Scientific name

Ceratobaeus sp.

Taxonomic position

Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Platygastridae: Scelioninae

Diagnosis

Female: Length 1.2-1.5mm. Head and body black to brownish yellow; frons without a median depression; a few carinae radiating from mandibular corners towards orbital margin; antenna 7-segmented in females, clava large without a distinct segmentation; in males 12- segmented, 11th and 12th separated by only a suture; T1 in females produced into a horn or a hump fitting into a concavity on median mesosoma; fore wings with well developed marginal and stigmal veins; hind wing with submarginal vein complete (Masner, 1976; Mani & Sharma, 1982; Austin & Field, 1997; Iqbal & Austin, 2000).

Image

 Adult - lateral view

Distribution

India: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

Biology / Hosts

Eggs of spiders belonging to Clubionidae, Salticidae, Gnaphocidae, Lamponidae, Stiphididae (Iqbal & Autsin, 2000).

References

  • Austin, A. D. and Field, S. A. 1997. The ovipositor system of scelionid and platygastrid wasps (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea); comparative morphology and phylogenetic implication. Invertebrate Taxonomy, 11: 1-87.
  • Iqbal, M. and Austin, A. D. 2000. Systematics of the wasp genus Ceratobaeus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) from Australasia: parasitoids of spider eggs. Records of the South Australian Museum Monograph series, 6: 1-164.
  • Mani, M. S. and Sharma, S. K. 1982. Proctotrupoidea (Hymenoptera) from India. A review. Oriental Insects, 16: 135-258.
  • Masner, L. 1976. Revisionary notes and keys to world genera of Scelionidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 97: 1-87.

Credits

Factsheet prepared by Dr. A. Rameshkumar, Research associate, NPIB, NBAII.