(No common name)

FAMILY

Ibaliidae

TAXONOMY

Ichneumon leucospoides Hochenwarth, 1785.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Body length of 0.63–0.67 in (16–17 mm). Body and legs are black. Female abdomen is somewhat elongated; in males, it is pyriform.

DISTRIBUTION

Originally from central Europe, it has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, and Argentina (Andean Patagonia).

HABITAT

Adults may be seen on the bark of trees.

BEHAVIOR

Primary solitary endoparasitoids of hymenopterous, wood-boring larvae (Siricidae).

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Adults feed on nectar and honeydew; larvae feed on sirex larvae.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

The males emerge first, and mating takes place while the female is in the act of laying eggs. When attacking its host in the host's tunnel, the parasitoid female inserts the ovipositor into the tunnel entrance, and the stalked egg is placed either in the egg of the host or in the newly hatched larva. The mature larva emerges from the body of the host and completes its feeding externally.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Their biological control action is complementary to that of Megarhyssa nortoni, which attacks the last instars of sirex larvae.