Pemphredoninae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
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: Apoidea

Familia: Crabronidae
Subfamilia: Pemphredoninae
Tribus: Entomosericini - Odontosphecini - Pemphredonini - Psenini - Incertae sedis
Name

Pemphredoninae Dahlbom, 1835
Vernacular names
日本語: アリマキバチ亜科

The subfamily Pemphredoninae also known as the aphid wasps,[1] is a large group in the wasp family Crabronidae, with over 1000 species. Historically, this subfamily has frequently been accorded family status. In some recent phylogenetic analyses, one of the subtribes within this group is the sister lineage to the superfamily Apoidea, and accorded family rank as Ammoplanidae along with Pemphredonidae and Psenidae so as to keep families monophyletic.[2]

The subfamily consists of solitary wasps, each genus having its own distinct and consistent prey preferences. The adult females dig tunnels in the ground, or plant material, for nesting.[3]

As with all other sphecoid wasps, the larvae are carnivorous; females hunt for prey on which to lay their eggs, mass provisioning the nest cells with paralyzed, living prey that the larvae feed upon after hatching from the egg.

Subdivisions

In most classifications, the Pemphredoninae are divided into four tribes: Entomosericini, Odontosphecini, Psenini, and Pemphredonini; the last of which has by far the largest number of species. The primary distinction between the Psenini and the Pemphredonini is that Psenini have a forewing with three submarginal cells, while Pemphredonini never have more than two submarginal cells in their forewing. More recent classifications treat Psenidae (including Odontosphecini) as a separate family, and sister to the newly-erected family Ammoplanidae, while Pemphredonidae (excluding Ammoplanina) is sister taxon to the Philanthidae.[2]
Fossils

Two fossilized wasps from the Weald Clay, Archisphex and Angarosphex are considered to possibly be in the Pemphredoninae.[4]
Notes

"Subfamily Pemphredoninae - Aphid Wasps", accessed 14 January 2009
Manuela Sann, Oliver Niehuis, Ralph S. Peters, Christoph Mayer, Alexey Kozlov, Lars Podsiadlowski, Sarah Bank, Karen Meusemann, Bernhard Misof, Christoph Bleidorn, and Michael Ohl (2018) Phylogenomic analysis of Apoidea sheds new light on the sister group of bees. BMC Evolutionary Biology 18:71. doi:10.1186/s12862-018-1155-8
Sharp, David (1901) "Insects Part II: Chapter III: Hymenoptera Aculeata continued: Family Sphegidae-Crabronides: Sub-Fam. 9. Mimesides." in Harmer, S. F. and Shipley, A. E. (eds.) (1901) The Cambridge Natural History Macmillan and Co., London, p. 128 OCLC 559687

Jarzembowski, E. A. (1991) "The Weald Clay of the Weald: Report of 1988/89 Field Meetings: New insects from the Weald Clay of the Weald" Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 102: pp. 83-108; as cited in Grimaldi, David (1999) "The co-radiations of pollinating insects and angiosperms in the Cretaceous" Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 86(2): pp. 373-406, p. 377

References

Bohart, R. M. and Menke, A. S. (1976) Sphecid Wasps of the World: a Generic Revision University of California Press, Berkeley, California, ISBN 0-520-02318-8 Google books
Simon-Thomas, R. T. and Bohart, R. M. (1998) A recapitulation of errata and omissions to Sphecid wasps of the world, a generic revision, by R.M. Bohart & A.S. Menke Instituut voor Systematiek en Populatiebiologie, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, OCLC 39684725