Methocha
{{Short description|Genus of insects}}
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|taxon = Methocha
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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.{{Cite web |last=Agnoli |first=Gian Luca |title=An overview of Methocha wasps {{!}} Chrysis.net |url=https://www.chrysis.net/resources/methocha/overview/ |access-date=2022-11-12 |language=en-US}}
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
{{Incomplete list|science|date=November 2022}}
- Methocha alutacea Linnaeus
- Methocha anomala Krombein
- Methocha californica Westwood, 1881
- Methocha formosa Krombein, 1954
- Methocha ichneumonides Latreille, 1804
- Methocha impolita Krombein, 1958
- Methocha krombeini Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 2021(2021). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353193648 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 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