Embolemidae is a family of small solitary parasitoid wasps with around 70 species in 2 genera distributed around the world.[1] The few species whose biology is known are parasites on planthopper nymphs of the families Achilidae and Cixiidae.[2] There is debate regarding the status of the genus named Ampulicomorpha by Ashmead in 1893, generally considered now to be a junior synonym of Embolemus (e.g.,[1]), though some authorities dispute this (e.g.,[2])

Embolemidae
Temporal range: Barremian–Recent
Embolemus nearcticus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Chrysidoidea
Family: Embolemidae
Förster, 1856
Genera

Biology

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Females are wingless while males have wings, and in temperate regions emerge later than the females, which overwinter as adults.[3] The wingless females have been recorded from the nests of ants and small mammal burrows,[4] or under stones in pastures and grasslands, and they appear to be ant mimics. A Palearctic species, Embolemus ruddii, has been found in association with the ant species Formica fusca and Lasius flavus, while in Japan, Embolemus walkeri was taken in a nest of another ant, from the genus Myrmica.[1] A Nearctic species, Embolemus confusus, has been reared from nymphs of a planthopper in the family Achilidae, where the host fed on fungi beneath the bark of rotting logs. The wasp larva lives in a bulging sac attached to the host nymph between the second and third segments.[1][5]

Fossil species

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After[2][6]

  • Baissobius Rasnitsyn 1975
    • Baissobius carolianus Rasnitsyn 1996 Dzun-Bain Formation, Mongolia, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
    • Baissobius minimus Rasnitsyn 1996 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
    • Baissobius minutus Olmi et al. 2010 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
    • Baissobius parvus Rasnitsyn 1975 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
  • Cretembolemus Olmi et al. 2014
    • Cretembolemus orapensis Olmi et al. 2014 Orapa, Botswana, Late Cretaceous (Turonian)
  • Embolemopsis Olmi et al. 2010
    • Embolemopsis baissensis Olmi et al. 2010 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
    • Embolemopsis maryannae Olmi, Jarzembowski, Capradossi and Perkovsky, 2020 Wessex Formation, United Kingdom, Early Cretaceous (Barremian)
  • Embolemus Westwood 1833 (incl. Ampulicomorpha Ashmead, 1893)
    • Embolemus antiquus Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)
    • Embolemus brachypterus Olmi et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Embolemus burmensis Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Embolemus cretacicus Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Embolemus excitus Perrichot and Engel 2011 Baltic amber, Eocene
    • Embolemus janzeni (Olmi et al., 2014) Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Embolemus micropterus Olmi et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Embolemus ohmkuhnlei Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Embolemus perialla (Ortega-Blanco et al., 2011) Spanish amber, Early Cretaceous (Albian)
    • Embolemus quesnoyensis (Chény, Guillam, Nel and Perrichot, 2020) Oise amber, France, Eocene (Ypresian)
    • Embolemus succinalis (Brues, 1933) Baltic amber, Rovno amber, Eocene
    • Embolemus zherikhini Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • Ponomarenkoa Olmi 2010
    • Ponomarenkoa burmensis Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Ponomarenkoa ellenbergeri Olmi et al. 2013 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
    • Ponomarenkoa polonica Ponomarenko 1988 Baltic amber, Eocene

References

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  1. ^ a b c d van Achterberg, Cornelis & Kats, R.. (2000). Revision of the Palaearctic Embolemidae (Hymenoptera). Zoöl. Med. 74 (2000), 17: 251-269.
  2. ^ a b c Perkovsky, Evgeny E.; Olmi, Massimo; Müller, Patrick; Guglielmino, Adalgisa; Jarzembowski, Edmund A.; Capradossi, Leonardo; Rasnitsyn, Alexandr P. (November 2020). "A review of the fossil Embolemidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea), with description of seven new species and history of the family". Cretaceous Research. 121: 104708. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104708. S2CID 229502829.
  3. ^ J.T. Burn (1997). "Embolemus ruddii (Westwood,1833)". Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  4. ^ Simon van Noort (2017). "Embolemidae". WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the Afrotropical region. Iziko Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  5. ^ "HYMENOPTERA, Embolemidae (Chrysidoidea) (formerly Bethyloidea)". University of California, Riverside. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  6. ^ Ross, Andrew (21 June 2021). "Burmese (Myanmar) amber taxa, on-line supplement v.2021.1" (PDF). National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 5 November 2021.