Dicopomorpha echmepterygis
| Dicopomorpha echmepterygis | ||||||||||||
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Dicopomorpha echmepterygis , ♂, paratype , abdominal view. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dicopomorpha echmepterygis | ||||||||||||
| Mockford , 1997 |
Dicopomorpha echmepterygis is a dwarf wasp species from the family of the dwarf wasps (Mymaridae), the males of which are considered to be the smallest adult insects worldwide. Like all species in this family, it is parasitoid and lays its eggs inside the eggs of other insects.
features
The males of Dicopomorpha echmepterygis are the smallest known adult insects at 0.139–0.240 mm. Their tiny bodies, including their entire respiratory, reproductive and circulatory systems, are smaller than a single-celled paramecium . They have no eyes or ocelles, the antennae are reduced, and wings are absent. The mouthparts are reduced so that they cannot take in food. They have to live on their food supplies during the larval period in the dust aphid's egg. The females grow about 40 percent larger and are winged.
The females lay their eggs in their host's eggs , in which the larvae develop. This is to Echmepteryx hageni , a kind of dust lice (Psocoptera), an egg may contain between one and three male and one female. The males have long legs with which they cling to the females, who then carry them to the next host, where they can then mate.
literature
- JT Huber, JS Noyes: A new genus and species of fairyfly, Tinkerbella nana (Hymenoptera, Mymaridae), with comments on its sister genus Kikiki, and discussion on small size limits in arthropods Journal of Hymenoptera Research 32: 17–44,2013; http://www.pensoft.net/journals/jhr/article/4663/
- EL Mockford: A new species of Dicopomorpha (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) with dimunitive, apterous males. Ann. Entomol. Soc. At the. 90, 1997: pages 115-120.