Laelius utilis is a hymenopteran parasitoid in the family Bethylidae. It is a gregarious idiobiont larval ectoparasitoid of the larger cabinet beetle, Trogoderma inclusum, a small beetle in the family Dermestidae. It has been reported from the USA (District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Virginia) and Canada (Ontario).[1]

Laelius utilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Bethylidae
Genus: Laelius
Species:
L. utilis
Binomial name
Laelius utilis
Cockerell, 1920

Laelius utilis and Laelius centratus look very similar. However, the three central propodeal carinae are complete in L. centratus but only the median carina is complete in L. utilis.[2]

References

edit
  1. Krombein, Karl V. (1979). Catalog of Hymenoptera in America north of Mexico. Washington, Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 1211–1212.
  2. Muesebeck, Carl F. W. (1939). "The North American species of the genus Laelius Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 52: 171–175.