Phylogenetic-key-taxon
Guides
Orussidae
parasitic wood wasps, parasitoid wood wasps
Orussidae is a small family of approximately 93 extant species of parasitoid sawflies. They occupy a pivotal phylogenetic position as the sister taxon to the megadiverse Apocrita, indicating that parasitism evolved in the common ancestor of Orussidae + Apocrita. Adults are rarely encountered, typically found on sun-exposed dead wood where females use vibrational sounding to locate concealed hosts. Larvae are the only carnivorous sawfly larvae known, acting as parasitoids of wood-boring beetles and other Hymenoptera.