The Wharton Lab

This is a relatively small tribe. Townes (1970) recognized only five genera and Aubert (1970) subsequently described one more. Aubert (2000) also treats Polycinetis Foerster as a genus, while Townes (1970) and others have treated it as a subgenus. Ctenopelmatini are parasitoids of Pamphiliidae (Kasparyan 2002, 2004) and are traditionally characterized by the presence of a lateral, longitudinal carina on the second metasomal tergite, extending from the anterior margin of the tergite to the spiracle. Additionally, The apical margin of the eighth metasomal tergite of the female is produced posteromedially between the base of the ovipositor sheath and the cercus. There are only minor problems of homoplasy with these two morphological features. The carina on the second tergite is weak and difficult to discern in a few species of Ctenopelma Holmgren, for example, and a similar carina is present in at least one species each of Rhorus Foerster (Pionini) and Hadrodactylus Foerster (Euryproctini). Nevertheless, this is arguably the best supported tribe within the subfamily, with monophyly strongly supported by their biology as koinobiont endoparasitoids of Pamphiliidae.