Pemphredonidae is a family of aphid wasps formerly treated as the subfamily Pemphredoninae. There are 19 genera and 556 described species in the family.

Description and identification

The primary morphological distinction between the Pemphredondae and the Psenidae is that Pemphredondae never have more than two submarginal cells in their forewing while Psenidae have three submarginal cells.

Biology

The subfamily consists of solitary wasps, each genus having its own distinct and consistent prey preferences. The adult females dig tunnels in the ground, or plant material, for nesting. As with all other apoid wasps, the larvae are carnivorous; females hunt for prey on which to lay their eggs,

mass provisioning Mass provisioning is a form of parental investment in which an adult insect, most commonly a hymenopteran such as a bee or wasp, stocks all the food for each of her offspring in a small chamber (a "cell") before she lays the egg. This behavior is ...

the nest cells with paralyzed, living prey that the larvae feed upon after hatching from the egg.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

As Pemphredoninae, this taxon was previously divided into four

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

: Entomosericini, Odontosphecini, Psenini, and Pemphredonini. The Pemphredonini were considered to have by far the largest number of species. Phylogenetic analyses to resolve the

paraphyly Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

Crabronidae The Crabronidae is a large family of wasps within the superfamily Apoidea. Taxonomy and phylogeny This family has historically been treated as a subfamily in the now-defunct Spheciformes group under the family Sphecidae. The Spheciformes inclu ...

through erecting additional families also found the Pemphredoninae to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. As a result, more recent classifications treat

Psenidae Psenidae is a family of aphid wasps in the superfamily Apoidea formerly treated as the tribe Psenini. There are 12 genera and at least 485 described species of Psenidae. Taxonomy and phylogeny As Psenini, this taxon was previously treated as on ...

(comprising the former tribes Psenini and Odontosphecini) as a separate family, and sister to the newly-erected family

Ammoplanidae Ammoplanidae is a family of aphid wasps formerly treated as the Crabronidae subtribe Ammoplanina. There are about 10 genera and at least 130 described species in Ammoplanina. Phylogenetic analyses in 2018 and 2021 have confirmed this group as the ...

. Ammoplanidae is also rendered as the most sister family to the

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s (Anthophila). The Pemphredonidae (Pemphredonini excluding Ammoplanina) is instead sister taxon to the Philanthidae. In continued revision, Entomosericini has also been elevated to family status as Entomosericidae.

Genera

The Pemphredonidae are restricted to the subfamily Pemphredoninae, Spilomeninae, and Stigminae. Pemphredoninae * '' Diodontus'' * '' Passaloecus'' * '' Pemphredon'' * '' Polemistus'' Spilomeninae * '' Arpactophilus'' * '' Microstigmus'' * '' Spilomena'' * '' Xysma'' Stigminae * '' Allostigmus'' * '' Araucastigmus'' * '' Aykhustigmus'' * '' Carinostigmus'' * '' Ceratostigmus'' * '' Incastigmus'' * '' Llaqhastigmus'' * '' Paracrabro'' * '' Parastigmus'' * '' Stigmus'' * '' Tzustigmus''

Transferred to Ammoplaninidae

10 genera of Ammoplanina now comprise the family Ammoplaninidae. This transfer includes 137 species. * '' Ammoplanellus'' * '' Ammoplanops'' * '' Ammoplanus'' * '' Ammostigmus'' * '' Mohavena'' * '' Parammoplanus'' * '' Protostigmus'' * '' Pulverro'' * '' Riparena'' * '' Timberlakena''

Transferred to Entomosericidae

A single genus of Entomosericini now comprises the Entomosericidae. This transfer includes 3 species. * '' Entomosericus''

Transferred to Psenidae

1 genus of Odontosphecini (''Odontosphex'') and 11 genera of Psenini now comprise the family Psenidae. This transfer includes 485 species. * '' Ammopsen'' * '' Deinomimesa'' * ''

Lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...

'' * '' Mimesa'' * ''

Mimumesa ''Mimumesa'' is a genus of wasps in the family Psenidae. The species are found in the Holarctic. 32 species are known to exist. Species (Asia) *'' Mimumesa melanosomatica'' (Ma and Q. Li 2009) *'' Mimumesa mishimae'' (Tsuneki 1984) *'' Mimumes ...

'' * '' Nesomimesa'' * '' Odontopsen'' * '' Odontosphex'' * ''

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

'' * '' Psen'' * '' Pseneo'' * '' Psenulus''

Transferred to Angarosphecidae

Two fossil wasp genera from the

Weald Clay Weald Clay or the Weald Clay Formation is a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rock unit underlying areas of South East England, between the North and South Downs, in an area called the Weald Basin. It is the uppermost unit of the Wealden Group of ...

were originally considered to possibly be in the Pemphredoninae. They are currently classified among the 15 genera of the extinct family,

Angarosphecidae Angarosphecidae is an extinct family of Mesozoic and early Cenozoic wasps in the superfamily Apoidea. Taxonomy * '' Angarosphex'' (synonyms ''Calobaissodes'' , ''Mataeosphex'' , ''Palaeapis'' , ''Shandongodes'' **''An. alethes'' - Cenomania ...

. * †'' Archisphex'' * †'' Angarosphex''

References

External links

"Pemphredoninae Dahlbom, 1835" '' ITIS Report''
* Photograph
"Subfamily Pemphredoninae - Aphid Wasps" ''Bug Guide''
* Photograph
"Pemphredoninae" ''Flickr''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q146703 Apoidea Apocrita families