Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 13, 2026

Methocha

Methocha is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.

Last revised
Jun 13, 2026
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Methocha
Methocha yasumatsui ♀（Japan）
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Thynnidae
Subfamily: Methochinae
Genus: Methocha
Latreille, 1804

Methocha is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Thynnidae.

The species of this genus are found worldwide except in Australia, and attack the larvae of tiger beetles.1 Females are wingless, and can be mistaken for ants, while males are winged.12

Biology

Female Methocha actively hunt over the ground for burrows containing tiger beetle larvae, which are ambush predators; the wasp entices the beetle larva into attacking, evades being bitten, and quickly moves in and stings the larva in its vulnerable underside, paralyzing it. It then lays an egg on the immobile beetle larva, and the wasp larva consumes it.3

Species

  • Methocha alutacea Linnaeus
  • Methocha anomala Krombein
  • Methocha californica Westwood, 1881
  • Methocha cariniventris Narita & Mita, 20184
  • Methocha formosa Krombein, 1954
  • Methocha granulosa Narita & Mita, 20184
  • Methocha ichneumonides Latreille, 1804
  • Methocha impolita Krombein, 1958
  • Methocha japonica (Yasumatsu, 1931)5
  • Methocha krombeini Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 20211
  • Methocha michinoku Terayamma, 20196
  • Methocha okinawensis Terayamma & Mita, 20155
  • Methocha paraceylonica Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 20211
  • Methocha shyamagatra Raveendram, Kumar, Binoy, & Sureshan, 20211
  • Methocha stygia (Say, 1836)
  • Methocha uchinanensis Terayamma & Mita, 20155
  • Methocha yaeyamensis Terayamma & Mita, 20155
  • Methocha yasumatsui (Iwata, 1936)5
References

References

  1. (2021). A taxonomic study of Methocha Latreille (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae: Methochinae) from India with description of three new species. Zootaxa. 4999. 258-272. 10.11646/zootaxa.4999.3.5.
  2. Agnoli, Gian Luca. "An overview of Methocha wasps | Chrysis.net". Retrieved 2022-11-12.
  3. E.O. Wilson, D.J. Farish (1973) Predatory behaviour in the ant-like wasp Methocha stygia (Say) (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae). Animal Behaviour 21(2):292-295. DOI:10.1016/S0003-3472(73)80069-7
  4. Narita & Mita (2018) Two new species of the genus Methocha from Laos (Hymenoptera, Tiphiidae). ZooKeys 775: 59–68. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.775.24945
  5. Terayama & