Cystomastacoides

Cystomastacoides
Cystomastacoides holotype
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Suborder:
Apocrita
Superfamily:
Ichneumonoidea
Family:
Braconidae
Subfamily:
Rogadinae
Genus:
Cystomastacoides

Species include

C. coxalis
C. kiddo
C. nicolepeelerae
C. asotaphaga

Cystomastacoides is a genus of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Braconidae. It was named by Dutch entomologist Kees van Achterberg in 1997 from a single species Cystomastacoides coxalis discovered in Yunnan, China. There are only four species described in the genus, the other three having been reported on 19 March 2013.[1] As typical ichneumon wasps, they are characterised by a deadly parasitoid behaviour. Their larvae grow inside the body of other insects, such as caterpillars, and feed on their internal organs inside the body until they emerge.

  1. ^ Donald L. J. Quicke; M. Alex Smith; Jan Hrcek; Buntika Areekul Butcher (2012). "Cystomastacoides van Achterberg (Braconidae, Rogadinae): first host record and descriptions of three new species from Thailand and Papua New Guinea". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 31 (1): 65–78. doi:10.3897/JHR.31.3385.