African Arthropods/Diaprioidea

African Diaprioidea

This superfamily comprises four families, two of which are found worldwide; Ismaridae and Diapriidae.

Ismaridae

There is only one genus in this family - Ismarus. There are 16 described Afrotropical Ismarus species. Remarkably they are hyperparasitoids that parasitize Dryinid wasps that have parasitized leafhoppers.

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  Ismarus africanus, the most common ismarid in Africa
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  Ismarus kakamegensis
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  Ismarus watshami

Diapriidae

These parasitic wasps generally go unnoticed because they are small (mostly 2-4 mm long) and dark (most are black). However, as a group, they are diverse, abundant and have a worldwide distribution.

Knowledge of the biology of most species is very poor, but current knowledge indicates that Diapriids are predominantly endoparasitoids of dipteran larvae and pupae, but some species are parasites of ants or beetles

The Afrotropical taxa include 30 genera in three subfamilies.

Ambositrinae

A single extant species, Ambositra famosa, known from Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Africa.

Belytinae

There are eight Afrotropical genera in subfamily Belytinae, including:

Aclista

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  Male Aclista
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  Female Aclista
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  Female Aclista

Belyta

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  Male Belyta
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  Male Belyta
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  Male Belyta

Diapriinae

There are 21 Afrotropical genera in subfamily Diapriinae, including:

Basalys

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  Female Basalys on a daisy petal
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  Compilation: Basalys mating

Coptera

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  Female Coptera
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  Female Coptera
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  Female Coptera
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  Female Coptera
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  Male Coptera
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  Male Coptera

Trichopria

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  Female Trichopria