Homolobus is a genus of insects belonging to the family Braconidae.

Description and identification Homolobus are moderate to large braconids with a body length ranging from 4.4 to 14.6 mm. They have long tibial spurs like the Macrocentrinae but differ in having an occipital carina and shorter, nearly square submarginal cell. The ovipositor is usually very short and hardly extending beyond the apex of the gaster except in species like Homolobus armatus, wherein the ovipositor is 0.77 times the length of the forewing. Many species are testaceous and have large ocelli.

They are separated from the allied Exasticolus in having vein (Rs+M)a straight rather than curved.

Distribution The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.

Behavior Homolobus are endoparasitoids of caterpillars, particularly of the families Noctuidae and Geometridae.

Taxonomy and phylogeny Homolobus is classified within the tribe Homolobini along with Exasticolus. The tribe Homolobini is sister to Westwoodiellini, containing only Westwoodiella. The two tribes Homolobini and Westwoodiellini comprise the subfamily Homolobinae.

Species There are roughly 55 species of Homolobus divided into 5 subgenera:

Homolobus pallidus Homolobus sungkangensis Chou & Hsu, 1995

Subgenus Homolobus (Apatia) Enderlein, 1918 Homolobus australiensis (Nixon, 1938) Homolobus albipalpis (Granger, 1949) Homolobus alternipes van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus arabicus Ghramh, 2012 Homolobus elagabalus (Nixon, 1938) Homolobus huddlestoni van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus indicus Ahmad & Shuja-Uddin, 2001 Homolobus lacteiceps van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus madeirensis van Achterberg & Aguiar, 2009 Homolobus maculatus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus ophioninus (Vachal, 1907) Homolobus palidistigmus (Cameron, 1911) Homolobus priapus (Nixon, 1938) Homolobus pulchricornis (Nixon, 1938) Homolobus rufithorax (Granger, 1949) Homolobus truncatoides van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus truncator (Say, 1828)

Subgenus Homolobus (Chartolobus) van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus infumator (Lyle, 1914) Homolobus nigritarsis van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus stevestroudi Sharkey, 2009 Homolobus undulatus van Achterberg, 1979

Subgenus Homolobus (Homolobus) Förster, 1862 Homolobus cingulatus (Granger, 1949) Homolobus discolor (Wesmael, 1835) Homolobus dauricus Shestakov, 1940 Homolobus ethiopicus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus inopinus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus luteifasciatus Mateo, 1982 Homolobus rufiventralis Mateo, 1982 Homolobus rugosus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus simplex (Watanabe, 1932) Homolobus sinensis Chen,1991

Subgenus Homolobus (Oulophus) van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus acares van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus annulatus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus antefurcalis van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus armatus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus bicolor van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus bohemani (Bengtsson, 1918) Homolobus carbonator (Shestakov, 1940) Homolobus crenulatus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus flagitator (Curtis, 1837) Homolobus fuscinervis van Achterberg & Shaw, 2009 Homolobus hirashimai Maeto, 1982 Homolobus intermedius van Achterberg, 1992 Homolobus macropterus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus mesoxiphius van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus nepalensis van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus nipponensis van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus obscurus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus occidentalis van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus rectinervis van Achterberg, 1979

Subgenus Homolobus (Phylacter) Reinhard, 1863 Homolobus annulicornis (Nees, 1834) Homolobus bifurcatus van Achterberg, 1979 Homolobus kahonoi van Achterberg, 1992 Homolobus meridionalis van Achterberg, 1979

Subgenus incertae sedis †Homolobus rasnitsyni Belokobylskij, 2014

References