Melittobia australica

Parasitoid Wasps

Jorge M. González
University of Georgia, Athens

Discover Life | All Living Things | Insecta | Hymenoptera | Chalcidoidea | Eulophidae | Melittobia australica
Overview

Species in the genus Melittobia belong to the family Eulophidae of the Order Hymenoptera. They are tiny wasps about 1.5 mm long and they show a remarkable plasticity of behavior. Uninseminated females can survive and eventually produce progeny of both sexes even in the absence of preferred hosts. They exhibit arrhenotokous parthenogenesis, and are gregarously developing ectoparasitoids of a wide range of hosts (pupae and prepupae) in various insect orders including Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. After mating, females produce a clutch of progeny in which about 95 % of the offspring are females. Melittobia displays pronounced sexual dimorphism with males being blind and flightless, very rapid life cycle (about 25 days). Males produce a pheromone that attracts females, and they have an elaborate courtship ritual. If males contact other males, they engage in ferocious battles. They are excellent organisms for laboratory experiments and are also valuable as classroom animals to aid in the study of genetics, ecology, biology and evolution.

Index
Life cycle

Click on image to enlarge
English
Life Cycle of Melittobia australica
Life Cycle of Melittobia australica
Spanish
Ciclo de Vida de Melittobia australica
Ciclo de Vida de Melittobia australica

Index
Phylogeny

Taxonomic Category Scientific Name Common Name
Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods
Class Insecta Insects
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Superfamily Chalcidoidea Chalcids
Family Eulophidae Eulophids
Genus Melittobia

Index
Geographic distribution

Described originally from Australia, this is a cosmopolitan species that can be found in North America, Central America and South America and the Caribbean. Its hosts include bee flies, cuckoo wasps, potter wasps, mud dauber wasps, leaf cutter bees, orchid bees. It can be artificially reared on flesh fly pupae. It can also be used for classroom activities.

Index
References

Web Site References

Index
Acknowledgements

My thanks to John Pickering and Denise Lim for help developing the Melittobia pages and Jonathan Dye for illustrations.

Discover Life | All Living Things | Insecta | Hymenoptera | Chalcidoidea | Eulophidae | Melittobia australica