The Ichneumonidae, also known as ichneumon wasps, ichneumonid wasps, ichneumonids, or Darwin wasps, are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

parasitoid wasps 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 ...

of the insect order

Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

. They are one of the most diverse groups within the Hymenoptera with roughly 25,000 species described . However, this likely represents less than a quarter of their true richness as reliable estimates are lacking, along with much of the most basic knowledge about their

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

, and

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

.Quicke, D. L. J. (2015). ''The braconid and ichneumonid parasitoid wasps: biology, systematics, evolution and ecology''. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. It is estimated that there are more species in this family than there are species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s and

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s combined. Ichneumonid wasps, with very few exceptions, attack the immature stages of

holometabolous Holometabolism, also called complete metamorphosis, is a form of insect development which includes four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago (or adult). Holometabolism is a synapomorphic trait of all insects in the clade Holometabola. Immatur ...

insects and spiders, eventually killing their hosts. They play an important role as regulators of insect populations, both in natural and semi-natural systems, making them promising agents for

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 ...

The distribution of the ichneumonids was traditionally considered an exception to the common latitudinal gradient in species diversity, since the family was thought to be at its most species-rich in the temperate zone instead of the tropics, but numerous new tropical species have now been discovered.

Etymology and history

Insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s in the family Ichneumonidae are commonly called ichneumon wasps, or ichneumonids. However, the term ichneumon wasps can refer specifically to the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Ichneumon Ichneumon may refer to: * ''Ichneumon'' (genus), a genus of wasps * ''Ichneumon'', species of wasps in the family Ichneumonidae * Ichneumon, an alternative name for the Egyptian mongoose * Ichneumon (medieval zoology) In medieval literature, th ...

'' within the Ichneumonidae and thus can cause confusion. A group of ichneumonid specialists have proposed Darwin wasps as a better vernacular name for the family. Less exact terms are ichneumon flies (they are not closely related to

true flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

) and scorpion wasps due to the extreme lengthening and curving of the abdomen (

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

s are arachnids, not insects). The name is derived from Latin 'ichneumon', from Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, "tracker"), from ἴχνος (íkhnos, "track, footstep"). The name first appeared in

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's "

History of Animals ''History of Animals'' (, ''Ton peri ta zoia historion'', "Inquiries on Animals"; , "History of Animals") is one of the major texts on biology by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. It was written in sometime between the mid-fourth centur ...

", c. 343 BC. Aristotle noted that the ichneumon preys upon spiders, is a wasp smaller than ordinary wasps, and carries its prey to a hole which they lay their larvae inside, and that they seal the hole with mud. Aristotle's writing, however, more accurately describes the

mud dauber Mud dauber (or "mud wasp") is a name commonly applied to a number of wasps from either the family Sphecidae or Crabronidae which build their nests from mud; this excludes members of the family Vespidae (especially the subfamily Eumeninae), which a ...

s than the true ichneumon wasps, which do not construct mud nests and do not sting.

Description

Adult ichneumonids superficially resemble other

wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

. They have a slender waist, two pairs of wings, a pair of large

compound eyes A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which distin ...

on the side of the head and three

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

on top of the head. Their size varies considerably from a few millimetres to seven or more centimetres. The ichneumonids have more antennal segments than typical, aculeate wasps (

Aculeata Aculeata is an infraorder of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps. The name is a reference to the defining feature of the group, which is the modification of the ovipositor into a stinger. However, many members of the group cann ...

Vespoidea Vespoidea is a superfamily of wasps in the order Hymenoptera. Vespoidea includes wasps with a large variety of lifestyles including eusocial, social, and solitary habits, predators, scavengers, parasitoids, and some herbivores. Descriptio ...

and

Apoidea The superfamily Apoidea is a major group (of over 30 000 species) within the Hymenoptera, which includes two traditionally recognized lineages, the "sphecoid" wasps, and the bees. Molecular phylogeny demonstrates that the bees arose from ...

): ichneumonids typically possess 16 or more, while most other wasps have 13 or fewer. Unlike aculeate wasps, which have an

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 ...

modified for prey capture and defense, and do not pass their eggs along the

stinger A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal. An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of ve ...

, ichneumonid females have an unmodified ovipositor which they use to lay eggs inside or on their host. Ichneumonids generally inject venom along with the egg, but only larger species (some in the genera '' Netelia'' and ''

Ophion In some versions of Greek mythology, Ophion (; "serpent"; ''gen''.: Ὀφίωνος), also called Ophioneus ({{lang, grc, Ὀφιονεύς) ruled the world with Eurynome before the two of them were cast down by Cronus and Rhea. Mythology Pher ...

