Plumariidae
Family of wasps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Plumariidae is a family of wasps within Chysidoidea.[1] They are found in arid areas in South America and Southern Africa.[1] The South African genera are more closely related to South American genera than each other suggesting that the family formed before the breakup of Gondwana.[2] Knowledge of the wasps is based mostly on males, as females are rarely collected.[3] Males are nocturnal and attracted to light while females have been collected from under stones and in pitfall traps.[2] Very little is known of their biology however they are most likely parasitoids of other arthropods theorized to be the larvae of underground beetles.[4]
| Plumariidae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Superfamily: | Chrysidoidea |
| Family: | Plumariidae Bischoff, 1914 |
Members of the family demonstrate extreme sexual dimorphism with females being wingless and having a flattened, highly modified, thorax with strong fossorial legs suggesting a subterranean habitat.[3][2] Meanwhile males have broad wings with rich wing venation.[4][2] Both males and females are pale to dark brown and have antenna with 13 (rarely 12) segments.[4]
Taxonomy
Plumariidae is widely considered to be a sister group to the rest of Chrysidoidea with the closest related family being the extinct family Plumalexiidae.[2] Plumariidae currently contains the following 8 genera with the genus Parapenesia was originally placed within the family Bethylidae before being moved:[1]
- Maplurius Roig-Alsina, 1994
- Mapluroides Diez, Fidalgo & Roig-Alsina, 2007
- Myrmecopterina Bischoff, 1914
- Myrmecopterinella Day, 1977
- Parapenesia Kieffer, 1910
- Plumarius Philippi, 1873
- Plumaroides Brothers, 1974
- Pluroides Diez, Roig-Alsina & Fidalgo, 2010