Genus : Dacnusa Haliday, 1833

Diagnosis

Mandibles exodont, pointing outwards and not coming close to meeting medially.
Stigma long and narrow, at least 10 times longer than wide.
Vein r arising in basal 1/5 of stigma.

Superfamily : Ichneumonoidea
Family : Braconidae
Subfamily : Alysiinae
Tribe : Dacnusini

Classification

Overview

Dacnusa species are mainly Holarctic in distribution, and there are about 65 described species. Dacnusa species are parasitoids of leafmining Agromyzidae and Drosophilidae and, like all alysiine braconids, are koinobiont endoparasitoids which oviposit in the egg or larval stages and emerge from the puparia (Wharton, 1997c). This genus is yet to be recorded from Southeast Asia; the only Australian species of Dacnusa is the introduced Dacnusa areolaris (Wharton & Austin, 1991).

Identification

Wharton (1997c) included Dacnusa in his keys to New World genera of Alysiinae. D. areolaris is included in a revision of Australian Dacnusini by Wharton & Austin (1991).