Homolobus | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Braconidae |
Tribe: | Homolobini |
Genus: | Homolobus Förster, 1862 |
Homolobus is a genus of insects belonging to the family Braconidae. [1]
Homolobus are moderate to large braconids with a body length ranging from 4.4 to 14.6 mm. They have long tibial spurs like the Macrocentrinae but differ in having an occipital carina and shorter, nearly square submarginal cell. The ovipositor is usually very short and hardly extending beyond the apex of the gaster except in species like Homolobus armatus , wherein the ovipositor is 0.77 times the length of the forewing. Many species are testaceous and have large ocelli. [1]
They are separated from the allied Exasticolus in having vein (Rs+M)a straight rather than curved. [1]
The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution. [1]
Homolobus are endoparatitoids of caterpillars, particularly of the families Noctuidae and Geometridae. [1]
Homolobus is classified within the tribe Homolobini along with Exasticolus. The tribe Homolobini is sister to Westwoodiellini, containing only Westwoodiella. The two tribes Homolobini and Westwoodiellini comprise the subfamily Homolobinae. [2]
There are roughly 55 species of Homolobus divided into 5 subgenera: [3]