Encyrtidae is a large family of

parasitic wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps ( Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causi ...

s, with some 3710 described species in about 455

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of the majority are primary

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

s on

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...

, though other hosts are attacked, and details of the life history can be variable (e.g., some attack eggs, some attack larvae, others are

hyperparasite A hyperparasite, also known as a metaparasite, is a parasite whose host, often an insect, is also a parasite, often specifically a parasitoid. Hyperparasites are found mainly among the wasp-waisted Apocrita within the Hymenoptera, and in two ot ...

s, and some Encyrtidae develop as parasitoids of

tick Ticks are parasitic arachnids of the order Ixodida. They are part of the mite superorder Parasitiformes. Adult ticks are approximately 3 to 5 mm in length depending on age, sex, and species, but can become larger when engorged. Ticks a ...

s). They are found throughout the world in virtually all habitats, and are extremely important as

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or o ...

agents. They may also present as an ecological threat to the population of some species. For example, the endangered '' Papilio homerus'' butterfly is parasitized at a rate of 77%, making them the main contributor to egg mortality in this (and other) butterfly species. Some species exhibit a remarkable developmental phenomenon called "

polyembryony Polyembryony is the phenomenon of two or more embryos developing from a single fertilized egg. Due to the embryos resulting from the same egg, the embryos are identical to one another, but are genetically diverse from the parents. The genetic differ ...

", in which a single egg multiplies clonally in the host and produces large numbers of identical adult wasps.Segoli, M., Harari, A. R., Rosenheim, J. A., Bouskila, A., & Keasar, T. (2010). The evolution of polyembryony in parasitoid wasps. ''Journal of evolutionary biology''. 23 (9), 1807-1819
DOI
/ref> Even more remarkably, some of the larvae are larger than the others and act in a similar way to the "soldiers" of

eusocial Eusociality ( Greek 'good' and social) is the highest level of organization of sociality. It is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generations wit ...

insects, attacking any other wasp larvae already in the body of the host, and dying without reproducing ("

altruism Altruism is the concern for the well-being of others, independently of personal benefit or reciprocity. The word ''altruism'' was popularised (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoi ...

"). Wasps in this family are relatively easy to separate from other

Chalcidoidea Chalcid wasps (, , for their metallic colour) are insects within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, part of the order Hymenoptera. The superfamily contains some 22,500 known species, and an estimated total diversity of more than 500,000 species, m ...

by features of the wing venation, the migration of the cerci forwards on the

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma (biology), tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory sy ...

(and accompanying distortion of the

tergite A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; : ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the Anatomical terms of location#Dorsal and ventral, dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The Anatomical terms of location#Anterior ...

s), and a greatly enlarged mesopleuron with anteriorly positioned mesocoxae. An extinct genus '' Archencyrtus'' has been described from the

Middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''Ēṓs'', ' Dawn') a ...

age

Sakhalin amber Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese archipelago, Japanese island ...

in Eastern Russia.

References

External links

Universal Chalcidoidea Database

Image Database TOBIKOBACHI Based on the Encyrtid Wasp Collection of Dr. T. Tachikawa

on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
''Diaphorencyrtus aligarhensis''
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site {{Authority control Apocrita families