Lysiphlebus

 ( Braconidae ) 

Lysiphlebus is a genus of parasitoid belonging to the family Braconidae.

The genus has a near cosmopolitan distribution.

Species:

• Lysiphlebus alpinus
• Lysiphlebus balcanicus
• Lysiphlebus cardui
• Lysiphlebus confusus
• Lysiphlebus fabarum
• Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cresson, 1880

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Reproduction Most Lysiphlebus species are haplodiploid, like other Hymenoptera. However, all-female lineages are common in some Lysiphlebus-taxa including L. fabarum, L. cardui and L. confusus.

In these asexual lineages, females can reproduce by a parthenogenesis mechanism, i.e. thelytoky, that involves automixis with central fusion.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

The Genetics system underlying sex determination in Lysiphlebus is "complementary sex determination", similar to the cape honey bee (see ). Unlike honey bees, however, the Lysiphlebus complementary sex determiner gene is thought to be present in multiple copies.

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".

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Ecology Like other Aphidiinae, Lysiphlebus are of . They lay their eggs inside the body of aphids, where their develop, eventually spinning a mummy-like cocoon inside its remains.

Most Lysiphlebus species specialize in attacking ant-defended aphid colonies. They avoid attack by the ants through chemical mimicry of the aphid cuticular .

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