Aerophilus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Hymenopterida
Ordo: Hymenoptera
Subordo: Apocrita
Superfamilia: Ichneumonoidea

Familia: Braconidae
Subfamilia: Agathidinae
Genus: Aerophilus
Species: A. davidwagneri – A. fundacionbandorum – A. nicklaphami – A. paulmarshi
Name

Aerophilus Szépligeti, 1902

Type species:
References
Primary references

Template:Szépligeti, 1902
Additional references

Sharkey, M.J., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W., Chapman, E.G., Smith, M.A., Dapkey, T., Brown, A., Ratnasingham, S., Naik, S., Manjunath, R., Perez, K., Miltom, M., Hebert, P., Shaw, S.R., Kittel, R.N., Solis, M.A., Metz, M.A., Goldstein, P.Z., Brown, J.W., Quicke, D.L.J., van Achterberg, C., Brown, B.V. & Burns, J.M. 2021. Minimalist revision and description of 403 new species in 11 subfamilies of Costa Rican braconid parasitoid wasps, including host records for 219 species. ZooKeys 1013: 1–665. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1013.55600. Open access. Reference page.
Sharkey, M.J., Baker, A., McCluskey, K., Smith, A., Naik, S., Ratnasingham, S., Manjunath, R., Perez, K., Sones, J., D'Souza, M., St. Jacques, B., Hebert, P., Hallwachs, W. & Janzen, D. 2021. Addendum to a minimalist revision of Costa Rican Braconidae: 28 new species and 23 host records. ZooKeys 1075ː 77–136. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1075.72197 Open access Reference page.

Aerophilus is a genus of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Braconidae. As members of the subfamily Agathidinae, they are koinobiont endoparasitoids of caterpillars.[1] The host is attacked as an early instar, but not consumed and killed until the host is about to pupate. Nearly all species of Aerophilus have a narrow host range, attacking only one caterpillar species. However, the host range of the genus as a whole is quite broad, including many families of Lepidoptera.[2]

Several species have been used in biological control programs, but with minimal success. Aerophilus has a world-wide distribution. Thirty-five species have been described from the United States and Canada.
References

Wharton, Robert A.; Marsh, Paul M.; Sharkey, Michael J. (1997). The Manual of the New World Genera of the Family Braconidae (Hymenoptera) (PDF). Washington DC: The International Society of Hymenopterists. pp. 68–83.
Sharkey MJ, Chapman EG. 2016. Revision of Aerophilus Szépligeti (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) from eastern North America, with a key to the Nearctic species. Contributions in Science 524: 51-110.