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HYMENOPTERA, Tetracampidae (Chalcidoidea) -- <Images> & <Juveniles>

This is a small family of parasitic wasps. They are parasitoids of phytophagous insects, primarily Diptera. There are ca. 46 species in 16 genera, and they are rare absent in the Americas.

The biology of most species of Tetracampidae are little studied. Most of those whose hosts are known are associated with insects that mine in plants (Boucek & Askew, 1968). European species of one genus, Dipriocampe, are endoparasitoids of the eggs of diprionid sawflies (Niklas, 1956), and the British species of Foersterella are endoparasitoids of the eggs of Cassida spp. (Coleoptera, Cassididae) (Boucek & Askew, 1968). One species, Dipriocampe diprioni was introduced into Canada from Europe for the biological control of diprionid pests but did not become established.

There are many fossil taxa but their relationships to other chalcidoid families is obscure.

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References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references may be found at: MELVYL Library]

Boucek, Z. 1958. Revision der Europäischen Tetracampidae (Hym., Chalcidoidea) mit einem katalog der arten der Welt. Acta. Ent. Mus. Natn. Pragae 32: 41-90.

Boucek, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea, a biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. CAB Internatl., Wallingford, UK. 832 p.

Boucek, Z. & R. R. Askew. 1968a. Index to entomophagus insects. World Tetracampidae. Le Francois, Paris. 20 p.

Boucek, Z. & Askew, R.R. 1968b. World Tetracampidae. Index of Entomophagous Insects 4:19pp. (Ed.: Delucchi, V.; Remaudière, G.) Le François, Paris.

Gibson A.P. 1993. Superfamilies Mymarommatoidea and Chalcidoidea (pp. 570-655). In: GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World: an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.

Niklas, O.F. 1957. Tetracampe diprioni Ferrière as an egg-parasite of Neodiprion sertifer. Beitr. Ent. 6(3/4):320-332.

Nikol'skaya, M. N. & V. A. Trjapitcyn. 1978/1987. Family Tetracampidae (Tetracampids). In: G. S. Medvedev (ed.) 1987, Keys to the Insects of the European Part of the USSR. Vol. 3 Hymenoptera, Pt. 2. Akad. Nauk., Zool. Inst., Leningrad, SSSR. (trans. fr. Russian, Amerind. Publ. Co., Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi). 1341 p.

Peck, O., Boucek, Z. & Hoffer, A. 1964. Keys to the Chalcidoidea of Czechoslovakia (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada No 34:170pp, 289 figs.

Prinsloo, G. L. 1980. An illustrated guide to the families of African Chalcidoidea (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Rep. So. Africa, Dept. Agr. & Fisheries Sci. Bull. 395. 66 p.

Subba-Rao, B. R. 1988. Family Tetracampidae. In: B. R. Subba-Rao, & M. Hayat (eds.), Oriental Insects, Vol. 19. Association For The Study of Oriental. Insects, Gainesville, FL. 329 p.

Sugonjaev, E.S. 1971. Novoe podsemeystvo khal'tsid Mongolocampinae Sugonjaev, subfam.n. (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Tetracampidae) iz Mongol i Kazakhstan. Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 50(3): 664-675. (In Russian; English translation: Entomological Review, Washington 50(3):377-383).

Yoshimoto, C. M. 1975. Cretaceous chalcidoid fossils from Canadian amber. Canad. Ent. 107: 499-528.

Yoshimoto, C. M. 1978. Two new species of Epiclerus from the New World (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea, Tetracampidae). Canad. Ent. 110: 1207-11.

Yoshimoto, C. M. 1984. The Insects and Arachnids of Canada. Part 12. The Families and Subfamilies of Canadian Chalcidoid Wasps, Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea. Biosystematics Res. Inst., Ottawa, Ontario, Res. Br. Agr. Canada Publ. 1760. 149 p.