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Familia Embolemidae General information |
| A small family with
only about 30 species described, with a
cosmopolitan distribution mainly in subtropical
and tropical regions. Several species show
sexual dimorphism: the males have wings, whereas
the females have no wings (hence the German name
"Ameisenwespen"), but there are exceptions, e.g.
some American species that are alate in both
males and females, and Embolemus reticulatus
that has fully winged males and females. Also
the habitus of the Embolemidae is ant-like, but
their antennae are long and not elbowed and
their head viewed from the side has a peculiar
triangular shape that bears the mouthparts in an
orthognathous (almost hypognathous) position. The imagines are reported to live in ground vegetation, under stones, in mole nests, decaying wood, or ant nests. This list of mutually exclusive habitats already indicates that the biology of this hymenopteran group is not well understood. The Embolemidae are closely related to the Dryinidae and some authors therefore speculate that the Embolemidae might be parasites of cicadas as well. Indeed, an American species, Embolemus confusus, has been reported to parasitize fulgoroid cicadas. At least for the German species the biology is unknown and the reports of females in ant nests could indicate that they parasitize in ants rather than cicadas. Most world species are said to be extremely rare, but this might also reflect their unknown biology; if their habitat was better known, perhaps the animals would also be encountered more often. In Europe, the females appear to be the ones that overwinter and in Spring produce a new generation of males and females that are then found as imagines in August to October. The Embolemidae are regarded as the sister group of the Dryinidae (Carpenter 1999). The family previously consisted of only 2 genera, Embolemus and Ampulicomorpha, but these were combined by Van Achterberg and Van Kats (2000), because no supporting apomorphies could be found. Thus, the family comprises only the genus Embolemus. |
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been updated on November 12, 2011 This site is online since May 31, 2005 Copyright © by Nikola-Michael Prpic. All rights reserved. |
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