Parasitoids

Parasitoids of ants may occupy a variety of ecological niches within their host ant colony. Most are internal parasites of ant brood and ant adults. Many are hymenopterans and dipterans as well as Strepsipterans. There is another subset of parasitoids that attack myrmecophiles and other organisms living with the ants (eg. Horismenus, Microdonophagus). Ant parasitoids are a possible agent for biocontrol of pest ants. Most parasitoids are obscure and poorly known. Some species attack ants as well as other insect hosts.

Eucharitidae
Eucharitidae parasitize the immature stages of Formicidae and are among the most diverse hymenopteran parasitoids of eusocial insects. Females are oviparous and proovigenic and lay their eggs inside or on plant tissues, either individually or in masses. They oviposit away from the host, with the active first instar larva (planidium) responsible for getting into the ant nest through various associations with foraging adult ants. Once in contact with the larval ant host, the planidium either remains as an external parasite or burrows into the host. Upon pupation of the host, the larva migrates to the ventral region of the thorax, just posterior to the legs of the newly formed pupa, then resumes development through two additional instars. The adults emerge and leave the nest on their own or may be carried by the ants and deposited in the accumulation of colony waste.

Worldwide, approximately 700 Eucharitidae species attack five subfamilies across the ant phylogeny.

Akapalinae
Akapalinae Bouček, 1988: 517. Type species: Akapala Girault.

Akapala
There are two Australian species in this genus.

Eucharitinae
Eucharitinae is a subfamily of chalcid wasps in the family Eucharitidae with 50 genera. Eucharitid Wasps biology and host ants.

Ancylotropus
There are five species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants.

Apometagea
There is a single species in this genus.

Athairocharis
There are two species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants in the genus Anoplolepis.

Austeucharis
There are thirteen species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants. Host ants are Myrmecia.

Babcockiella''
There are four species in this genus.

Carletonia
There is a single species in this genus. Specimens collected from Costa Rica and Panama.

Chalcura
There are twenty eight species in this genus.

Cherianella
There are seven species in this genus.

Colocharis
There are three species in this genus.

Cyneucharis
There is a single species in this genus.

Dicoelothorax
There are two species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants. Host ants: Ectatomma brunneum

Dilocantha
There are five species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants.

Eucharis
There are forty six species in this genus.

Eucharissa
There are six species in this genus, all are from South Africa.

Galearia
There are two species in this genus. From Argentina and Brazil.

Hydrorhoa
There are seven species in this genus.

Isomerala
There are three species in this genus.

Kapala
There are sixteen species in this genus.

Lasiokapala
There are two species in this genus.

Latina
There are four known species of Latina with three known in Argentina and one from Venezuela. Like all members of the Euchratidae, Latina wasps are ant parasitoids. The wasp lays eggs on the undersides of leaves near the nests of Ponerine ants. Within a few days the eggs hatch into planidial larvae that are mobile and can leap. They enter the ant colony, most likely being carried by, or riding on, the ants. Once inside, they seek out ant larvae as hosts. There the planidia attach to ant host larvae or prepupae where they feed. On completing their development they emerge, leaving the remains of the ant larva.

Leurocharis
There is a single species in this genus.

Lirata
There are six species in this genus.

Liratella
There is a single species in this genus from Paraguay.

Lophyrocera
There are six species in this genus.

Mateucharis
There are three species in this genus.

Mictocharis
There is a single species in this genus.

Mimistaka
There is a single species in this genus.

Neolirata
There are three species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants.

Neolosbanus
There are sixteen species in this genus.

Neostilbula
There is a single species in this genus.

Obeza
There are eight described species in Obeza.

Palaeocharis
There is a single species from Baltic Amber.

Parakapala
There are three species in this genus.

Parapsilogastrus
There are five species in this genus.

Pogonocharis
There is a single species in this genus.

Pseudochalcura
There are fifteen species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants.

Pseudometagea
There are eight species in this genus.

Psilocharis
There are nine species in this genus.

Rhipipalloidea
There are two species in this genus.

Saccharissa
There are four species in this genus.

Schizaspidia
There are twenty nine species in this genus.

