Astatidae is a cosmopolitan family of solitary wasps,[1] peculiar for their males having very large compound eyes that broadly meet at the top of the head. The largest genus in this family is Astata, with about half of more than 160 species in the family.[2]

Astatidae
male of Astata boops
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Apoidea
Family: Astatidae
Genera

Phylogenomic analysis of Apoidea published in 2018 suggested that Astatinae, along with several other subfamilies and a subtribe, should be promoted to family rank: Ammoplanina to Ammoplanidae, Astatinae to Astatidae, Bembicinae to Bembicidae, Mellininae to Mellinidae, Pemphredoninae (minus Psenini and Ammoplanina) to Pemphredonidae, Philanthinae to Philanthidae, and Psenini to Psenidae.[1]

Astata sp., male

References

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  1. ^ a b Sann, Manuela; Niehuis, Oliver; Peters, Ralph S.; Mayer, Christoph; et al. (2018). "Phylogenomic analysis of Apoidea sheds new light on the sister group of bees". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 18 (71): 71. Bibcode:2018BMCEE..18...71S. doi:10.1186/s12862-018-1155-8. PMC 5960199. PMID 29776336.
  2. ^ Pulawski, Wojciech J. "Catalog of Sphecidae". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2019-05-08.