Studies of the family Drynidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) as parasitoids of cicadas (Cicadellidae)

Abstract

Most Dryinidae act as cenobiont ectoparasitoids of Cicadellidae (Cicadelloidea), Delphacidae, Flatidae and Membracidae (Hemiptera). Females of Dryinidae feed on nectar and other sugary solutions and, with the exception of Aphelopinae, they also have a predatory habit and feed on fluids and tissues of their hosts. Only Aphelopinae acts as polyembryonic endoparasitoids that attack Membracidae nymphs. Superparasitism is reported for some female Gonatopodinae. Drynidae have biparental reproduction or parthenogenetic thelytok or arrhenotoky. Dryinidae species can be bi or multivoltine, according to the region where they live; as they are not good fliers, their ability to disperse depends more on their hosts than on themselves. The purpose of this paper is to seek knowledge about the Drynidae Family. For the mini-review, the bibliographic search used the following databases: Biological Abstract, Academia.edu, Resergate and Frontiers from November 2022 to December 2022. The articles were published from 1984 to 2022 in indexed scientific research, book scientific chapters, these banks, university dissertations, national and international scientific articles, scientific journals, documents and even in general journals when considered of interest.