Chrysididae
Chrysididae (ruby-tailed cuckoo wasps, ruby-tailed wasps; suborder Apocrita, superfamily Bethyloidea) Family (according to some authors, within its own superfamily, the Chrysidoidea) of wasps which are 6–12 mm long (although some are up to 22 mm long), with bright, metallic blue, red, or green bodies. The abdomen has four segments, or fewer, and is concave ventrally. The hind wings do not have closed cells and possess a basal lobe. Adults lay their eggs in the burrows of solitary wasps or bees (particularly mud-dauber wasps) and some parasitize symphytans. Most larvae are external parasites, development occurring only after the host is completely consumed, although some larvae are inquilines and others feed on a provisioned supply of food. The adults, which do not sting, often curl up into a ball when disturbed. They are fairly common and their common names refer to the often bright-red abdomen of many species, and their parasitic and inquiline habits in the nests of solitary bees and wasps.
More From encyclopedia.com
Lacewings , Lacewings
Lacewings are insects in the order Neuroptera, sub-order Planipennia. Lacewings are named after the fine, complex, cross-branched venation… Hymenoptera , Hymenoptera (ants, bees, sawflies, wasps; class Insecta, subclass Pterygota) Very large, complex, and diverse order, whose members show a high degree… Beetles , Beetles make up the large, extremely diverse order Coleoptera of the class Insecta, and comprise the largest single group of animals on Earth . There… Butterfly , butterfly, any of a large group of insects found throughout most of the world; with the moths, they comprise the order Lepidoptera. There are about 1… Bee Fly , Bombyliidae (bee-flies; order Diptera, suborder Brachycera) Family of flies, most of which are medium to large, with densely pubescent bodies and sle… Snakeflies , Snakeflies
Snakeflies are insects in the family Raphidiidae, in the order Neuroptera, which also contains the closely related alderflies (Sialidae) a…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Chrysididae