Brachycistidinae is a subfamily 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 ...

that contains 10 genera and 85 species, and which is confined to 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 ...

zoogeographic Zoogeography is the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with geographic distribution (present and past) of animal species. As a multifaceted field of study, zoogeography incorporates methods of molecular biology, genetics, mor ...

region.

Distinguishing Characters

The wasps in the subfamily Brachycistidinae are distinguished from the subfamily

Tiphiinae Tiphiinae is one of the two subfamilies of the flower wasp family Tiphiidae, the other being the Nearctic Brachycistidinae. It is the larger of the two and has a worldwide distribution. Characteristics Tiphiinae are small to medium sized solitar ...

by having simple claws and the lack of an epicnemial suture, while the tegulae do not cover the axillary

sclerite A sclerite (Greek , ', meaning " hard") is a hardened body part. In various branches of biology the term is applied to various structures, but not as a rule to vertebrate anatomical features such as bones and teeth. Instead it refers most commonly ...

s of the fore wings. These wasps demonstrate extreme

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

; the females resemble ants and are wingless, while the males are winged and nocturnal. These extreme differences between the sexes have led to instances where the males and females are described as separate species, known as "dual taxonomy", and later work shows the two "species" to be synonymous. The identification of both sexes as a single species is often only achieved when they are collected ''in copula''.

Biology

The female wasps of the family Tiphiidae are mainly

ectoparasitic 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 ha ...

on fossorial beetle larvae, especially members of the family

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

and

carabid Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal fa ...

subfamily Cicindelinae, known as tiger beetles. The nocturnal, winged males are often attracted to lights, so are well represented in museum collections; the wingless females mainly live underground and are more difficult to collect, although they do emerge at night when they may also be attracted to lights. Few observations of the hosts of Brachycistidinae have been made, but a female of the genus '' Stilbopogon'' was observed stinging a beetle larva that was identified as belonging to a species of

darkling beetle Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number of species in the Tenebrionidae is estimated at more than 20,000 and the family is cosmopolitan in distribution. Taxonomy ''Tenebrio'' is the Latin ge ...

probably a species within the genus '' Eusattus''.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the subfamily is difficult to resolve due to similarity of the structures of the species and their lack of distinctive colouration and patterning. However, the males show a number of distinguishing characters in the structures of their genitalia, heads, thoraces, and the venation of their wings.

Taxonomy according to Kimsey and Wasbauer (2006)

The following genera are currently placed within the Brachycistidinae in two well-supported

clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English te ...

Clade one

*'' Brachymaya'' Kimsey & Wasbauer 1999 *'' Hadrocistis'' Wasbauer, 1968 *'' Brachycistina'' Malloch, 1926

Clade two

*'' Paraquemaya'' Kimsey & Wasbauer, 1999 *'' Brachycistellus'' Baker, 1907 *'' Dolichetropis'' Wasbauer, 1968 *'' Sedomaya'' Kimsey & Wasbauer, 1999 *'' Brachycistis'' Fox, 1893 *'' Acanthetropis'' Wasbauer, 1958 *'' Colocistis'' Krombein, 1942

Taxonomy according to Kimsey (2006)

A phylogenetic analysis using females suggested a different phylogeny, but the true relationships of the genera in the subfamily will probably remain uncertain until a DNA based phylogenetic study can be undertaken. The female-based phylogeny was:

Clade one

*''Colocistis'' Krombein, 1942 *''Brachycistis'' Fox, 1893 *'' Glyptacros'' Mickel & Krombein, 1942

Clade two

*'' Stilbopogon'' Mickel & Krombein, 1942 *Unnamed Genus A

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21226547 Tiphiidae