143 



Superfamily ICHNEUMONOIDEA 



By Paul M. Marsh and Robert W. Carlson 



Present data on numbers of species ranks the Ichneumonoidea as the largest superfamily of 

 Hymenoptera. It includes the bulk of the larger Parasitica, most ichneumonoids being over 5 mm 

 in length and a few being longer than 50 mm. A greater percentage of Ichneumonoidea than 

 other Parasitica have the ovipositor conspicuously exposed, but, on the other hand, a very sig- 

 nificant portion of Ichneumonoidea have ovipositors that protrude scarcely or not at all beyond 

 the median dorsal extremeties of the apical tergites. Townes (1975) discussed the Hymenoptera 

 (mostly Ichneumonoidea) with the longest ovipositors; he cited a species of IphiaidaxV 

 (Braconidae) with an ovipositor 14 times the length of the body. 



The distinguishing characters of Ichneumonoidea are: the usual fusion of the costal and sub- 

 costal veins of the fore wing; the long antennae, which are usually more than 14-segmented; and 

 the 2-segmented hind trochanters (the other trochanters usually also being 2-segmented). The 

 characters are for the most part shared by the Braconidae, Aphidiidae, Hybrizontidae, Ichneu- 

 monidae, and Stephanidae, the five families here considered to comprise the Ichneumonoidea. In 

 the case of the Stephanidae, however, there is some question about the correctness of placement 

 in the Ichneumonoidea (see Townes, 1969, p. 3). The larval head capsule of stephanids is con- 

 siderably different from those of other ichneumonoid families (personal commun., J. R. T. Short, 

 1976), and in stephanids the costa and subcosta are more distinctly separated than in other 

 ichneumonoid families. Nevertheless, we believe it best to leave the Stephanidae in the Ichneu- 

 monoidea until further studies are made. 



The Aphidiidae and Hybrizontidae are sometimes treated as subfamilies of Braconidae (see 

 van Achterberg, 1976). Some early 19th Century authors referred to the combination of the 

 latter three groups as the "Ichneumonidum adscitorum" (?unauthentic Ichneumonidae) which 

 they distinguished from the "Ichneumonidum genuinorum" (genuine Ichneumonidae). The 

 distinction largely resulted from Jurine's (1807) classification of the veins and cells of hymenop- 

 terous fore wings and his provision of terms for some of the veins and cells (e.g. "nervi recur- 

 rentes"). Eady (1974) provided an excellent discussion of the way in which the Jurinean system 

 of wing vein and cell nomenclature was modified and expanded by those who adopted Jurine's 

 ideas. He reviewed the systems of wing vein nomenclature which are currently used for 

 Braconidae and compared them with usages for Aphidiidae, Ichneumonidae, and other 

 Hymenoptera. He proposed an "interim method [in order] to overcome the more frequently vo- 

 iced objections to ... [the Comstock-Needham] system without adding to the confusion or ob- 

 structing progress toward uniformity." 



It was apparently by mutual agreement that Gravenhorst (1819) and Nees ab Esenbeck (1819) 

 decided to specialize on the Ichneumonidorum genuinorum and Ichneumonidorum adscitorum, 

 respectively. In the papers referred to, they simultaneously outlined their plans for the mono- 

 graphs which are here cited in the sections to which they pertain. Thunberg (1822, 1824) chose to 



