User:Alandmanson/Hymenoptera of Africa

 African Chalcidoidea 

Chalcidoidea is an incredibly diverse group of wasps with a wide variety of life histories; many are parasitoids, making them ecologically important; some are used for biological control of insect pests. About 22 000 species have been described, but as many as 500 000 are thought to exist worldwide.

Most chalcidoids are small (body length less than 5 mm), the smallest being males of the mymarid Dicopomorpha echmepterygis, which is the smallest known flying insect (0.13 mm). However, some species may be as long as 20 mm (excluding antennae and ovipositor), such as the pelecinellid Doddifoenus wallacei. Many have bright metallic colours, hence the name Chalcidoidea or chalcid - the greek word χαλκός (chalcos) means copper or bronze.

Many new chalcidoid families were proposed in 2022. This was largely based on phylogenetic evidence (both molecular and morphological) accumulated since the families of the Superfamily were outlined in 1993.

Burks, R., Mitroiu, M.D., Fusu, L., Heraty, J.M., Janšta, P., Heydon, S., Papilloud, N.D.S., Peters, R.S., Tselikh, E.V., Woolley, J.B. and van Noort, S., (2022). From hell’s heart I stab at thee! A determined approach towards a monophyletic Pteromalidae and reclassification of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 94, pp.13-88. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.94.94263

Cruaud, A., Rasplus, J.Y., Zhang, J., Burks, R., Delvare, G., Fusu, L., Gumovsky, A., Huber, J.T., Janšta, P., Mitroiu, M.D. and Noyes, J.S., 2022. The Chalcidoidea bush of life–a massive radiation blurred by mutational saturation. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.11.507458 https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.09.11.507458.full.pdf

Ichneumonoidea

Quicke, D.L., 2015. The braconid and ichneumonid parasitoid wasps: biology, systematics, evolution and ecology. John Wiley & Sons. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281662102_The_Braconid_and_Ichneumonid_Parasitoid_Wasps_Biology_Systematics_Evolution_and_Ecology

Spider-hunting wasps
Two wasps from the genus Auplopus from Europe. Most of the Auplopus species, along with others from the Tribe Ageniellini, amputate the legs of the spiders they capture; this makes it much easier to move the spider to the nest.

African genera of Ageniellini:
 * Auplopus Spinola, 1841
 * Cyemagenia Arnold, 1946
 * Dichragenia Haupt, 1950
 * Phanagenia Banks, 1933  Madagascar
 * Poecilagenia Haupt, 1926

 Hymenoptera 

About 20 000 described species of Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants and sawflies) are known from the Afrotropical region. Estimates of the actual species count for the region range from 100 000 species to as high as 500 000 species. Nineteen different superfamilies are illustrated on this gallery in Wikimedia Commons.

The huge number of undescribed species means that many species will be extinct before we are even aware of them, as there are too few taxonomists employed to tackle the task of describing all of them in the next few decades.

Classification
The Order can be split into two Suborders - The Symphyta (Woodwasps, Horntails, Sawflies) and the Apocrita (Narrow-waisted wasps, ants and bees).

When compared to the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, the diversity of Symphyta in Africa is relatively poor, although sawflies of the Superfamily Tenthredinoidea are fairly common in forests and other woody vegetation types.

Africa has a rich diversity of Apocrita. The cladogram shown below indicates the possible relationships between 11 of the superfamilies that comprise Apocrita; These 11 superfamilies are all represented in Africa. This breakdown is used by iNaturalist. It is, however, not accepted by all hymenopterists, and may change as more phylogenetic evidence is accumulated.

Frequently reported African Apocrita
Aculeata (ants, bees and stinging wasps) are the most commonly observed Hymenoptera in Africa. There are many more photographs of African Aculeata on the web - See African Aculeata on WaspWeb and African Aculeata on iNaturalist