The Tiphiidae (also known as tiphiid wasps, flower wasps, or tiphiid flower 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 ...

of large, solitary

wasp 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 ...

s whose larvae are

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 of various

beetle 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 ...

larvae, especially those in the superfamily

Scarabaeoidea Scarabaeoidea is a superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year. Some of its constituent families are undergo ...

. Until recently, this family contained several additional subfamilies, but multiple studies have independently confirmed that these comprise a separate lineage, and are now classified in the family

Thynnidae The Thynnidae (also known as thynnid wasps, flower wasps, or thynnid flower wasps) are a family of large, solitary wasps whose larvae are almost universally parasitoids of various beetle larvae, especially those in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea. ...

. The females of some Brachycistidinae are wingless, and hunt ground-dwelling (

fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...

) beetle larvae. The prey is paralysed with the female's sting, and an egg is laid on it so the wasp larva has a ready supply of food. As some of the ground-dwelling scarab species attacked by tiphiids are pests, some of these wasps are considered beneficial as biological control agents.

Taxonomy

Tiphiid genera are classified as follows:

Subfamily Brachycistidinae Kimsey, 1991

*'' Acanthetropis'' Wasbauer, 1958 *'' Brachycistellus'' Baker, 1907 *'' Brachycistina'' Malloch, 1926 *'' Brachycistis'' Fox, 1893 *'' Brachymaya'' Kimsey & Wasbauer 1999 *'' Colocistis'' Krombein, 1942 *'' Dolichetropis'' Wasbauer, 1968 *'' Glyptacros'' Mickel & Krombein, 1942 *'' Hadrocistis'' Wasbauer, 1968 *'' Paraquemaya'' Kimsey & Wasbauer, 1999 *'' Sedomaya'' Kimsey & Wasbauer, 1999 *'' Stilbopogon'' Mickel & Krombein, 1942

Subfamily Tiphiinae Leach, 1815

*'' Cabaraxa'' Nagy, 1974 *'' Cyanotiphia'' Cameron, 1907 *'' Epomidiopteron'' Romand, 1835 *'' Icronatha'' Nagy, 1967 *'' Krombeinia'' Pate, 1947 *'' Ludita'' Nagy, 1967 *'' Mallochessa'' Allen, 1972 *'' Megatiphia'' Kimsey, 1993 *'' Neotiphia'' Malloch, 1918 *'' Paratiphia'' Sichel, 1864 *† '' Philoponites'' Cockerell, 1915 *'' Pseudotiphia'' Ashmead 1903 *'' Tiphia'' Fabricius, 1775

Examples

*'' Tiphia femorata'' Linden 1827 *''

Tiphia minuta ''Tiphia minuta '' is a Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills ...

'' Fabricius, 1775

Taxonomy

Subfamily Brachycistidinae Kimsey, 1991

Subfamily Tiphiinae Leach, 1815

Examples

Notes

References

Further reading