'') with relatively short ovipositors use the ovipositor in defense. Males do not possess stingers or ovipositors in either lineage. File:Female Ichneumon xanthorius (10870689035).jpg, Head (''Ichneumon xanthorius''). Antennae with many segments File:Yellow Ichneumon Wasp.jpg, Female '' Xanthopimpla punctata''. Ovipositor longer and more slender than stingers of aculeate wasps File:Ichneumon wasp (Ichneumonidae sp) female.jpg, ''Lissonota'' sp., female

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

Ichneumonids are distinguished from their

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

Braconidae The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed. One analysis ...

mainly on the basis of wing venation. The fore wing of 95% of ichneumonids has vein 2m-cu (in the

Comstock–Needham system The Comstock–Needham system is a naming system for insect wing veins, devised by John Comstock and George Needham in 1898. It was an important step in showing the homology of all insect wings. This system was based on Needham's ''pretracheat ...

), which is absent in braconids. Vein 1rs-m of the fore wing is absent in all ichneumonids, but is present in 85% of braconids. In the hind wing of ichneumonids, vein rs-m joins Rs apical to (or rarely opposite) the split between veins Rs and R1. In braconids, vein rs-m joins basal to this split. The taxa also differ in the structure of the metasoma: about 90% of ichneumonids have a flexible suture between tergites 2 and 3, whereas these tergites are fused in braconids (though the suture is secondarily flexible in

Aphidiinae The Aphidiinae are a subfamily of tiny parasitoid wasps that use aphids as their hosts. Several species have been used in biological control programs of various aphids. Biology and distribution Aphidiines are koinobiont endoparasitoids of ad ...

Distribution

Ichneumonids are found on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. They inhabit virtually all terrestrial habitats, wherever there are suitable invertebrate hosts. The distribution of ichneumonid species richness is subject to ongoing debate. Long believed to be rare in the tropics, and at its most species rich in the temperate region, the family became a classic textbook example of an 'exceptional' latitudinal diversity gradient. Recently this belief has been questioned, after the discovery of numerous new tropical species.

Reproduction and diet

A very few ichneumonid species lay their eggs in the ground, but the vast majority inject eggs either directly into their

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

's body or onto its surface, and this may require penetration of substrate around the host, as in wood-boring host larvae that live deep inside of tree trunks, requiring the ichneumon to drill its ovipositor through several centimeters of solid wood (e.g., ''

Megarhyssa ''Megarhyssa'', also known as giant ichneumonid wasps, giant ichneumons, or stump stabbers, is a genus of large ichneumon wasps, with some species known for having the longest ovipositors of any insects. They are idiobiont ectoparasitoids of th ...

'' species). After hatching, the ichneumonid larva consumes its still living host. The most common hosts are larvae or pupae of

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

Coleoptera Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

and

. Some species in the subfamily

Pimplinae Pimplinae are a worldwide subfamily of the parasitic wasp family Ichneumonidae. Pimplinae are parasitoids of Holometabola, often the pupae of Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects whi ...

also parasitise spiders. Hyperparasitoids such as Mesochorinae oviposit inside the larvae of other ichneumonoids. The hosts of some species are agricultural pests, therefore ichneumons are sometimes valuable for

biological pest 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 ot ...

, but the hosts of most species are unknown; host information has been reviewed and summarized by various researchers, e.g. Aubert, Perkins. and Townes. Ichneumonids use both idiobiont and koinobiont strategies. Idiobionts paralyze their host and prevent it from moving or growing. Koinobionts allow their host to continue to grow and develop. In both strategies, the host typically dies after some weeks, after which the ichneumonid larva emerges and pupates. Adult ichneumonids feed on a diversity of foods, including plant sap and nectar; females of some species also feed on their hosts by sipping body fluids released during oviposition, or even stabbing host and non-host insects to imbibe their body fluids. They spend much of their active time searching, either for hosts (female ichneumonids) or for emerging females (male ichneumonids). The parasitism pressure exerted by ichneumonids can be tremendous, and they are often one of the major regulators of invertebrate populations. It is quite common for 10-20% or more of a host's population to be parasitised (though reported parasitism rates often include non-ichneumonid parasitoids). File:Phytodietus egg.jpg, '' Phytodietus'', egg on ''

Pococera ''Pococera'' is a genus of snout moths in the subfamily Epipaschiinae, found mainly in North and Central America. It was described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1848. Species These 86 species belong to the genus ''Pococera'': * '' Pococera a ...

