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HYMENOPTERA, Calliceratidae (Ceraphronoidea) -- <Images>
& <Juveniles>
This is a small family with hosts in the Diptera, Hymenoptera,
Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Homoptera.
They are more generally found as secondary external parasitoids of
Aphididae and dactylopine Coccidae, through Braconidae and chalcidoid
primaries. Calliceras abnormis
Perk. attacks mature dryinid larvae in their cocoons in Hawaii, and Lygocerus semiramosus Kieff, is a secondary parasitoid of Chermidae through
Encyrtidae in India (Clausen 1940/1962). Biology & Behavior
Lygocerus cameroni
Kieff. is a secondary parasitoid of aphids through aphidius spp. (Haviland 1920).
It attacks mature larvae and sometimes early pupae of Aphidius and also may develop on
corresponding stages of its own species.
It is solitary and external.
Oviposition occurs only after the body contents of the aphid have been
completely consumed by aphidius and
only the shell remains, which is lined with silk by the mature larva of the
primary parasitoid. Females may
either stand on the aphid body during oviposition or insert their ovipositor
by a backward thrust. The egg is laid
on the dorsum of the body of the aphidius
larva or pupa. The meconium is cast
by the prepupa, appearing as a single black spherical mass lying in the
mid-ventral curve of the pupa. The
cycle from egg to adult is complete in 21-24 days, of which the egg, larval
and pupal stages take 1, 6-7 and 14-16 days, respectively. The number of eggs per female was
estimated at not more than 25, and the sex ratio was ca. 1.5:1 in favor of
females. Spencer (1926) studying L.
niger How. found that the host
preferences and habits are similar to those given for L. cameroni. Development takes place occasionally on
its own larvae also. The egg is
placed somewhat ventrally, rather than dorsally, on the Aphidius larva of pupa.
The body of the pupa is curved ventrally into a semicircle, and the
single meconial pellet lies at the middle of the curve and is encircled by
the antennae for 3/4ths of its circumference. The cycle from egg to adult takes an average of 14 days. There is no thelytoky known. The genus Lygocerus is
also hyperparasitic on mealybugs. Lygocerus sp. is a secondary
parasitoid of Pseudococcus sp.
through the encyrtid, Clausenia purpurea Ishii, in Japan. Attack is limited to pupae, and it was not
possible to secure oviposition on mature larvae. Due to the host cell's ellipsoidal form, the pupa is fully
extended rather than curved as described for L. cameroni, and the
single meconial pellet lies at the tip of the abdomen. Withycombe (1924a) found a female of Lygocerus sp. to bite a hole in the
cocoon of Conwentzia psociformis Curt. before depositing her
egg (Clausen 1940/1962). A conical process on the last abdominal segment of the larva of L. cameroni,
which occurs in other species of the genus, is believed to serve for
locomotion (Haviland 1920). There
really does not seem to be a need for locomotion in confined quarters that
the larva occupies, but the exceptional mobility of the posterior portion of
the body, observed in Lygocerus
sp., supports this assumption. The
movements of the tapering abdominal end of the body suggest those of the head
and thorax of syrphid larvae when searching for food (Clausen
1940/1962). Two species of Conostigmus
reared by Kamel (1939) were C. zaglouli Kamal and C. timberlakei
Kamal, taken from puparia of Syrphidae in California. These are gregarious external parasitoids
on the pupa within the puparium. Eggs
are laid on the integument of the newly formed pupa and hatch in 2 days. The larval period is long, covering ca. 24
days, and the pupal period is 6-8 days.
The cycle from egg to adult requires slightly more than 1 month. Mature larvae of C. zaglouli may go into
diapause for several months under adverse conditions. The meconium is in the form of a large
number of minute pellets rather than a single spherical mass such as found in
Lygocerus. A maximum of 33 individuals were reared
from a single puparium. Most if not all members of the family develop externally,
although within the cocoon, puparium, or dead body of the primary of
secondary host. There is no case in
which attack is on naked larvae or pupae.
For
detailed descriptions of immature stages of Calliceratidae, please see
Clausen (1940/1962). References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references
may be found at: MELVYL
Library] |