Methocha is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.
The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles. Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are winged.
Biology Female Methocha actively hunt over the ground for burrows containing tiger beetle larvae, which are ambush predators; the wasp entices the beetle larva into attacking, evades being bitten, and quickly moves in and stings the larva in its vulnerable underside, paralyzing it. It then lays an egg on the immobile beetle larva, and the wasp larva consumes it.E.O. Wilson, D.J. Farish (1973) Predatory behaviour in the ant-like wasp Methocha stygia (Say) (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae). Animal Behaviour 21(2):292-295. DOI:10.1016/S0003-3472(73)80069-7
Species
Methocha alutacea Linnaeus Methocha anomala Krombein Methocha californica Westwood, 1881 Methocha cariniventris Narita & Mita, 2018Narita & Mita (2018) Two new species of the genus Methocha from Laos (Hymenoptera, Tiphiidae). ZooKeys 775: 59–68. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.775.24945 Methocha formosa Krombein, 1954 Methocha granulosa Narita & Mita, 2018 Methocha ichneumonides Latreille, 1804 Methocha impolita Krombein, 1958 Methocha japonica (Yasumatsu, 1931)Terayama & Mita (2015) New Species of the Genera Methocha Latreille and Hylomesa Krombein from Japan (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae). Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology, 21 (2): 373–380. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjsystent/21/2/21_373/_pdf/-char/en Methocha krombeini Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 2021(2021). A taxonomic study of Methocha Latreille (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Methochinae) from India with description of three new species. Zootaxa. 4999. 258-272. 10.11646/zootaxa.4999.3.5. Methocha michinoku Terayamma, 2019Terayama (2019) A New Species of the Genus Methocha Latreille from Japan (Hymenoptera: Thynnidae). Biogeography 21: 60 - 62. Methocha okinawensis Terayamma & Mita, 2015 Methocha paraceylonica Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 2021 Methocha shyamagatra Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 2021 Methocha stygia (Say, 1836) Methocha uchinanensis Terayamma & Mita, 2015 Methocha yaeyamensis Terayamma & Mita, 2015 Methocha yasumatsui (Iwata, 1936)
References