Tiphiinae is one of the two subfamilies of the flower wasp family
Tiphiidae
The Tiphiidae (also known as the tiphiid wasps) are a family of large, solitary wasps whose larvae are parasitoids of various beetle larvae, especially those in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea. Until recently, this family contained several addition ...
, the other being the
Nearctic
The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface.
The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America t ...
Brachycistidinae
Brachycistidinae is a subfamily of the flower wasp family Tiphiidae that contains 10 genera and 85 species, and which is confined to the Nearctic zoogeographic region.
Distinguishing Characters
The wasps in the subfamily Brachycistidinae are d ...
. It is the larger of the two and has a worldwide distribution.
Characteristics
Tiphiinae are small to medium sized solitary wasps, up to 25 mm in length. The eyes are ovate and do not demonstrate emargination. The males have 10-13 antennal segments while the females have 10-12. The antennae may, or may not be, bent at a sharp angle. The thorax is normally coloured orange-red or black and the thorax of the wingless females has distinct dorsal segmentation. The pronotum is long and extends posteriorly towards the
tegulae. The spiracle cover lobes on the pronotum are lined with close fine hairs. There is no suture on the
mesopleuron
The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on ...
. Wings are present in all males but females may be winged or wingless. If wings are present they are not folded longitudinally. Fore-wings have a distinct
pterostigma
The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer insect wing, wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonfly, dragonfli ...
; and the wing venation is well developed. The legs show a fore femur which is not obviously thickened.
Taxonomy
The following genera are among those included in the Tiphiinae:
*''
Cabaraxa''
Nagy, 1974
*''
Cyanotiphia''
Cameron, 1907
*''
Epomidiopteron''
Romand, 1835
*''
Icronatha''
Nagy, 1967
*''
Krombeinia''
Pate, 1947
*''
Ludita''
Nagy, 1967
*''
Mallochessa''
Allen, 1972
*''
Megatiphia''
Kimsey, 1993
*''
Neotiphia''
Malloch, 1918
*''
Paratiphia''
Sichel, 1864
*''
Pseudotiphia''
Ashmead 1903
*''
Tiphia
''Tiphia'' is a genus of wasps belonging to the family Tiphiidae subfamily Tiphiinae. They feed on soil-inhabiting scarab beetle larvae.
The species ''Tiphia vernalis'' (Spring Tiphia) has been introduced in the United States from Korea and Chi ...
''
Fabricius, 1775
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q21225653
Apocrita subfamilies
Tiphiidae