Embolemidae Explained

Embolemidae is a family of small solitary parasitoid wasps with around 70 species in 2 genera distributed around the world.^[1] The few species whose biology is known are parasites on planthopper nymphs of the families Achilidae and Cixiidae.^[2] There is debate regarding the status of the genus named Ampulicomorpha by Ashmead in 1893, generally considered now to be a junior synonym of Embolemus (e.g.,), though some authorities dispute this (e.g.,^[2])

Biology

Females are wingless while males have wings, and in temperate regions emerge later than the females, which overwinter as adults.^[3] The wingless females have been recorded from the nests of ants and small mammal burrows,^[4] or under stones in pastures and grasslands, and they appear to be ant mimics. A Palearctic species, Embolemus ruddii, has been found in association with the ant species Formica fusca and Lasius flavus, while in Japan, Embolemus walkeri was taken in a nest of another ant, from the genus Myrmica.^[1] A Nearctic species, Embolemus confusus, has been reared from nymphs of a planthopper in the family Achilidae, where the host fed on fungi beneath the bark of rotting logs. The wasp larva lives in a bulging sac attached to the host nymph between the second and third segments.^[5]

Fossil species

After^[6]

• †Baissobius Rasnitsyn 1975
  • †Baissobius carolianus Rasnitsyn 1996 Dzun-Bain Formation, Mongolia, Early Cretaceous (Aptian)
  • †Baissobius minimus Rasnitsyn 1996 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
  • †Baissobius minutus Olmi et al. 2010 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
  • †Baissobius parvus Rasnitsyn 1975 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
• †Cretembolemus Olmi et al. 2014
  • †Cretembolemus orapensis Olmi et al. 2014 Orapa, Botswana, Late Cretaceous (Turonian)
• †Embolemopsis Olmi et al. 2010
  • †Embolemopsis baissensis Olmi et al. 2010 Zaza Formation, Russia, Aptian
  • †Embolemopsis maryannae Olmi, Jarzembowski, Capradossi and Perkovsky, 2020 Wessex Formation, United Kingdom, Early Cretaceous (Barremian)
• Embolemus Westwood 1833 (incl. Ampulicomorpha Ashmead, 1893)
  • †Embolemus antiquus Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian)
  • †Embolemus brachypterus Olmi et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus burmensis Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus cretacicus Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus excitus Perrichot and Engel 2011 Baltic amber, Eocene
  • †Embolemus janzeni (Olmi et al., 2014) Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus micropterus Olmi et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus ohmkuhnlei Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Embolemus perialla (Ortega-Blanco et al., 2011) Spanish amber, Early Cretaceous (Albian)
  • †Embolemus quesnoyensis (Chény, Guillam, Nel and Perrichot, 2020) Oise amber, France, Eocene (Ypresian)
  • †Embolemus succinalis (Brues, 1933) Baltic amber, Rovno amber, Eocene
  • †Embolemus zherikhini Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
• †Ponomarenkoa Olmi 2010
  • †Ponomarenkoa burmensis Perkovsky et al., 2021 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Ponomarenkoa ellenbergeri Olmi et al. 2013 Burmese amber, Myanmar, Cenomanian
  • †Ponomarenkoa polonica Ponomarenko 1988 Baltic amber, Eocene

Notes and References

1. van Achterberg, Cornelis & Kats, R.. (2000). Revision of the Palaearctic Embolemidae (Hymenoptera). Zoöl. Med. 74 (2000), 17: 251-269.
2. Perkovsky. Evgeny E.. Olmi. Massimo. Müller. Patrick. Guglielmino. Adalgisa. Jarzembowski. Edmund A.. Capradossi. Leonardo. Rasnitsyn. Alexandr P.. November 2020. A review of the fossil Embolemidae (Hymenoptera: Chrysidoidea), with description of seven new species and history of the family. Cretaceous Research. 121 . en. 104708. 10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104708. 229502829 .
3. Web site: Embolemus ruddii (Westwood,1833) . 8 July 2017 . Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society . J.T. Burn . 1997.
4. Web site: Embolemidae . 8 July 2017 . Iziko Museums of South Africa . WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the Afrotropical region . Simon van Noort . 2017.
5. Web site: HYMENOPTERA, Embolemidae (Chrysidoidea) (formerly Bethyloidea) . 8 July 2017 . University of California, Riverside.
6. Web site: Ross. Andrew. 21 June 2021. Burmese (Myanmar) amber taxa, on-line supplement v.2021.1. 5 November 2021. National Museums Scotland.