Gonatopus (wasp)

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Gonatopus is a genus of solitary wasps of the family Dryinidae, sometimes called hump-backed pincer wasps. The wingless females have large scissor-like appendages at the tips of the front legs which are used to catch the leafhopper nymphs which act as hosts to the larvae of these wasps. The larva consumes the leafhopper nymph from the inside. An indication that a leafhopper is hosting a grub is a cyst of accumulated shed integuments which surround and protect the growing wasp larva.[2]

Gonatopus
Gonatopus zealandicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Dryinidae
Subfamily: Gonatopodinae
Genus: Gonatopus
Ljungh, 1810
Type species
*Gonatopus formicarius
Ljungh, 1810[1]
Species

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Species

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The following list is a list of the species included within the genus Gonatopus found in Europe:[3] A new species Gonatopus jacki was described from Florida, USA in 2018.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Simon van Noort (2017). "Gonatopus Ljungh". WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the Afrotropical region. Iziko Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  2. ^ Stephen Welton Taber; Scott B. Fleenor (2003). Insects of the Texas Lost Pines Issue 33 of W. L. Moody Jr. Natural History Series. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 1585442364.
  3. ^ "Gonatopus Ljungh 1810". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 25 May 2017.[dead link]
  4. ^ Guglielmino, A.; Olmi, M.; Marletta, A.; Speranza, S. (29 March 2018). "A new species of the genus Gonatopus Ljungh from the USA". ZooKeys (747): 63–69. doi:10.3897/zookeys.747.24399. PMC 5904529. PMID 29674903. Retrieved 3 April 2018.