Tiphiidae

Tiphiid wasps
	Tiphia sp.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Superfamily:	Tiphioidea
Family:	Tiphiidae; Leach, 1815
Subfamilies
	Brachycistidinae Kimsey, 1991; Tiphiinae Leach, 1815;

The Tiphiidae (also known as tiphiid wasps,^[1] flower wasps,^[2]^{[note 1]} or tiphiid flower wasps^[3]) are a family of large, solitary wasps whose larvae are parasitoids of various beetle larvae, especially those in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea.^[4] Until recently, this family contained several additional subfamilies, but multiple studies have independently confirmed that these comprise a separate lineage, and are now classified in the family Thynnidae.^[5]^[6]

The females of some Brachycistidinae are wingless, and hunt ground-dwelling (fossorial) beetle larvae.^[4] The prey is paralysed with the female's sting, and an egg is laid on it so the wasp larva has a ready supply of food. As some of the ground-dwelling scarab species attacked by tiphiids are pests, some of these wasps are considered beneficial as biological control agents.^[7]

Taxonomy

Tiphiid genera are classified as follows: ^[8]^[9]^[10]

The male of a species of Brachycistidinae photographed in Nevada

A female *Tiphia femorata* photographed in Italy

Subfamily Brachycistidinae Kimsey, 1991

Acanthetropis Wasbauer, 1958
Brachycistellus Baker, 1907
Brachycistina Malloch, 1926
Brachycistis Fox, 1893
Brachymaya Kimsey & Wasbauer 1999
Colocistis Krombein, 1942
Dolichetropis Wasbauer, 1968
Glyptacros Mickel & Krombein, 1942
Hadrocistis Wasbauer, 1968
Paraquemaya Kimsey & Wasbauer, 1999
Sedomaya Kimsey & Wasbauer, 1999
Stilbopogon Mickel & Krombein, 1942

Subfamily Tiphiinae Leach, 1815

Cabaraxa Nagy, 1974
Cyanotiphia Cameron, 1907
Epomidiopteron Romand, 1835
Icronatha Nagy, 1967
Krombeinia Pate, 1947
Ludita Nagy, 1967
Mallochessa Allen, 1972
Megatiphia Kimsey, 1993
Neotiphia Malloch, 1918
Paratiphia Sichel, 1864
† Philoponites Cockerell, 1915^[11]
Pseudotiphia Ashmead 1903
Tiphia Fabricius, 1775

Examples

Tiphia femorata Linden 1827
Tiphia minuta Fabricius, 1775

Notes

^ Not to be confused with other flower wasps in Mutillidae, Scoliidae, or Thynnidae.

References

^ Obeysekara, Piyumi T.; Legrand, Ana (2014). "The Influence of Host Species and Location in the Host Detection Ability of Tiphiid (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae) Parasitoids". Environmental Entomology. 43 (6): 1594–1602. doi:10.1603/EN13275. PMID 25289963. S2CID 31183862.
^ "Flower wasps". The Australian Museum. 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
^ Kelaidis, Panayoti; Tankersley, Boyce; Zale, Peter (2019). "November 2019" (PDF). International Rock Gardener (119): 115 pp. ISSN 2053-7557. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Brothers, Denis J. (1993). "Key to subfamilies of Tiphiidae". In Goulet, Henri; Huber, John T. (eds.). Hymenoptera of the World, an Identification Guide to Families. Ottawa, Ontario: Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research. pp. 178–185. ISBN 0-660-14933-8.
^ Pilgrim, E.; von Dohlen, C.; Pitts, J. (2008). "Molecular phylogenetics of Vespoidea indicate paraphyly of the superfamily and novel relationships of its component families and subfamilies". Zoologica Scripta. 37 (5): 539–560. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00340.x. S2CID 85905070.
^ Johnson, B.R.; et al. (2013). "Phylogenomics Resolves Evolutionary Relationships among Ants, Bees, and Wasps". Current Biology. 23 (20): 2058–2062. Bibcode:2013CBio...23.2058J. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.08.050. PMID 24094856.
^ Morais, Ryan (2020-07-28). "The Spring Tiphia: a natural enemy of the Japanese beetle". IPM & Entomology Lab. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
^ "Taxonomy for Tiphiinae". insectoid.info. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
^ "Tiphiinae". Fauna Europaea. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
^ Lynn S. Kimsey; Marius Wasbauer (2006). "Phylogeny and Checklist of the Nocturnal Tiphiids of the Western Hemisphere (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Brachycistidinae)". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 15 (1): 9–25.
^ Antropov, A.V. (2014). "Aculeata Scopoli, 1763. The wasps, bees and ants (Insecta: Vespida=Hymenoptera) from the Insect Limestone (Late Eocene) of the Isle of Wight, UK" (PDF). Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 104 (3–4): 335–446. doi:10.1017/S1755691014000103. S2CID 85699800.