{{Short description|Genus of wasps}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Lysiphlebus. Aphidiinae.jpg |image_caption = |taxon = Lysiphlebus |authority = Förster, 1862 }}
'''''Lysiphlebus''''' is a genus of parasitoid wasps belonging to the family Braconidae.<ref name="GBIF">{{cite web |title=Lysiphlebus Förster, 1862 |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/1260914 |website=www.gbif.org |access-date=11 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
The genus has a near cosmopolitan distribution.<ref name="GBIF" />
Species:<ref name="GBIF" />
*''Lysiphlebus alpinus'' {{small|Stary, 1971}} *''Lysiphlebus balcanicus'' {{small|Stary, 1998}} *''Lysiphlebus cardui'' {{Small|Marshall, 1896}} *''Lysiphlebus confusus'' {{small|Tremblay & Eady, 1978}} *''Lysiphlebus fabarum'' {{Small|Marshall, 1896}} *''Lysiphlebus testaceipes'' <small>Cresson, 1880</small>
== Reproduction == Most ''Lysiphlebus'' species are haplodiploid, like other Hymenoptera.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cook |first=James M. |date=October 1993 |title=Sex determination in the Hymenoptera: a review of models and evidence |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/hdy1993157 |journal=Heredity |language=en |volume=71 |issue=4 |pages=421–435 |doi=10.1038/hdy.1993.157 |bibcode=1993Hered..71..421C |issn=1365-2540|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, all-female lineages are common in some ''Lysiphlebus''-taxa including ''L. fabarum'', ''L. cardui'' and ''L. confusus''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sandrock |first1=Christoph |last2=Schirrmeister |first2=Bettina E. |last3=Vorburger |first3=Christoph |date=2011-12-01 |title=Evolution of reproductive mode variation and host associations in a sexual-asexual complex of aphid parasitoids |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=348 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-11-348 |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2148 |pmc=3259107 |pmid=22132834|bibcode=2011BMCEE..11..348S }}</ref>
In these asexual lineages, females can reproduce by a parthenogenetic mechanism, i.e. thelytoky, that involves automixis with central fusion.<ref>Belshaw R, Quicke DL. The cytogenetics of thelytoky in a predominantly asexual parasitoid wasp with covert sex. Genome. 2003 Feb;46(1):170-3. doi: 10.1139/g02-112. PMID 12669810</ref>
The genetic system underlying sex determination in ''Lysiphlebus'' is "complementary sex determination", similar to the cape honey bee (see {{Section link|Haplodiploidy |Sex determination in honey bees}}).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gempe |first1=Tanja |last2=Hasselmann |first2=Martin |last3=Schiøtt |first3=Morten |last4=Hause |first4=Gerd |last5=Otte |first5=Marianne |last6=Beye |first6=Martin |date=2009-10-20 |title=Sex Determination in Honeybees: Two Separate Mechanisms Induce and Maintain the Female Pathway |journal=PLOS Biology |language=en |volume=7 |issue=10 |article-number=e1000222 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000222 |doi-access=free |issn=1545-7885 |pmc=2758576 |pmid=19841734}}</ref> Unlike honey bees, however, the ''Lysiphlebus'' ''complementary sex determiner'' gene is thought to be present in multiple copies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Matthey-Doret |first1=Cyril |last2=van der Kooi |first2=Casper J |last3=Jeffries |first3=Daniel L |last4=Bast |first4=Jens |last5=Dennis |first5=Alice B |last6=Vorburger |first6=Christoph |last7=Schwander |first7=Tanja |date=2019-10-01 |editor-last=Mank |editor-first=Judith |title=Mapping of Multiple Complementary Sex Determination Loci in a Parasitoid Wasp |url=https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/11/10/2954/5584199 |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |language=en |volume=11 |issue=10 |pages=2954–2962 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evz219 |issn=1759-6653 |pmc=6821247 |pmid=31596478}}</ref>
Asexual females may occasionally produce diploid males, which when mated with sexual females, can convert sexual into asexual lineages, a process which has been dubbed "contagious parthenogenesis".<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://academic.oup.com/evolut/article/65/2/501/6854756 |access-date=2024-03-10 |journal=Evolution |doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01145.x |title=Contagious Parthenogenesis, Automixis, and a Sex Determination Meltdown |date=2011 |last1=Engelstädter |first1=Jan |last2=Sandrock |first2=Christoph |last3=Vorburger |first3=Christoph |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=501–511 |pmid=21029077 |s2cid=7035178 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
== Ecology == Like other Aphidiinae, ''Lysiphlebus'' are endoparasitoids of aphids. They lay their eggs inside the body of aphids, where their larvae develop, eventually spinning a mummy-like cocoon inside its remains.<ref name=":0">{{Citation |last=Völkl |first=W. |title=Interactions Between Ants and Aphid Parasitoids: Patterns and Consequences for Resource Utilization |date=1997 |work=Vertical Food Web Interactions: Evolutionary Patterns and Driving Forces |pages=225–240 |editor-last=Dettner |editor-first=Konrad |series=Ecological Studies |volume=130 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-60725-7_13 |isbn=978-3-642-60725-7 |editor2-last=Bauer |editor2-first=Gerhard |editor3-last=Völkl |editor3-first=Wolfgang}}</ref>
Most ''Lysiphlebus'' species specialize in attacking ant-defended aphid colonies.<ref name=":0" /> They avoid attack by the ants through chemical mimicry of the aphid cuticular hydrocarbons.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Völkl |first1=W. |last2=Mackauer |first2=M. |date=1993-05-01 |title=Interactions between ants attendingAphis fabae ssp.cirsiiacanthoidis on thistles and foraging parasitoid wasps |journal=Journal of Insect Behavior |language=en |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=301–312 |doi=10.1007/BF01048111 |bibcode=1993JIBeh...6..301V |s2cid=10690924 |issn=1572-8889}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q14511654}}
Category:Braconidae Category:Braconidae genera Category:Taxa named by Arnold Förster