Conostigmus

Conostigmus
Conostigmus sp
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Megaspilidae
Genus: Conostigmus
Dahlbom, 1858
Type species
Conostigmus erythrothorax
(Ashmead, 1893)

Conostigmus is a genus of parasitoid wasps that belongs to the family Megaspilidae. It is a sister genus of Dendrocerus and the second-largest genus within the family Megaspilidae with over 170 extant species that are globally distributed with most species being concentrated in the Palaearctic realm. In contrast, there has only been 17 species described from China.

Taxonomy

The genus was described in 1858 by Anders Gustaf Dahlbom, a Swedish entomologist. When it was established, it was considered to be a subgenus of Megaspilus before being elevated to the generic rank by Kieffer (1907). The type species is Conostigmus erythrothorax was described by William Harris Ashmead, an American entomologist, in 1893.

Species

This genus currently contains over 170 described species making Conostigmus the second-largest genus within the family Megaspilidae. These species are organized into several species groups.

Below is a list of species belonging to this genus:

  1. Conostigmus acutus Wang & Chen, 2024
  2. Conostigmus abdominalis (Boheman, 1832)
  3. Conostigmus ampullaceus Dessart, 1997
  4. Conostigmus aestivalis Kieffer, 1907
  5. Conostigmus bipunctatus Kieffer, 1907
  6. Conostigmus clayulatus Yang & Wang, 2025
  7. Conostigmus dessarti Trietsch & Mikó, 2020
  8. Conostigmus dimidiatus (Thomson, 1858)
  9. Conostigmus duncani Trietsch, 2020
  10. Conostigmus electrinus Wang & Chen, 2024
  11. Conostigmus erythrothorax Ashmead, 1893 (type species)
  12. Conostigmus franzinii Trietsch & Mikó, 2020
  13. Conostigmus johnsoni Trietsch & Mikó, 2020
  14. Conostigmus laeviceps (Ashmead, 1893)
  15. Conostigmus lepus Trietsch, 2020
  16. Conostigmus longiharpes Trietsch, 2020
  17. Conostigmus michaeli Trietsch, 2020
  18. Conostigmus minimus Trietsch & Mikó, 2020
  19. Conostigmus muratorei Trietsch, 2020
  20. Conostigmus musettiae Trietsch & Mikó, 2020
  21. Conostigmus nankunensis Qian and Wang, 2024
  22. Conostigmus obsidianus Liu & Wang, 2026
  23. Conostigmus quadratogenalis Dessart & Cooper, 1975
  24. Conostigmus quadripetalus Wang & Chen, 2024
  25. Conostigmus rosemaryae Trietsch, 2020
  26. Conostigmus rotundus Yang & Wang, 2025
  27. Conostigmus vitreus Liu & Wang, 2026
  28. Conostigmus washburni Trietsch, 2020
  29. Conostigmus xui Cui and Wang, 2023

Biology

Though it is the second largest genus within Megaspilidae, little is known about its life history. A few species are known to be ectoparasitoids however it is likely that the genus also contains endoparasitoid wasps as well since the sister genus Dendrocerus contains both life strategies. It is also likely that Conostigmus contains hyperparasitoids as well.

Fossil Specimens

A species of Conostigmus has been identified from Eocene Baltic amber.

References

  1. 1 2 "Conostigmus (Dahlbom, 1858)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Trietsch, Carolyn (2019). Exploring Megaspilidae (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea) Through Morphology and More. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. ISBN 978-1-392-31897-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. 1 2 3 "CATALOG OF SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE OF THE SUPERFAMILY CERAPHRONOIDEA (HYMENOPTERA)". www.semanticscholar.org. 2004. S2CID 92285669. Retrieved 2026-08-10.
  4. 1 2 3 Liu, Yu-fan; Zhao, Wen-Jing; Yang, Xing; Li, Liu-kang; Huang, Yi-xin; Wang, Xu (2026-08-07). "Two new species of Conostigmus Dahlbom, 1858 (Hymenoptera, Megaspilidae) from Xizang Autonomous Region, China". ZooKeys (1287): 321–334. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1287.200178. ISSN 1313-2970.
  5. 1 2 3 Yang, Yuanhan; Li, Fang; Huang, Yixin; Wang, Xu; Zhang, Zhisheng; Chen, Huayan (2025-10-15). "Description of two new species of Conostigmus Dahlbom, 1858 (Hymenoptera, Megaspilidae) from Yintiaoling Nature Reserve, Chongqing, China". ZooKeys (1255): 379–394. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1255.154710. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 12547428. PMID 41140629.
  6. ↑ Trietsch, Carolyn; Mikó, István; Ezray, Briana; Deans, Andrew R. (2020-06-15). "A Taxonomic Revision of Nearctic Conostigmus (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea: Megaspilidae)". Zootaxa. 4792 (1): 1–155. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4792.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 33056689.
  7. 1 2 3 Wang, Xu; Cui, Shanshan; Li, Fang; Huang, Yixin; Chen, Huayan (2024-10-08). "Three new species of Conostigmus from China and redescription of Conostigmus ampullaceus Dessart, 1997 (Hymenoptera, Megaspilidae)". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 97: 807–824. doi:10.3897/jhr.97.126202. ISSN 1314-2607.
  8. ↑ Qian, Chenzhengxin; Li, Fang; Huang, Yixin; Wang, Xu (2024-07-15). "Conostigmus nankunensis (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea), a new species from China with a long facial sulcus". Zootaxa. 5481 (1): 141–145. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5481.1.9. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 39646048.
  9. 1 2 Cooper, Kenneth W.; Dessart, Paul (1975). "Adult, larva and biology of Conostigmus quadratogenalis Dessart & Cooper, sp.n., (Hym., Ceraphronoidea), parasite of Boreus (Mecoptera) in California" (PDF). Bulletin et Annales de la Société Royale d'Entomologie de Belgique. 111: 37–53.
  10. ↑ Cui, Shanshan; Li, Fang; Huang, Yixin; Huang, Xuanzhi; Wang, Xu; Zhu, Chaodong (2023-07-06). "Description of a new species of Conostigmus Dahlbom, 1858 (Hymenoptera: Megaspilidae) from China". Zootaxa. 5315 (1): 71–76. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5315.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334.
  11. ↑ Mikó, István; van de Kamp, Thomas; Trietsch, Carolyn; Ulmer, Jonah M.; Zuber, Marcus; Baumbach, Tilo; Deans, Andrew R. (2018-08-08). "A new megaspilid wasp from Eocene Baltic amber (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea), with notes on two non-ceraphronoid families: Radiophronidae and Stigmaphronidae". PeerJ. 6 e5174. doi:10.7717/peerj.5174. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6103384. PMID 30140594.