Eucharitid Wasps

Heraty et al. (2015) - All known Eucharitidae are parasitoids of the immature stages of ants. Larval stages were first described by Wheeler (1907) for Orasema Cameron. The late instar larvae and pupae of Eucharitinae and Oraseminae were then described in a series of early papers summarized by Clausen (1940). The first-instar larvae are highly conservative in their morphology, but late instars can be strikingly ornate with numerous odd protuberances and swellings over the body.

Another oddity of Eucharitidae is the inverse evolutionary association with their ant hosts. Phylogenetic results based on molecular data suggest that the more ancestral eucharitid lineages are associated with more derived groups of ants (e.g., Formicinae and Myrmicinae), and the more derived eucharitid lineages attack the more primitive groups (e.g., Ponerinae) (Murray et al. 2013).