Family BRACONIDAE
Compiler and date details
N.B. Stevens, M. Iqbal, A.D. Austin & J.T. Jennings, Centre for Evolutionary Biology & Biodiversity (CEBB), Waite Institute, Adelaide, South Australia
Introduction
The Braconidae is one of the largest families of parasitic Hymenoptera with an estimated 14,900 valid species, and possibly three times this many still to describe. To date, nearly 580 species have been described from Australia (including 52 introduced species), but this may represent less than 20% of the true size of the fauna. Biologically, the vast majority of braconids are endo- or ectoparasitoids of insect larvae, particularly of the Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and more rarely of a number of other insect orders (see Shaw & Huddleston 1991, Wharton 1993 and Wharton et al. 1997 for reviews).
Some groups oviposit into host eggs and development is delayed until the host larval stage (e.g. Cheloninae), while pupal and adult parasitism is very rare. Braconids are extensively used as biological control agents worldwide, particularly of Lepidoptera, and numerous species have been imported into most countries including Australia. Compared with the Ichneumonidae, hyperparasitoids are virtually absent in the Braconidae.
Until recently, the family was also thought to be solely parasitic, but a few instances of phytophagy have been recorded in recent years (see Infante et al. 1995; Austin & Dangerfield 1998; Marsh et al. 2000).
Braconids can best be identified by their wing venation (Wharton et al. 1997), and wingless and brachypterous species by the presence of exodont mandibles (see Alysiinae) or a cyclostome (circular) depression above the mandibles comprising the labrum and part of the clypeus (see Doryctinae).
Thirty-four subfamilies are usually recognised, of which 29 occur in Australia with the Miracinae only by undescribed species. Two unusual subfamilies, Mesostoinae and Trachypetinae, are endemic to Australia. The relationships among the subfamilies have been examined in detail using morphological and molecular data (e.g. Quicke & van Achterberg 1990; Wharton et al. 1992; Dowton et al. 1998; Belshaw et al. 2000). General accounts of the classification and identification of the family are provided by van Achterberg (1993), Marsh et al. (1987), Wharton (1993) and Wharton et al. (1997). The subfamily classification adopted here follows Wharton et al. (1997), with the exceptions that the Betylobraconinae is included in the Rogadinae, the Meteorinae in the Euphorinae, and the Ryssalinae is treated as separate rather than within the Hormiinae.
General References
Austin, A.D. & Dangerfield, P.C. 1998. Biology of the Mesostoa kerri Austin and Wharton (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Mesostoinae), an endemic Australian wasp that causes stem galls on Banksia marginata Cav. Australian Journal of Botany 46: 559-569
Belshaw, R., Dowton, M., Quicke, D.L.J. & Austin, A.D. 2000. Estimating ancestral geographical distributions: a Gondwanan origin for aphid parasitoids? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 267: 491-496
Dowton, M., Austin, A.D. & Antolin, M.F. 1998. Evolutionary relationships among the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) inferred from partial 16S rDNA gene sequences. Insect Molecular Biology 7: 129-150
Infante, F., Hanson, P. & Wharton, R. 1995. Phytophagy in the genus Monitoriella (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with description of new species. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 88: 406-415
Marsh, P.M., De Macedo, M.V. & Pimental, M.C.P. 2000. Description and biological notes on two new phytophagous species of the genus Allorhogas from Brasil (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Doryctinae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 9: 292-297
Marsh, P.M., Shaw, S.R. & Wharton, R.A. 1987. An identification manual for the North American genera of the family Braconidae (Hymenoptera). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Washington 13: 1-98
Quicke, D.L.J. & van Achterberg, C. 1990. Phylogeny of the subfamilies of the family Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea). Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) 258: 1-95
Shaw, M.R. & Huddleston, T. 1991. Classification and biology of braconid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 7: 1-126
Wharton, R.A. 1993. Bionomics of the Braconidae. Annual Review of Entomology 38: 121-143
Wharton, R.A., Marsh, P.M. & Sharkey, M.J. 1997. Manual of the new world genera of the family Braconidae (Hymenoptera). Washington, D.C. : The International Society of Hymenopterists 439 pp.
Wharton, R.A., Shae, S.R., Sharkey, M.J., Wahl, D.B., Woolley, J.B., Whitfield, J.B., Marsh, P.M. & Johnson, J.W. 1992. Phylogeny of the subfamilies of the family Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): a reassessment. Cladistics 8: 199-235
van Achterberg, C. 1993. Illustrated key to the subfamilies of the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea). Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) 283: 1-189