ichneumon wasp

(Charops annulipes)

Conservation Status
ichneumon wasp (Charops annulipes)
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

not listed

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Charops annulipes is a small parasitic wasp. Adults are slender and just ¼ (7 mm) in length.

The head and thorax are black, minutely pitted, and covered with white hairs. The antennae are thread-like and entirely black except for the basal segment (scape), which is pale on the underside.

The abdomen is long and slender, twice as long as the head and thorax together. The first abdominal segment is a long slender petiole connecting the thorax with the rest of the abdomen. The petiole is black at the base and tip, pale in the middle, and knobbed at the end. The second abdominal segment is black above and is a little shorter than the petiole. The third, fourth, and fifth segments are reddish-brown. The remaining segments are black. On the female the ovipositor is short. It rises in front of the tip of the abdomen and cannot be withdrawn into the body.

The front and middle legs are mostly pale yellow. There is some white on the fourth segment (tibia) and on the last part of the leg (tarsus) that corresponds to the foot. The hind legs are mostly black. The tibia is white just at the base. There is a pair of spurs at the end to the tibia. The spurs are white.

The wings are clear with dark veins and a dark cell (stigma) on the leading edge (costal margin). The thickened costal margin does not have a cell. In the lower part of the forewing there are two recurrent (backward-turning) veins forming a cell.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

¼ (7 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat and Hosts
 
 

Larva parasitize the caterpillars of small bird-dropping moth (Ponometia erastrioides) and green cloverworm moth (Hypena scabra).

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

June to September

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

The larva pupates in a black and white cocoon suspended from a leaf or twig by a single silken thread. The distinctive markings on the cocoon help to identify the species inside.

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

 

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30.

There are no records of this insect from Minnesota. There is a single record from Wisconsin.

 
  6/2/2021      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Uncommon or absent from Minnesota

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)  
 

Suborder

Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)  
 

Superfamily

Ichneumonoidea (ichneumonid and braconid wasps)  
 

Family

Ichneumonidae (ichneumonid wasps)  
 

Subfamily

Campopleginae  
 

Genus

Charops  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

This species has no common name. The common name of the family Ichneumonidae is ichneumonid wasps, and it is used here for convenience.

 
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Costal margin

The leading edge of the forewing of insects.

 

Scape

On plants: An erect, leafless stalk growing from the rootstock and supporting a flower or a flower cluster. On insects: The basal segment of the antenna.

 

Stigma

In plants, the portion of the female part of the flower that is receptive to pollen. In Lepidoptera, an area of specialized scent scales on the forewing of some skippers, hairstreaks, and moths. In other insects, a thickened, dark, or opaque cell on the leading edge of the wing.

 

Tarsus

On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
    ichneumon wasp (Charops annulipes)      
           
 
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  Alfredo Colon
August 2019

Location: Slinger, Wisconsin

ichneumon wasp (Charops annulipes)

 
           
 
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Created: 6/2/2021

Last Updated:

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