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:
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|---|---|
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| Embolemus nearcticus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Superfamily: | Chrysidoidea |
| Family: | Embolemidae Förster, 1856 |
| Genera | |
| |
Biology
editFemales 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
edit- †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
- †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
edit- ^ a b c d van Achterberg, Cornelis & Kats, R.. (2000). Revision of the Palaearctic Embolemidae (Hymenoptera). Zoöl. Med. 74 (2000), 17: 251-269.
- ^ 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.
- ^ J.T. Burn (1997). "Embolemus ruddii (Westwood,1833)". Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ Simon van Noort (2017). "Embolemidae". WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the Afrotropical region. Iziko Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ "HYMENOPTERA, Embolemidae (Chrysidoidea) (formerly Bethyloidea)". University of California, Riverside. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
- ^ Ross, Andrew (21 June 2021). "Burmese (Myanmar) amber taxa, on-line supplement v.2021.1" (PDF). National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 5 November 2021.