Xenos (genus)
Encyclopedia
Xenos is a genus of insects belonging to the Stylopidae
family. The word derives from the Greek word for strange.A species of the genus is Xenos vesparum
, first described by Pietro Rossi in 1793The females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes
paper wasps. They dwell their whole life in the abdomen
of the wasp
.
Stylopidae
Stylopidae are an insect family of the order Strepsiptera. This family contains more than 250 species.-Genera:*Crawfordia Pierce, 1908 *Eurystylops Bohart, 1943 *Halictoxenos Pierce, 1908 *Hylecthrus Saunders, 1850...
family. The word derives from the Greek word for strange.A species of the genus is Xenos vesparum
Xenos vesparum
Xenos vesparum is an insect species, whose females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes paper wasps. They dwell their whole life in the abdomen of the wasp....
, first described by Pietro Rossi in 1793The females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes
Polistes
Wasps of the cosmopolitan genus Polistes are the most familiar of the polistine wasps, and are the most common type of paper wasp. It is also the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 300 recognized species and subspecies...
paper wasps. They dwell their whole life in the abdomen
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
of the wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
.