Doryctine wasps are found across almost the entire size range of Braconidae, from 1 to 25 mm. In the small species the head tends to be relatively large and the body, while slender, remarkably elongated. Doryctines tend to be small-winged, with many having very much reduced wings. Numerous species in this family are unable to fly or even lack wings entirely. They have a characteristic row of stout spines running lengthwise along the foreleg tibia, and a cyclostome depression above the mandibles.[2]
Distribution
Doryctinae have a worldwide distribution except for the polar regions.[2]
Biology
Some Doryctinae are known to form galls on plants similar to the Mesostoinae (a small subfamily endemic to Australia).[3] Some species in the genus Allorhogas feed on seeds.[2] The large majority of doryctines are idiobiont ectoparasitoids of the larvae of wood-boring beetles – such as jewel beetles (Buprestidae). Some species parasitize lepidopteran or symphytan larvae. The host is paralyzed by venom injected through the female's ovipositor before an egg is laid.[2] The spines present on the foreleg of the adult enable it to escape from the narrow wooden tunnels of the hosts.
Biological control
Doryctines have been used to control pests in Europe, Australia, and North America. Several doryctine wasps are of economic importance as biocontrol agents in Australia against eucalyptuspests.[4] The species Spathius agrili has been introduced to the United States from China in an effort to control the emerald ash borer.[5]
16 tribes of Doryctinae have been designated.[1][7][8] The former subfamily Ypsistocerinae has been subsumed under Doryctinae as one of these tribes, Ypsistocerini.[9][8]
Doryctinae comprises over 2000 species in 198 genera, with new taxa continuing to be described.[1][10] 182 of the genera placed in the Doryctinae include:
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Samacá-Sáenz, Ernesto; Meza-Lázaro, Rubi N.; Branstetter, Michael G.; Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro (2019-11-17). "Phylogenomics and mitochondrial genome evolution of the gall-associated doryctine wasp genera (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)". Systematics and Biodiversity. 17 (8): 731–744. Bibcode:2019SyBio..17..731S. doi:10.1080/14772000.2019.1685608. ISSN1477-2000. S2CID213816441.
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Stevens, N.B.; Iqbal, M; Austin, A.D.; Jennings, J.T. (2008). "Subfamily Doryctinae". Australian Faunal Directory. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015.
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Sharanowski, Barbara J.; Dowling, Ashley P. G.; Sharkey, Michael J. (2011). "Molecular phylogenetics of Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea), based on multiple nuclear genes, and implications for classification". Systematic Entomology. 36 (3): 549–572. Bibcode:2011SysEn..36..549S. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2011.00580.x. S2CID52226040.
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Jasso-Martínez, Jovana M.; Belokobylskij, Sergey A.; Zaldívar-Riveron, Alejandro (2019). "Molecular phylogenetics and evolution of generic diagnostic morphological features in the doryctine wasp tribe Rhaconotini (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)". Zoologischer Anzeiger. 279: 164–171. Bibcode:2019ZooAn.279..164J. doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2019.02.002.
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Belokoblylskij, Sergey A. (2008). "Rhyukyuspathius, A New Peculiar Genus of the Tribe Spathiini (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae) from Japan". Annales Zoologici. 58 (4): 761–766. doi:10.3161/000345408X396693.
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