Strepsiptera
- Pronunciation
- /strep-SIP-ter-uh/
- Category
- Taxonomy
- Singular
- Strepsiptera
- Plural
- Strepsiptera
Definition
An order of minute, obligately endoparasitic insects comprising approximately 600 described in eleven extant . exhibit extreme and radical morphological reduction associated with their parasitic lifestyle: males are free-living, short-lived, and possess branched and reduced forewings modified into (with hindwings functional for ), while females of most species are , legless, and permanently endoparasitic, never emerging from the . Larvae display , with mobile first-instar triungulin larvae exiting the maternal host to seek new hosts. Hosts include Hymenoptera (, ), (), (), and (). The order is placed within and is believed to be sister to , with divergence estimated at 300–350 million years ago.
Full guide
Read the full Strepsiptera guide for identification, examples, and taxonomy.
Etymology
From Greek strepsis (a turning [inward]) + pteron (wing), referring to the twisted wing bases or the reduced, club-like forewings.
Example
Male Stylops melittae ( ) can be observed hovering near flowers to locate females residing within the of their Andrena , their distinctive visible as small, club-shaped structures where forewings would typically occur.
Synonyms
- twisted-wing parasites
- twisted-winged parasites
Related Terms
- haltere
- endoparasite
- hypermetamorphosis
- Triungulin
- Coleoptera
- Holometabola
- Obligate parasitism
- sexual dimorphism
Usage Notes
The 'twisted-wing ' refers to the of males; female morphology is so reduced that they are often mistaken for part of the 's own tissue. The forewing- condition is the inverse of (hindwing halteres) and represents a striking case of convergent functional evolution. Strepsiptera are frequently encountered by hymenopterists as stylopized hosts— or bearing extruded female cephalothoraces—and by coleopterists as the sister group to their study .