Illustrated keys to Scoliidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Scolioidea) from China

Abstract

The Scoliidae occur predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions and are ectoparasitoids of Scarabaeoidea larvae (especially of Melolonthinae) which are immobilised, parasitised by the female wasp in their terrestrial larval gallery and buried deeper in a special cell by the female wasp. Herein, we provided, for the first time, illustrated keys to 11 genera and 52 species of Scoliidae from China, based on specimens in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (RMNH, Leiden) and additional specimens from the Chinese Academy of Insect Science (Beijing), Zhejiang University (ZJUH, Hangzhou) and Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU, Guangzhou) and it is a first attempt to make keys available for all the Scoliidae species in China.