''Methocha'' is a genus of
parasitoid
In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...
s in the family
Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of
tiger beetles.
Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are winged.
Biology
Female ''Methocha'' actively hunt over the ground for burrows containing tiger beetle larvae, which are
ambush predators; the wasp entices the beetle larva into attacking, evades being bitten, and quickly moves in and stings the larva in its vulnerable underside, paralyzing it. It then lays an egg on the immobile beetle larva, and the wasp larva consumes it.
[E.O. Wilson, D.J. Farish (1973) Predatory behaviour in the ant-like wasp ''Methocha stygia'' (Say) (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae). ''Animal Behaviour'' 21(2):292-295. DOI:10.1016/S0003-3472(73)80069-7]
Species
* ''
Methocha alutacea
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Linnaeus
* ''
Methocha anomala
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Krombein
* ''
Methocha californica
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Westwood, 1881
* ''
Methocha formosa
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Krombein, 1954
* ''
Methocha ichneumonides
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Latreille, 1804
* ''
Methocha impolita
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Krombein, 1958
* ''
Methocha krombeini
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 2021[(2021)]
A taxonomic study of Methocha Latreille (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Methochinae) from India with description of three new species
Zootaxa. 4999. 258-272. 10.11646/zootaxa.4999.3.5.
* ''
Methocha paraceylonica
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 2021
* ''
Methocha shyamagatra
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 2021
* ''
Methocha stygia
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
(Say, 1836)
* ''
Methocha uchinanensis
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Terayamma & Mita, 2015
* ''
Methocha yaeyamensis
''Methocha'' is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are w ...
''
Terayamma & Mita, 2015
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4044148
Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera genera