Ichneumonidae

Ichneumon wasps
Diphyus sp., Rhône (France)
Cremastinae, (Tanzania)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Superfamily:	Ichneumonoidea
Family:	Ichneumonidae Latreille, 1802
Subfamilies
see below

see below

The Ichneumonidae are a parasitoid wasp family within the order Hymenoptera. They are important parasitoids of other invertebrates; common hosts are larvae and pupae of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera. Over 24,000 species have been described worldwide. Estimates of the total species range from 60,000 to over 100,000 – more than any other hymenopteran family.

The distribution of the ichneumonids was traditionally considered an exception to the common latitudinal gradient in species diversity, since the family was thought to be at its most species rich in the temperate zone instead of the tropics, but numerous new tropical species have now been discovered.

Charles Darwin discussed the Ichneumonidae with regard to his views on religion.

Insects in the family Ichneumonidae are commonly called ichneumon wasps or ichneumonids. Less exact terms are ichneumon flies (they are not closely related to true flies), or scorpion wasps due to the extreme lengthening and curving of the abdomen (scorpions are arachnids).

The name is derived from Latin 'ichneumon', from Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, "tracker"), from ἴχνος (íkhnos, "track, footstep"). The name first appeared in Aristotle's "History of Animals", c. 343 BC. Aristotle noted that the ichneumon preys upon spiders, is a wasp smaller than ordinary wasps, and carries its prey to a hole which they lay their larvae inside, and that they seal the hole with mud.

Adult ichneumonids superficially resemble other wasps. They have a slender waist, two pairs of wings, a pair of large eyes on the side of the head and three ocelli on top of the head. Their size varies considerably from a few millimetres to seven or more centimetres.

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Wikipedia