The Ichneumonoidea is a vast and important superfamily of
parasitic wasps, with some 60, 000 described species and estimated
numbers far higher, especially for small-bodied tropical taxa. The
superfamily comprises two cosmopolitan families – Braconidae and
Ichneumonidae – that have largely attracted separate groups of
researchers, and this, to a considerable extent, has meant that
understanding of their adaptive features has often been considered
in isolation. This book considers both families, highlighting
similarities and differences in their
adaptations.
The classification of the whole of the Ichneumonoidea, along with
most other insect orders, has been plagued by typology whereby
undue importance has been attributed to particular characters in
defining groups. Typology is a common disease of traditional
taxonomy such that, until recently, quite a lot of taxa have been
associated with the wrong higher clades. The sheer size of the
group, and until the last 30 or so years, lack of accessible
identification materials, has been a further impediment to research
on all but a handful of ‘lab rat’ species usually
cultured initially because of their potential in biological
control.
New evidence, largely in the form of molecular data, have shown
that many morphological, behavioural, physiological and anatomical
characters associated with basic life history features,
specifically whether wasps are ecto- or endoparasitic, or idiobiont
or koinobiont, can be grossly misleading in terms of the phylogeny
they suggest. This book shows how, with better supported
phylogenetic hypotheses entomologists can understand far more about
the ways natural selection is acting upon them.
This new book also focuses on this superfamily with which the
author has great familiarity and provides a detailed coverage of
each subfamily, emphasising anatomy, taxonomy and
systematics, biology, as well as pointing out the importance and
research potential of each group. Fossil taxa are included and it
also has sections on
biogeography, global species richness, culturing and rearing and
preparing specimens for taxonomic study. The book highlights areas
where research might be particularly rewarding and suggests
systems/groups that need investigation. The author provides a large
compendium of references to original research on each group. This
book is an essential workmate for all postgraduates and researchers
working on ichneumonoid or other parasitic wasps worldwide. It will
stand as a reference book for a good number of years, and while
rapid advances in various fields such as genomics and host
physiological interactions will lead to new information, as an
overall synthesis of the current state it will stay relevant for a
long time.

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