Tiphiid wasps
Tiphia sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Tiphioidea
Family: Tiphiidae
Leach, 1815
Subfamilies

The Tiphiidae (also known as tiphiid wasps,[1] flower wasps,[2][note 1] or tiphiid flower wasps[3]) are a family of large, solitary wasps whose larvae are parasitoids of various beetle larvae, especially those in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea.[4] Until recently, this family contained several additional subfamilies, but multiple studies have independently confirmed that these comprise a separate lineage, and are now classified in the family Thynnidae.[5][6]

The females of some Brachycistidinae are wingless, and hunt ground-dwelling (fossorial) beetle larvae.[4] The prey is paralysed with the female's sting, and an egg is laid on it so the wasp larva has a ready supply of food. As some of the ground-dwelling scarab species attacked by tiphiids are pests, some of these wasps are considered beneficial as biological control agents.[citation needed]

Taxonomy

Tiphiid genera are classified as follows: [7][8][9]

The male of a species of Brachycistidinae photographed in Nevada
A female Tiphia femorata photographed in Italy

Subfamily Brachycistidinae Kimsey, 1991

Subfamily Tiphiinae Leach, 1815

Examples

Notes

  1. ^ Not to be confused with other flower wasps in Mutillidae, Scoliidae, or Thynnidae.

References

  1. ^ Obeysekara, Piyumi T.; Legrand, Ana (2014). "The Influence of Host Species and Location in the Host Detection Ability of Tiphiid (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae) Parasitoids". Environmental Entomology. 43 (6): 1594–1602. doi:10.1603/EN13275. PMID 25289963. S2CID 31183862.
  2. ^ "Flower wasps". The Australian Museum. 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  3. ^ Kelaidis, Panayoti; Tankersley, Boyce; Zale, Peter (2019). "November 2019" (PDF). International Rock Gardener (119): 115 pp. ISSN 2053-7557. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Brothers, Denis J. (1993). "Key to subfamilies of Tiphiidae". In Goulet, Henri; Huber, John T. (eds.). Hymenoptera of the World, an Identification Guide to Families. Ottawa, Ontario: Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research. pp. 178–185. ISBN 0-660-14933-8.
  5. ^ Pilgrim, E.; von Dohlen, C.; Pitts, J. (2008). "Molecular phylogenetics of Vespoidea indicate paraphyly of the superfamily and novel relationships of its component families and subfamilies". Zoologica Scripta. 37 (5): 539–560. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00340.x. S2CID 85905070.
  6. ^ Johnson, B.R.; et al. (2013). "Phylogenomics Resolves Evolutionary Relationships among Ants, Bees, and Wasps". Current Biology. 23 (20): 2058–2062. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.08.050. PMID 24094856.
  7. ^ "Taxonomy for Tiphiinae". insectoid.info. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Tiphiinae". Fauna Europaea. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  9. ^ Lynn S. Kimsey; Marius Wasbauer (2006). "Phylogeny and Checklist of the Nocturnal Tiphiids of the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Brachycistidinae)". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 15 (1): 9–25.
  10. ^ Antropov, A.V. (2014). "Aculeata Scopoli, 1763. The wasps, bees and ants (Insecta: Vespida=Hymenoptera) from the Insect Limestone (Late Eocene) of the Isle of Wight, UK" (PDF). Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 104 (3–4): 335–446. doi:10.1017/S1755691014000103. S2CID 85699800.

Further reading

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