Chalcidids are predominantly solitary, primary endoparasitoids of Lepidoptera and Diptera, though a few species attack Hymenoptera, Coleoptera or Neuroptera; some tropical species are ectoparasitoids, and a few may be gregarious. A number of species (including some tropical species of Conura) may be hyperparasitic. The British species have been recorded as endoparasitoids of Diptera, Coleoptera and Symphyta. Most are idiobionts, ovipositing into more or less fully grown hosts, such as mature larvae (in the case of parasitoids of Diptera), or young pupae (parasitoids of Lepidoptera) (Universal Chalcidoidea Database).
Eleven species of Chalcididae are recorded in Britain and Ireland (Dale-SKey et. al, 2016. Checklist of British and Irish Hymenoptera - Chalcidoidea and Mymarommatoidea. Biodiversity Data Journal. 4: e8013), although only two of these are recorded as a parasitioid of British and Irish miners.
All
of the parasitoids and their associated host miners listed here
occur in Britain (albeit in quaratine or glasshouses only). The
associations themselves, however, may not be British.
At present, of the 1,103 British and Irish miners discussed here 363 have no known Hymenoptera parasitoids, although it is likely that most of them are yet to be discovered..
Clicking on a parasitoid name will search the database and return
the current name, original name, original reference, distribution and a link to partners, including non-British species. Only links to identified host species are included in this list.
Clicking
on a miner host name will open that species page on this website. |