Chalcidoidea
Unknown mini-wasps: a study in Costa Rica
Chalcidoidea is a large group of poorly known parasitic wasps, of which about 20,000 species have been named. But many more species are known and have not yet been described. Many of the species are parasites of other insects, and may play an important role in controlling their populations. Some chalcidoids are important agents in the control of pest species - biological control. Some other chalcidoids feed on plants; fig trees are pollinated by the fig-wasps. This group of chalcidoids is essential for the production of fruit; the wasp larvae use a small proportion of the fruit to supply food for their own development.
So why are chalcidoids so poorly known?
Their average length is only about 1.5 mm which makes them very difficult to collect. Modern sampling methods such as canopy-fogging, together with new methods of preservation, have revealed an incredible richness of species with a great variety of form and colour.
One family of Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae, is the subject of a Natural History Museum investigation in Costa Rica. This is the first comprehensive tropical survey of mini-wasps. Of more than 4,000 Encyrtidae species, just 11 have been recorded from Costa Rica. By comparison, Britain with five times the area of Costa Rica, has 200 species. New sampling indicates that there may be as many as 1,000 species in Costa Rica.
This study will identify and catalogue these species, and develop manuals for their identification. Most species from Costa Rica also occur elsewhere in tropical Central and South America, also known as the Neotropics.
Browse the Universal Chalcidoidea database
Dr John Noyes,The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7938 9328
Fax: +44 (0)20 7938 8937