Stilbula
There are twenty nine species in this genus. Camponotus is the suspected host ant for many species.

Stilbuloida
There are two species in this genus.

Striostibula
There is one species in this genus.

Substilbula
There are four species in this genus.

Thoracantha
This genus is comprised of three species.

Thoracanthoides
There is a single species in this genus.

Tricoryna
There are fifteen species from Australia.

Zulucharis
There are seven species in this genus. Reared from cocoons of Camponotus sp..

Gollumiellinae
Gollumiellinae are unique in that they hook their eggs onto the plants and connect a ropey secretion to them, which stand erect. This acts as an attraction mechanism for Paratrechina ants. Gollumiellinae larvae burrow into the hosts' thoraces and feed there. The rest of its life cycle is similar to the aforementioned life cycle of eucharitids. Two Indo‐Pacific genera are included here.

Anorasema
There are two species in this genus.

Gollumiella
There are nine species in this genus.

Oraseminae
Oraseminae constitutes one of the major lineages of the family Eucharitidae, with the estimated number of species approaching 200 (Heraty 2002), all of which are parasitoids of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). There are verified host records of Oraseminae attacking six genera in the ant subfamily Myrmicinae and dubious records on Ecitoninae and Formicinae. In all known Oraseminae, the planidium burrows just under the larval cuticle, usually on the dorsal thoracic region, and the larva then feeds and expands (sometimes over 100× its original size) without changing instars (Wheeler, 1907; Heraty, 2000). After the ant pupates, the wasp migrates to the ventral region of the thorax and develops through its second and third instars, which results in a desiccated living ant pupa that cannot continue its development (Wheeler, 1907; Clausen, 1940a; Heraty & Murray, 2013). All myrmicine ants have naked pupae (lacking cocoons), and thus, parasitoid larvae are exposed throughout their development. The exact means by which the planidia infiltrate the ant colony have never been directly observed; however, it is presumed that planidia gain access by targeting one of the ants’ food sources. Proposed mechanisms include random attachment to foraging ants, phoretic attachment to an intermediate host (prey item) such as immature leafhoppers or thrips, or aggregating near or in extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) of plants and being picked up by feeding ant workers (Clausen, 1941; Das, 1963; Wilson & Cooley, 1972; Johnson et al., 1986; Carey et al., 2012; Herreid & Heraty, 2017). In the latter case (and perhaps all cases), the planidia are proposed to be transported by the adult ants within the infrabuccal pocket in their mouthparts and passed to the ant larvae via trophallaxis (Herreid & Heraty, 2017). With any of these nest infiltration methods, a tight tritrophic association is required, in which the plant has to be available and a suitable host for both the wasp and foraging ants.

Australosema
There are four species in this genus.

Cymosema
There are two species in this genus.

Hayatosema
There are eight species in this genus.

Ibitya
There are two species in this genus from Madagascar.

Indosema
There is a single species in this genus.

Ivieosema
There are four species in this genus.

Leiosema
There are two species in this genus.

Losbanus
There are five species in this genus.

Matantas
There is a single species in this genus from New Caledonia.

Orasema
There are 112 species in this genus.

Orasemorpha
There are nine species in this genus.

Timioderus
There are five species in this genus.

Zuparka
There are two species in this genus which are Parasitoids of ants. There are two species in this genus from Madagascar.

Eulophidae
The Eulophidae are a large family of hymenopteran insects, with over 4,300 described species in some 300 genera.

Eulophids are separable from most other Chalcidoidea by the possession of only four tarsomeres on each leg, a small, straight protibial spur (as opposed to the larger, curved one in most other chalcidoids), and by antennae with two to four funicle segments and at most 10 antennomeres.

Entedoninae
Entedoninae is a subfamily of wasps in the family Eulophidae which includes over 90 genera. Only a few species are associated with ants.

Horismenus
There are two species associated with ants in this parasitoid genus of more than 400 species.

Microdonophagus
There are three species in this parasitoid genus.

Myrmokata
There is a single species in this parasitoid genus of Eulopidae.

Pediobius
There is a single species in this parasitoid genus of Eulopidae.

Strepsiptera
Strepsipteran Associates