Dryinidae is a cosmopolitan family of solitary
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. ...
s. Its name comes from the Greek ''drys'' for
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
:
Latreille named the
type genus
In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.
Zoological nomenclature
According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...
''
Dryinus
''Dryinus'' is a cosmopolitan genus of dryinid parasitic wasp. Over 242 species have been described worldwide. Numerous fossil species have been described from the Baltic, Dominican and Burmese amber
Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Ka ...
'' because the first species was collected in an oak plant in Spain. The larvae are
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 ...
s of the nymphs and adults of
Auchenorrhyncha
The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the ot ...
. Dryinidae comprises approximately 1900 described species, distributed in 17 subfamilies and 53 genera.
Description
The adult wasp can measure from 0.9 to 5.0 mm in length and in some cases can reach 13 mm. The body of the adult wasp has a 'waist' where it is constricted in the middle. The rear legs have spurs which may be used for grooming. The antennae have 10 segments. Many species have a marked
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 ani ...
, where males are totally different from the females in the size and shape of the body.
Males have wings while females are often wingless and resemble worker ants. The
ovipositor
The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...
is retractable and not visible when retracted.
Life history
The female dryinid injects an
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
into the host insect with her ovipositor. Females may also have front legs modified with a pinching apparatus which they use to restrain the hosts for their larvae during oviposition. The larvae are legless or have only vestigial legs. The larva feeds on the internal structures of the host, and as it grows larger it begins to protrude from the body. It develops a hardened sac (called a "thylacium") around its body for protection. The host is eventually killed and the larva leaves the dead body and spins a
cocoon.
[Dryinidae.](_blank)
Identification of Principal Groups of Insects. Discoveries in Natural History & Exploration. UC Riverside.
Gallery
Image:ZooKeys-130-495-g003 Deinodryinus velteni.jpg, '' Deinodryinus velteni'' in amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In ...
Image:Issus.coleoptratus.nymph.with.Dryininae.larva.jpg, ''Issus coleoptratus
''Issus coleoptratus'' is a species of planthopper belonging to the family Issidae.
Distribution and habitat
This common species can be found in the western Palearctic realm, in the Near East, and in North Africa. These insects live on shrubbe ...
'' nymph with dryinid larva under right wing
File:Aphelopus varicornis (9690904230).jpg, '' Aphelopus varicornis''
Image:Dryinus koebelei female.jpg, '' Dryinus koebelei'' female
See also
*''
Gonatopus clavipes''
References
External links
BioLib Incomplete taxon tree
Apocrita families
{{Apocrita-stub