''Stylops'' is a genus of obligately

endoparasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

insects in the family

Stylopidae Stylopidae is a family of twisted-winged insects in the order Strepsiptera. There are about 15 genera and more than 330 described species in Stylopidae. Members of Stylopidae are parasitic insects. Host insects of this family that are afflicted ...

. Hosts are typically members of the order

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...

. The name "stylops", used without a capital "s", refers as a common name to any member of the order

Strepsiptera The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with eleven extant families that include about 600 described species. They are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. Females of most species never ...

, and not only the genus ''Stylops''.

Description

Males are 2-3 mm long and black with white wings. Females have no limbs and are only seen from their head and

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the cre ...

poking out of the host bee. Larvae are

triungulin A planidium is a specialized form of insect larva seen in the first-instar of a few families of insects that have parasitoidal ways of life. They are usually flattened, highly sclerotized (hardened), and quite mobile. The function of the plani ...

Life cycle

''Stylops'' larvae emerge from their host bee while the host gathers pollen from flowers. The larvae then attach to other bees in order to be carried back to the nest. At the nest, the ''Stylops'' larvae enter the bodies of bee larvae and develop along with their host. Adult males leave their hosts to mate with females, who remain inside their host and hatch their eggs there.

Species

Many including: * '' Stylops analis'' Perkins, 1918 * '' Stylops andrenaphilus'' Luna de Carvalho, 1974 * '' Stylops ater'' Reichert, 1914 * '' Stylops aterrimus'' Newport, 1851 * '' Stylops borcherti'' Luna de Carvalho, 1974 * '' Stylops dalii'' Curtis, 1828 * '' Stylops deserticola'' Medvedev, 1970 * ''

Stylops dinizi ''Stylops'' is a genus of obligately endoparasitic insects in the family Stylopidae. Hosts are typically members of the order Hymenoptera. The name "stylops", used without a capital "s", refers as a common name to any member of the order Stre ...

'' Luna de Carvalho, 1974 * '' Stylops friesei'' Kirby, 1802 * ''

Stylops gwynanae ''Stylops'' is a genus of obligately endoparasitic insects in the family Stylopidae. Hosts are typically members of the order Hymenoptera. The name "stylops", used without a capital "s", refers as a common name to any member of the order Stre ...

'' Günther, 1957 * '' Stylops hammella'' Perkins, 1918 * ''

Stylops ibericus ''Stylops'' is a genus of obligately endoparasitic insects in the family Stylopidae. Hosts are typically members of the order Hymenoptera. The name "stylops", used without a capital "s", refers as a common name to any member of the order Stre ...

'' Luna de Carvalho, 1969 * ''

Stylops kinzelbachi ''Stylops'' is a genus of obligately endoparasitic insects in the family Stylopidae. Hosts are typically members of the order Hymenoptera. The name "stylops", used without a capital "s", refers as a common name to any member of the order Stre ...