Scientific name

Sparasion sp.

Taxonomic position

Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Platygastridae: Scelioninae

Diagnosis

Female: Body black, stout and robust; head and body deeply sculptured, with fine dense hairs; frons without scrobal depression; between eyes at times with 1 or rarely 2 or 3 transverse ledges; eyes usually bare; vertex raised well above eye margins; antenna 12-segmented; prepectus and skaphion absent; mesonotum without notauli; tibial spur formula 1-2-2; marginal vein in fore wing developed as pseudostigma; postmarginal vein distinct and stigmal vein long; submarginal vein of hind wing incomplete. All metasomal tergites subequal in length (Rajmohana, 2006).

For more information see Platygastroidea of the world.

Images

   Adult - dorsal view

Distribution

India: Kerala (Rajmohana, 2011), Tamil Nadu, Karnataka (Johnson, 2013), Andhra Pradesh, Pudhucherry (Mahalakshmi et al., 2012).

Biology and hosts

Eggs of Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera). Collected on Arecaceae, Poaceae, Cistaceae (Johnson, 2013).

References

  • Johnson, N. F. 2013. http://osuc.biosci.ohio-state.edu/hymDB/eol_scelionidae (accessed on 31st July, 2013).
  • Mahalakshmi, S., S. Manickavasagam and K. Rajmohana. 2012. Distributional records of genera of Scelionid (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) egg parasitoids from South India. Madras Agricultural Journal, 99 (7-9): 576-579.
  • Rajmohana, K. 2006. Studies on Proctotrupoidea and Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera: Insecta) of Kerala. Memoirs of Zoological Survey of India, 21 (1): 1-153.
  • Rajmohana, K. 2011. A checklist of Scelioninae (Platygastridae: Hymenoptera) of India. Viewed in http://zsi.gov.in/checklist/Ckecklist%20of%20%20Indian%20Scelioninae.pdf (accessed 31st July, 2013).

Credits

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