'' caterpillar File:Parasite170127-fig S2 ovipositor Pimplinae Zatypota albicoxa.gif, '' Zatypota albicoxa'' laying egg on a spider File:Itoplectis maculator - Wollenberg 2011.ogv, ''

Itoplectis maculator ''Itoplectis maculator'' is a species of insect belonging to the family Ichneumonidae. It is native to Europe. Hosts include ''Archips rosana'' and ''Tortrix viridana.'' References

{{ichneumonidae-stub Ichneumonidae Insects described in ...

'' laying eggs in moth cocoons File:Rhyssa persuasoria - 2014-08-28.webm, ''

Rhyssa persuasoria ''Rhyssa persuasoria'', also known as the sabre wasp, is a species belonging to the family Ichneumonidae subfamily Rhyssinae. Members of this subfamily, including those of '' Rhyssa'' and the allied ''Megarhyssa'', are also known collectively as ...

'' laying eggs in dead wood, parasitising larvae of beetles or sawflies File:Therion circumflexum.ogv, '' Therion circumflexum'' drinking from damaged edge of leaf File:Ichneumonidae mating.jpg, Mating ichneumonids File:Live Tetragnatha montana (RMNH.ARA.14127) parasitized by Acrodactyla quadrisculpta larva (RMNH.INS.593867) - BDJ.1.e992.jpg, Larva of '' Acrodactyla quadrisculpta'' parasitising spider File:Cocoon of an Ichneumoid wasp (Campopleginae) and the empty skin of a caterpillar it had parasitized (8073727904).jpg, Campoplegine pupa, with empty skin of caterpillar it parasitised above it File:Hercus fontinalis later instar larvae.jpg, '' Hercus fontinalis'' larvae feeding on caterpillar

Taxonomy and systematics

The taxonomy of the ichneumonids is still poorly known. The family is highly diverse, containing 24,000 described species. Approximately 60,000 species are estimated to exist worldwide, though some estimates place this number at over 100,000. They are severely undersampled, and studies of their diversity typically produce very high numbers of species which are represented by only a single individual. Due to the high diversity, the existence of numerous small and hard to identify species, and the majority of species being undiscovered, it has proven difficult to resolve the

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or Taxon, taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, M ...

of the ichneumonids. Even the relationships between subfamilies are unclear. The sheer diversity also means

DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...

data is only available for a tiny fraction of the species, and detailed

cladistic Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is ...

studies require major computing capacity. Extensive catalogues of the ichneumonids include those by Aubert, Gauld, Perkins, and Townes. Due to the taxonomic difficulties involved, however, their classifications and terminology are often confusingly contradictory. Several prominent authors have gone as far as to publish major reviews that defy the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

. The large number of species in Ichneumonidae may be due to the evolution of parasitoidism in Hymenoptera, which occurred approximately 247 million years ago. Ichneumonidae is the basal branch of

Apocrita Apocrita is a suborder of insects in the order Hymenoptera. It includes wasps, bees, and ants, and consists of many families. It contains the most advanced hymenopterans and is distinguished from Symphyta by the narrow "waist" ( petiole) formed ...

, which together with

Orussoidea Orussoidea is a superfamily of sawflies. It contains the living family Orussidae, as well as the extinct families Burmorussidae and Paroryssidae. They are the group of sawflies closest to the Apocrita, the group containing wasps, bees and ants ...

makes up the lineage in which parasitoidism in Hymenoptera evolved, and some ichneumonids are thought to have been in stasis for millions of years and closely resemble the common ancestor in which parasitoidism evolved. This common ancestor was likely an

Ectoparasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism ...

woodwasp that parasitized wood-boring beetle larvae in trees. However, this has been disputed as early fossil ichneumonoids (such as

Praeichneumonidae ''Praeichneumon'' is an extinct genus of ichneumon wasps from the Lower Cretaceous of Mongolia and the Russian region of Transbaikalia. It was originally described by Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn () is a Russian e ...

, Tanychorinae, Eoichneumoninae, and Protorhyssalinae) have ovipositors that are only a few millimeters long. Therefore, it has been proposed that they make unlikely candidates for parasitoids of wood-boring hosts. The family has existed since at least the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

( 125 mya), but probably appeared already in the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

(c. 181 mya), soon after the appearance of its major host groups. It diversified during the Oligocene.

