Agriotypinae
Subfamily of wasps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Agriotypinae is a subfamily of ichneumonid parasitoid wasps found in the Palaearctic region. This subfamily contains only one genus, Agriotypus. The known species are aquatic idiobiont ectoparasitoids of Trichoptera pupae.
| Agriotypinae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Agriotypus armatus from British Entomology | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Ichneumonidae |
| Subfamily: | Agriotypinae Haliday,1838 |
| Genus | |
There has been disagreement over the taxonomic placement of Agriotypus. It has variously been placed in Proctotrupoidea and considered a separate family of Ichneumonoidea.
Life cycle
The development of Agriotypus armatus has been documented on the host Silo pallipes in a stream in South-West England.[1] The life cycle of the wasps took one year, with adults present in May and June. Eggs were laid in the pupae or prepupae of the host. The larvae underwent 5 larval stages before overwintering as adults in their pupal case. Larval instars 1-4 fed externally on the host, while instar 5 rapidly consumed the entire host body. Before pupating, the larvae built a separate pupal case from silk within the trichopteran pupal case. The wasp pupal case included a 1.5 cm silk ribbon which extended into the water, probably to act as a plastron. Adults emerged in the spring, after the water temperature had reached 10 degrees C.
