Ripiphoridae

Female wedge-shaped beetle Ripiphorus cf. fasciatus, copyright Karl Hillig.

Belongs within: Tenebrionoidea.

The Ripiphoridae are a group of beetles whose larvae are parasitoids of other insects. In members of the subfamily Ripiphorinae and male Rhipidiinae, the elytra are more or less reduced and either apically dehiscent and acute or leave the hind wings largely exposed; in female Rhipidiinae, both elytra and hind wings are entirely absent (Lawrence & Britton 1991).

Characters (from Lawrence & Britton 1991): Elongate, often laterally compressed and posteriorly tapered. Body often subglabrous or clothed with decumbent hairs; head may be strongly deflexed and abruptly constricted behind eyes to form neck which may or may not be visible; antenna 7- or 11-segmented, filiform, serrate, pectinate, flabellate or with single-segmented club; eyes slightly to strongly emarginate, sometimes very large; elytra may be entire and slightly dehiscent, exposing abdominal apex, or highly reduced exposing most of abdomen; fore coxae projecting, trochantins exposed or concealed, fore coxal cavities externally open, internally open or closed; mesocoxal cavities contiguous or moderately separated, laterally open; tarsal formula 5-5-4 or 4-4-4; abdomen with five to seven or nine ventrites, no ventrites connate.

Ripiphoridae
    |--Ptilophorinae LB91
    |--Pelecotominae LB91
    |    |--Trigonodera marmorata LB91
    |    `--Pelecotoma MW15
    |--Hemirhipidiinae LB91
    |    |--Nephrites nitidus Shuck 1838 LB91, M86
    |    `--Sitarida LB91
    |         |--S. hopei M86
    |         `--S. scabriceps LB91
    |--Rhipidiinae LB91
    |    |--Rhipidius pectinicornis [incl. Symbios blattarum] R13
    |    |--Riekella australis LB91
    |    |--Paranephrites xenus LB91
    |    `--Rhipidioides LB91
    |         |--R. helenae LB91
    |         `--R. rubricatus LB91
    `--Ripiphorinae B14
         |--Ripiphorus B14
         |    |--R. fasciatus B14
         |    |--R. paradoxus L02
         |    |--R. subdipterus A71
         |    `--R. vierecki (Fall 1907) B14
         `--Macrosiagonini B14
              |--Metoecus paradoxus B14, A71
              `--Macrosiagon B14
                   |--M. cucullata [=Emenadia cucullata] B28
                   |--M. limbatum (Fabricius 1781) B14
                   |--M. lineare BM76
                   |--M. octomaculatus B28
                   `--M. pictipenne B28

Ripiphoridae incertae sedis:
  Rhipistena lugubris Sharp 1878 H82
  Evaniocera M86
    |--E. boryi Lucas 1847 E12
    |--E. gerstackeri Macleay 1872 M86
    |--E. nervosa (Gerstäck 1855) [=Ptilophorus nervosus] M86
    `--E. pruinosa (Gerstäck 1855) [=Ptilophorus pruinosus] M86
  Pirhidius MW15
  Pelecotomoides M86
    |--P. conicollis M86
    |--P. gerstackeri Macleay 1872 M86
    |--P. lutea (Gerstäck 1855) [=Trigonodera lutea] M86
    |--P. marmorata B70
    |--P. mastersi Macleay 1872 M86
    |--P. nuda (Gerstäck 1855) [=Trigonodera nuda] M86
    |--P. senilis (Gerstäck 1855) [=Trigonodera senilis] M86
    `--P. sericea (Gerstäck 1855) [=Trigonodera sericea] M86
  Euctenia sericea Gerstäck 1855 M86
  Emenadia M86
    |--E. luteipennis Macleay 1872 M86
    |--E. maculicollis Bohem. 1858 M86
    |--E. novaehollandiae Gerstäck 1855 M86
    |--E. sobrina Waterh. 1883 M86
    `--E. tricolor Gerstäck 1855 M86

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A71] Askew, R. R. 1971. Parasitic Insects. Heinemann Educational Books: London.

[B28] Betrem, J. G. 1928. Monographie der Indo-Australischen Scoliiden mit zoogeographischen Betrachtungen. H. Veenman & Zonen: Wageningen.

[BM76] Bohart, R. M., & A. S. Menke. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[B14] Bouchard, P. (ed.) 2014. The Book of Beetles: A lifesize guide to six hundred of nature's gems. Ivy Press: Lewes (United Kingdom).

[B70] Britton, E. B. 1970. Coleoptera (beetles). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 495–621. Melbourne University Press.

[E12] Evenhuis, N. L. 2012. Publication and dating of the Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie: Histoire Naturelle des Animaux Articulés (1846–1849) by Pierre Hippolyte Lucas. Zootaxa 3448: 1–61.

[H82] Helmore, D. W. 1982. Drawings of New Zealand insects. Bulletin of the Entomological Society of New Zealand 8: 1–52.

[L02] Latreille, P. A. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, générale et particulière des crustacés et des insectes vol. 3. Familles naturelles des genres. F. Dufart: Paris.

[LB91] Lawrence, J. F., & E. B. Britton. 1991. Coleoptera (beetles). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 543–683. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[M86] Masters, G. 1886. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of Australia. Part IV. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (2): 259–380.

[MW15] McKenna, D. D., A. L. Wild, K. Kanda, C. L. Bellamy, R. G. Beutel, M. S. Caterino, C. W. Farnum, D. C. Hawks, M. A. Ivie, M. L. Jameson, R. A. B. Leschen, A. E. Marvaldi, J. V. McHugh, A. F. Newton, J. A. Robertson, M. K. Thayer, M. F. Whiting, J. F. Lawrence, A. Ślipiński, D. R. Maddison & B. D. Farrell. 2015. The beetle tree of life reveals that Coleoptera survived end-Permian mass extinction to diversify during the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution. Systematic Entomology 40 (4): 835–880.

[R13] Reuter, O. M. 1913. Lebensgewohnheiten und Instinkte der Insekten bis zum Erwachen der sozialen Instinkte. R. Friedländer & Sohn: Berlin.

Last updated: 12 November 2020.