Subfamilies

In 1999, the extant ichneumonids were divided into 39 subfamilies,Wahl, David (1999)
Classification and Systematics of the Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera)
. Version of 1999-JUL-19. Retrieved 2008-JUN-18. whose names and definitions have varied considerably. In 2019, combined morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis of the family resulted in the following 41 subfamilies being recognized, in addition to the extinct Labenopimplinae. *

Acaenitinae Acaenitinae is a subfamily of the parasitoid wasp family (biology), family Ichneumonidae. Female Acaenitinae have a large triangular projecting genital plate. Distribution It is distributed on all continents except Antarctica, although only on ...

* Adelognathinae * Agriotypinae *

Anomaloninae Anomaloninae is a subfamily of parasitoid Parasitoid wasp, wasps in the family (biology), family Ichneumonidae. Several species provide beneficial services to humans by attacking forest or orchard pests. Description and distribution Species o ...

(= Anomalinae) * Ateleutinae (previously part of Cryptinae) * Banchinae * Brachycyrtinae (previously part of Phrudinae) *

Campopleginae Campopleginae is a large subfamily of the parasitoid wasp family (biology), family Ichneumonidae with a world-wide distribution. Species in this subfamily have been used in the Biological pest control, biological control of the Hypera postica, al ...

(= Porizontinae) * Claseinae * Collyriinae * Cremastinae * Cryptinae (= Gelinae, Hemitelinae, Phygadeuontinae) *

Ctenopelmatinae Ctenopelmatinae is a cosmopolitan subfamily of ichneumonid parasitoid wasps. Description and distribution Ctenopelmatines are small to medium sized ichneumonids. They have a small tooth at the apex of the front tibia and usually do not have a ...

(= Scolobatinae) *

Cylloceriinae Cylloceriinae is a subfamily of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Ichneumonidae. It contains two genera. References

Ichneumonidae Hymenoptera subfamilies {{Ichneumonidae-stub ...

(sometimes included in Microleptinae) * Diacritinae (sometimes included in Pimplinae) *

Diplazontinae Diplazontinae is a subfamily of Ichneumonidae. They are koinobiont endoparasitoids of Syrphidae. Oviposition is into the egg or larva and emergence is from the puparium. Although they are distributed worldwide most species are in the Holarctic ...

* Eucerotinae (sometimes included in Tryphoninae) * Hybrizontinae (= Paxylommatinae) (sometimes placed in own family) *

Ichneumoninae Ichneumoninae is a worldwide subfamily of the parasitic wasp family (biology), family Ichneumonidae. Ichneumoninae are koinobiont or idiobiont endoparasitoids of Lepidoptera. It is the second largest subfamily of Ichneumonidae, with 373 genus, ...

(includes Alomyini) *

Labeninae The Labeninae is a subfamily within the parasitoid wasp family Ichneumonidae. The family is divided into 12 extant genera grouped within four tribes. Distribution Labeninae are predominantly found in Australia and South America. A few species of ...

(= Labiinae) * Labenopimplinae (extinct) * Lycorininae (sometimes included in Banchinae) * Mesochorinae *

Metopiinae The Metopiinae are a worldwide subfamily of the parasitic wasp family Ichneumonidae. Metopiinae are koinobiont endoparasitoids of Lepidoptera. There are 26 extant genera. A bulging shield-like face is diagnostic for members of this subfamily, but ...

* Microleptinae * Neorhacodinae (sometimes included in Banchinae) * Nesomesochorinae * Ophioninae * Orthocentrinae (sometimes included in Microleptinae) * Orthopelmatinae * Oxytorinae * Pedunculinae * Phygadeuontinae (previously part of Cryptinae) *

(= Ephialtinae) * Poemeniinae (sometimes included in Pimplinae) *

Rhyssinae Rhyssinae is a subfamily of parasitoid wasps in the family Ichneumonidae. It contains eight genera and 259 described species, but there are likely many undiscovered species. All possess long ovipositors, which are used by females to bore into tr ...

(sometimes included in Pimplinae) * Sisyrostolinae (sometimes included in Phrudinae) * Stilbopinae (excluding Notostilbops) * Tatogastrinae (sometimes included in Microleptinae) * Tersilochinae (includes Neorhacodinae and part of Phrudinae) * Tryphoninae *

Xoridinae Xoridinae are a worldwide subfamily of the parasitic wasp family Ichneumonidae. Xoridinae are idiobiont ectoparasitoids of wood‑boring Coleoptera and Hymenoptera (Symphyta). Most parasitize larvae. There are four genera Genus (; : gener ...

Famous ichneumonologists

Famous ichneumonologists include: *

Jacques Aubert Jacques Aubert (30 September 1689 – 19 May 1753), also known as Jacques Aubert le Vieux (Jacques Aubert the Elder), was a French composer and violinist of the Baroque period. From 1727 to 1746, he was a member of the Vingt-quatre Violons du Ro ...

