Ibaliidae
| Ibaliidae | |
|---|---|
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| Ibalia aprilina Kerrich | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Suborder: | Apocrita |
| Superfamily: | Cynipoidea |
| Family: | Ibaliidae |
| Genera | |
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The Ibaliidae are a small family of hymenopteran superfamily Cynipoidea. Ibaliidae differ from most of the cynipoids by the larvae being parasitoids on other wasp larvae in the group Siricidae. The Ibaliidae comprise three extant genera of fairly large wasps, with a total of 20 species, and is a sister group to the rest of the cynipoids except the small subfamily Austrocynipidae.
Their large size is a typical and obvious characteristic in the family, with lengths up to 30 mm (1.2 in). The following distinct features are diagnostic characters, based on research by Ronquist and Liu and Nordlander.
The genae are swollen and pronounced. The female antenna consists of 11 segments, while the male antenna consists of 13 segments. A large portion of the pronotum is well developed, called the dorsal pronotal area, with scutellar processes. The marginal cell of the forewing is elongated and thin. The gaster is long and pronouncedly compressed laterally. The seventh tergum is large in females. An apical tubular process is present on the second tarsomere of the hind leg. The metafemur is short, no longer than the metacoxa.
The female lays the egg by oviposition through the oviposition shafts created by Siricidae, and the egg is deposited inside a siricid larva. In the species Ibalia drewseni Borries and Ibalia leucospoides (Hochenwarth), host detection by symbiotic fungus in the siricid has been observed.
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Wikipedia