REVIEW OF BRADYNOBAENIDAE FROM SOUTH AMERICA

J. TORRÉNS; P. FIDALGO; D. BROTHER

Cusco

Congreso; 8th International Congress of hymenopterists; 2014

The International Society of Hymenopterists

Bradynobaenidae is a group of wasps that has been included by different authors in the past among mutillids, scoliids, or tiphiids. Phylogenetic study and reclassification of Hymenoptera Aculeata later placed Bradynobaenidae as a diverse family within Vespoidea, and we retain this generally used classification; however, recent molecular phylogenetic studies have indicated that the family may be paraphyletic. Bradynobaenidae are represented in South America by two subfamilies: Bradynobaeninae includes the single genus Bradynobaenus Spinola, species of which are restricted to xeric areas of north and central Chile and of western and southern Argentina, and Typhoctinae includes Typhoctes Ashmead and Typhoctoides Brothers (Typhoctini), and Eotilla Schuster and Prototilla Schuster (Eotillini). With the exception of Typhoctes, which is most diverse in Central America and reaches Colombia to the south, all the other genera are endemic to desertic areas in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. Here we present a review of the Neotropical members of the family with new data on biogeographic distribution and biology.