Eulophus ramicornis (Fabricius, 1781)
(Early Tombstone Wasp)

Taxonomic hierarchy:
SpeciesEulophus ramicornis (Early Tombstone Wasp)
GenusEulophus (tombstone wasps)
SubfamilyEULOPHINAE (a subfamily of hymenopterans)
FamilyEULOPHIDAE (a family of chalcid wasps)
SuperfamilyCHALCIDOIDEA (chalcid wasps)
SuborderAPOCRITA (bees, wasps, ants and parasitoids)
OrderHYMENOPTERA (ants, bees and wasps, sawflies and parasitoid wasps)
Division Endopterygota (bees, beetles, flies, moths and other insects with wings developing internally)
InfraclassNeoptera (bees, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other advanced insects)
SubclassPTERYGOTA (bees, beetles, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other winged insects)
ClassINSECTA (true insects)
SubphylumHEXAPODA (insects and other 6-legged organisms)
PhylumARTHROPODA (arthropods)
SuperphylumECDYSOZOA (skin shedders)
CladeBilateria (bilaterally symmetrical animals)
SubkingdomEUMETAZOA (metazoans)
KingdomANIMALIA (animals)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)
Records of Eulophus ramicornis (Early Tombstone Wasp) :
1: Eulophus ramicornis (Early Tombstone Wasp)
28 Apr 2018 OSGR: SU30 50° 50’ N, 1° 30’ W Vice County: South Hants (VC 11) England
Male, at MV sheet, after dark
Image 1: Male - dorsal view - highly enlarged - silver backgroundImage 2: Male - lateral view - magnified - silver backgroundImage 3: Male - head and antennae - lateral view - microscope low magnification - silver backgroundImage 4: Male - head - anterior view - close-up - microscope low magnification - silver backgroundImage 5: Male - thorax - dorsal view - microscope low magnification - silver background
2: Eulophus ramicornis (Early Tombstone Wasp) IDENTIFICATION UNCERTAIN
12 Oct 2008 OSGR: SU08 51° 30’ N, 1° 60’ W Vice County: North Wilts (VC 7) England
freshly emerged larvae hanging on to Coxcomb Prominent host caterpillar
Image 1: Pupae surrounding dying hostImage 2: Larvae freshly emerged from host and hanging on for final feed - close-up - enlargedImage 3: Larvae freshly emerged from host and hanging on for final feed - close-up - enlarged (2)Image 4: Larvae freshly emerged from host and hanging on for final feed - close-up - enlarged (3)

Eulophus ramicornis (Early Tombstone Wasp) may be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Eulophus ramicornis (Early Tombstone Wasp)
BioInfoBioInfo (www.bioinfo.org.uk) has 0 host/parasite/foodplant and/or other relationships for Eulophus ramicornis (Early Tombstone Wasp)

A small (c. 3mm) yellow and iridescent green chalcid wasp. Like many Eulophids, the males have strangely branched antennae.

This is one of the commonest spring (Apr-Jun) Eulophid wasps. The larvae are communal parasites of moth caterpillars.

Mature Eulophid larvae emerge and pupate on the surrounding leaf surface, on their backs, heads inwards, so the pupae form a circle around the dead host (hence "tombstone" wasps).

References:
Author & YearTitleSource
Askew, R.R., 1968Hymenoptera 2., Chalcidoidea: Section (b)Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, Vol VIII. Part 2(b), 39pp, The Royal Entomological Society of London
Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, all original material on the BioImages website by Malcolm Storey is licensed under the above Creative Commons Licence.

Photographs from other photographers are used with permission but not included under the above CC licence.

BioImages - Virtual Field-Guide (UK)