* Carl Gustav Alexander Brischke *

Peter Cameron Peter Cameron may refer to: * Peter Cameron (entomologist) (1847–1912), English entomologist who specialised in Hymenoptera * Peter Cameron (mathematician) (born 1947), Australian mathematician, joint winner of the 2003 Euler Medal * Peter Camero ...

Arnold Förster Arnold Förster (20 January 1810 – 13 August 1884) was a German entomologist, who worked mainly on Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. Life Arnold Förster was born on 20 January 1810 in Aachen, Germany, where he died on 12 August 1884. He was Oberleh ...

Johann Ludwig Christian Gravenhorst Johann Ludwig Christian Carl Gravenhorst (14 November 1777 – 14 January 1857), sometimes Jean Louis Charles or Carl, was a German entomologist, herpetologist, and zoologist. Life Gravenhorst was born in Braunschweig. His early interest in inse ...

Alexander Henry Haliday Alexander Henry Haliday (1806–1870, also known as Enrico Alessandro Haliday, Alexis Heinrich Haliday, or simply Haliday) was an Ireland, Irish entomologist. He is primarily known for his work on Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Thysanoptera, but wor ...

Gerd Heinrich Gerd Hermann Heinrich (7 November 1896 in Berlin, Germany – 16 December 1984 in Farmington, USA) was a German entomologist and ornithologist known for his studies of parasitic Hymenoptera of the Ichneumonidae family and for the description of ...

August Emil Holmgren August Emil Algot Holmgren (10 November 1829 – 30 December 1888) was a Swedish entomologist mainly interested in the Hymenoptera, especially Ichneumonidae The Ichneumonidae, also known as ichneumon wasps, ichneumonid wasps, ichneumonids, or ...

Joseph Kriechbaumer Joseph Kriechbaumer (21 March 1819, Tegernsee- 2 May 1902), Munich was a German entomologist who specialised in Hymenoptera especially Ichneumonidae. A Doctor of Philosophy, Kriechbaumer was Kurator (Director) of the Munich Natural History Museu ...

* Thomas Ansell Marshall *

Henry Keith Townes Henry Keith Townes, Jr. (20 January 1913 – 2 May 1990) was an American entomologist who specialized in the Hymenoptera with a special focus on the Ichneumonidae. Townes was born in Greenville, South Carolina and went to study at the Furman Coll ...

Constantin Wesmael Constantin Wesmael (4 October 1798, in City of Brussels, Brussels – 26 October 1872, near to Saint-Josse-ten-Noode) was a Belgians, Belgian entomologist. Life Of modest origin, he was granted a bursary to study law. He taught, initially, ...

Darwin and the Ichneumonidae

The perceived cruelty of the ichneumonids troubled philosophers, naturalists, and theologians in the 19th century, who found the parasitoid life cycle inconsistent with the notion of a world created by a loving and benevolent God.

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

found the example of the Ichneumonidae so troubling that it contributed to his increasing doubts about the nature and existence of a Creator. In an 1860 letter to the American naturalist

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botany, botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' (1876) was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessaril ...

, Darwin wrote:

I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice.

Morphology

File:Megarhyssa greenei female.jpg, ''

Megarhyssa greenei ''Megarhyssa greenei'', also known as Greene's giant ichneumonid wasp, is a species of large Ichneumonidae, ichneumon wasp. It is known from the United States and Canada. Description and identification It is very similar in appearance to ''Meg ...

'' female File:2-Morphology-of-head.png, Morphology of the head and its processes: (А) head capsule; (В) antenna; (С) mandibleTereshkin, A. (2009): Illustrated key to the tribes of subfamilia Ichneumoninae and genera of the tribe Platylabini of world fauna (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). ''Linzer biol. Beitr. '' 41/2: 1317-1608
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File:3-Morphology-of-thotax.png, Morphology of the thorax (D) File:4-Morphology-of-abdomen-and.png, Morphology of the abdomen and processes of the thorax: (E) front wing; (F) leg III; (G) abdomen of female

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Long Family Description
Many illustrations from

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''British Entomology''
Fauna Europaea
Extensive use of images.
Family Ichneumonidae at EOL
Comprehensive taxonomic resource and image database
Images of Ichneumonidae species in New Zealand

W.Rutkies
Images. Authority id.
Genera Ichneumonorum Nearctica
Morphology of Ichneumonidae {{Authority control Biological pest control wasps Articles containing video clips Apocrita families Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille