Psolodesmus mandarinus mandarinus with female of Hydrophylita emporos - journal

The Trichogrammatidae are a family of tiny wasps in the Chalcidoidea that include some of the smallest of all

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s, with most species having adults less than 1 mm in length, with species of '' Megaphragma'' having an adult body length less than 300 μm. The over 840 species are placed in about 80 genera; their distribution is worldwide. Trichogrammatids parasitize the

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

of many different orders of insects. As such, they are among the more important

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also i ...

agents known, attacking many pest insects (especially Lepidoptera). They are not strong fliers and are generally moved through the air by the prevailing winds. Their fore wings are typically somewhat stubby and paddle-shaped, with a long fringe of hinged

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for " bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. ...

e around the outer margin to increase the surface area during the downstroke. Males of some species are wingless, and mate with their sisters inside the host egg in which they are born, dying without ever leaving the host egg. Trichogrammatidae have unique

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes ...

s resulting from the necessity to conserve space. They have one of the smallest

s, with one particularly diminutive species, '' Megaphragma mymaripenne'', containing as few as 7,400 neurons. They are also the first (and only) known animals which have functioning

neuron A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa. ...

s without nuclei. The neurons develop during

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...

tion with functional nuclei and manufacture enough

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...

s to last through the short lifespans of the adults. Before emerging as an adult, the nuclei are destroyed, allowing the wasp to conserve space by making the neurons smaller. Even without nuclei (which contain the DNA, essential for manufacturing proteins to repair damage in living cells), the neurons can survive because the proteins manufactured as a pupa are sufficient. Their fossil record extends back to the Eocene aged

Baltic amber The Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber, called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than ...

Genera

* '' Adelogramma'' * '' Adryas'' * '' Aphelinoidea'' * '' Apseudogramma'' * '' Asynacta'' * '' Australufens'' * '' Bloodiella'' * '' Brachista'' * '' Brachistagrapha'' * '' Brachygrammatella'' * '' Brachyia'' * '' Brachyufens'' * '' Burksiella'' * '' Centrobiopsis'' * '' Ceratogramma'' * '' Chaetogramma'' * '' Chaetostricha'' * '' Chaetostrichella'' * '' Densufens'' * '' Doirania'' * '' Emeria'' * '' Enneagmus'' * '' Epoligosita'' * '' Epoligosita'' * '' Eteroligosita'' * '' Eutrichogramma'' * '' Haeckeliania'' * '' Hayatia'' * '' Hispidophila'' * '' Hydrophylita'' * '' Ittys'' * '' Ittysella'' * '' Japania'' * '' Kyuwia'' * '' Lathromeris'' * '' Lathromeroidea'' * '' Lathromeromyia'' * '' Megaphragma'' * '' Microcaetiscus'' * '' Mirufens'' * '' Monorthochaeta'' * '' Neobrachista'' * '' Neobrachistella'' * '' Neocentrobia'' * '' Neocentrobiella'' * '' Neolathromera'' * '' Nicolavespa'' * '' Oligosita'' * '' Oligositoides'' * '' Ophioneurus'' * '' Pachamama'' * '' Paracentrobia'' * '' Paraittys'' * '' Paratrichogramma'' * '' Paruscanoidea'' * '' Pintoa'' * '' Poropoea'' * '' Prestwichia'' * '' Probrachista'' * '' Prochaetostricha'' * '' Prosoligosita'' * '' Prouscana'' * '' Pseudobrachysticha'' * '' Pseudogrammina'' * '' Pseudoligosita'' * '' Pseudomirufens'' * '' Pseuduscana'' * '' Pterandrophysalis'' * '' Pteranomalogramma'' * '' Pterygogramma'' * '' Sinepalpigramma'' * '' Soikiella'' * '' Szelenyia'' * '' Thanatogramma'' * '' Thoreauia'' * '' Trichogramma'' * '' Trichogrammatella'' * '' Trichogrammatoidea'' * '' Trichogrammatomyia'' * '' Tumidiclava'' * '' Tumidifemur'' * ''

Ufens Ufens is a character in Virgil's ''The Aeneid'' as well as Silius' ''Punica ''Punica'' is a small genus of fruit-bearing deciduous shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Lythraceae. The better known species is the pomegranat ...

'' * '' Ufensia'' * '' Urogramma'' * '' Uscana'' * '' Uscanella'' * '' Uscanoidea'' * '' Uscanopsis'' * '' Viggianiella'' * '' Xenufens'' * '' Xenufensia'' * '' Xiphogramma'' * '' Zaga'' * '' Zagella'' * '' Zelogramma''

References

* Doutt, R.L. & Viggiani, G. 1968. The classification of the Trichogrammatidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). ''Proceedings Calif. Acad. Sci.'' 35:477-586. * Matheson, R. & Crosby, C.R. 1912. Aquatic Hymenoptera in America. ''Annals of the Entomological Society of America'' 5:65-71. * Nagarkatti, S. & Nagaraja, H. 1977. Biosystematics of Trichogramma and Trichogrammatoidea species. ''Annual Review of Entomology'' 22:157-176.

External links

Universal Chalicidoid Database

Apocrita families Insects used as insect pest control agents Biological pest control wasps {{Chalcidoidea-stub