''Epirhyssa johanna'' is a parasitoid wasp native to Uganda.

Description

Adults are ~ in length and are of anoverall orange color, with a white face and black antenna, jaws, middle and back of head, and areas on the back. The ovipositor has a dark, protective outer covering. Wings are translucent, with a faint brownish tinge near the highest point.

Discovery

The species was described in 2019 from malaise trap samples taken on a plantation in

Kibale National Park Kibale National Park is a national park in western Uganda, protecting moist evergreen rainforest. It is in size and ranges between and in elevation. Despite encompassing primarily moist evergreen forest, it contains a diverse array of landsca ...

, Uganda.

Habitat and distribution

The species prefers to live in humid lowland forests and does not like dry periods and arid areas. Its habitat consists of moist evergreen forests, grasslands, woodland thickets, swamp and colonizing shrubs in a medium altitude environment. Specimens were taken in swampy (waterlogged) primary forests, other primary forests with mainly red-clay, and farmlands converted back to forest at middle elevations near the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...

. They are partial to decaying logs.

Ecology

''Epirhyssa johanna'' is a

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 ...

of the larvae of wood-boring sawflies or beetles, hunting them to feed to their larvae. After mating, the female will place her eggs inside the larvae using her

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

. Adult wasps feed on plants, fruits, and nectar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epirhyssa Johanna Endemic fauna of Uganda Parasitic wasps Hymenoptera of Africa Insects of Uganda Insects described in 2019