Overview
Ichneumonids are most diverse in cool wet habitats such as in the south-eastern parts of Australia. Adults are commonly seen at flowers or searching for hosts around tree trunks, logs, vegetation, or in litter. Biologically, the group is very diverse. They can be
ecto-
or
endoparasitic,
parasitising the larvae, prepupae or pupae of various endopterygote insects, and more rarely spiders and spider egg sacs. Lepidopteran (moth and butterfly) larvae are the most common hosts in Australasia, and numerous species have been introduced as biological control agents. Some species are
hyperparasitoids.
Description
Ichneumonids are morphologically very diverse. They range from very small (1.5 mm) to very large (120 mm) wasps with most species having relatively complete venation. They are closely related to
Braconidae
but can be distinguished from them by the following characters: vein 2m-cu of the fore wing present, basal cell in hind wing longer than vein SC + R, and metasomal terga 2 and 3 free and moveable, not fused.
Distribution
This very large family probably comprises more than 1,500 species in Australia, however only 370 have been described; the New Zealand fauna contains around 90 described species.
Gauld (1984) revised the genera of Australia, presented a synopsis of their morphology, biology and classification, and gave keys to subfamilies and genera. Wahl and Sharkey (1993) provided a key to world subfamilies.
Further information about the Ichneumonidae can be found in Gauld 1984, Naumann 1991 and Wahl & Sharkey 1993.