genus of parasitic wasps in the family Chalcididae. The genus has a worldwide distribution.
These chalcids are
There are about 70 described species:
parasitoids
In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasi ...
of flies; most of the host species are flies that develop in vertebrate corpses, and many are associated with humans ( Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae and Muscidae). Flies from the Tephritidae
The Tephritidae are one of two fly families referred to as fruit flies, the other family being the Drosophilidae. The family Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus ''Drosophila'' (in the family Drosophilidae), w ...
and Glossinidae
Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glos ...
are also parasitized.
Female ''Dirhinus'' wasps target the host flies while they pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
te in the soil (after the 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 ...
l stage is complete); the wasp reaches the pupa by digging in the soil with her horns and an egg is laid on the body of the fly pupa, within its puparium
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
.
Species
There are about 70 described species:
References
Hymenoptera genera Chalcidoidea {{chalcidoidea-stub