Cheloninae

Cheloninae
	Imago of an unidentified Ascogaster species
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Braconidae
Subfamily:	Cheloninae; Foerster, 1863
Genera
	Several, see text

The Cheloninae are a cosmopolitan subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps.

Description

Most Cheloninae are small and uniformly colored. They have a characteristic metasomal carapace formed from the fusion of the first three tergites.

Biology

They are solitary koinobionts which parasitize Lepidoptera, especially Pyraloidea and Tortricoidea, but also other taxa whose larvae bore in stems, buds or fruits. Chelonines are egg-larval parasitoids, meaning they oviposit into a host egg, but the wasp larvae do not complete development until the caterpillar has hatched and matured. Chelonines carry polydnaviruses which aid in overcoming their hosts' immune system.^[1]

Genera

Genera placed in Cheloninae include:

Ascogaster Wesmael, 1835 (paraphyletic?)
Austroascogaster Kittel and Austin, 2014
Chelonus Panzer, 1806
Dentigaster Zettel, 1990
†Diodontogaster Brues, 1933
†Eobracon Cockerell, 1920
Huseyinia Koçak and Kemal, 2008
Leptochelonus Zettel, 1990
Leptodrepana Shaw, 1990
Megascogaster Baker, 1926
Odontosphaeropyx Cameron, 1910
Phanaustrotoma Kittel and Austin, 2014
Phanerotoma Wesmael, 1838
Phanerotomella Szépligeti, 1900
Phanerotomoides Zettel, 1990
Pseudophanerotoma Zettel, 1990
Siniphanerotomella He et al., 1994
Wushenia Zettel, 1990

Previously belonging to the Adeliinae, but now confirmed to be nested within Cheloninae^[2] in the tribe Adeliini are:

Adelius Haliday, 1834
Paradelius de Saeger, 1942
Sinadelius He and Chen, 2000
Sculptomyriola Belokobylskij, 1988

References

^ Murphy, Nicholas; Banks, Jonathan C.; Whitfield, James B.; Austin, Andrew D. (2008-04-01). "Phylogeny of the parasitic microgastroid subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) based on sequence data from seven genes, with an improved time estimate of the origin of the lineage". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (1): 378–395. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.022. PMID 18325792.
^ Kittel, R.N.; Austin, A.D.; Klopfstein, S. (2016). "Molecular and morphological phylogenetics of chelonine parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), with a critical assessment of divergence time estimations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 101: 224–241. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.016. PMID 27179700.

External links

photos on BugGuide.net

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[1] Murphy, Nicholas; Banks, Jonathan C.; Whitfield, James B.; Austin, Andrew D. (2008-04-01). "Phylogeny of the parasitic microgastroid subfamilies (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) based on sequence data from seven genes, with an improved time estimate of the origin of the lineage". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (1): 378–395. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.022. PMID 18325792.

[2] Kittel, R.N.; Austin, A.D.; Klopfstein, S. (2016). "Molecular and morphological phylogenetics of chelonine parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), with a critical assessment of divergence time estimations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 101: 224–241. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.016. PMID 27179700.

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