Embolemidae

Embolemidae Temporal range: Barremian–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Embolemus nearcticus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Superfamily:	Chrysidoidea
Family:	Embolemidae Förster, 1856
Genera
† Baissobius Rasnitsyn, 1975 † Cretembolemus Omni et al., 2014 † Embolemopsis Omni et al., 2010 Embolemus Westwood, 1833 † Ponomarenkoa Omni, 2010 Trogloembolemus Omni et al., 2014

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] )

Biology

Females 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

After ^{[2] [6]}

• † 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
  • †Cretembolemus orapensis Olmi et al. 2014 Orapa, Botswana, Late Cretaceous (Turonian)
• † 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

1. van Achterberg, Cornelis & Kats, R.. (2000). Revision of the Palaearctic Embolemidae (Hymenoptera). Zoöl. Med. 74 (2000), 17: 251-269.
2. 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.
3. J.T. Burn (1997). "Embolemus ruddii (Westwood,1833)". Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
4. Simon van Noort (2017). "Embolemidae". WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the Afrotropical region. Iziko Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
5. "HYMENOPTERA, Embolemidae (Chrysidoidea) (formerly Bethyloidea)". University of California, Riverside . Retrieved 8 July 2017.
6. Ross, Andrew (21 June 2021). "Burmese (Myanmar) amber taxa, on-line supplement v.2021.1" (PDF). National Museums Scotland . Retrieved 5 November 2021.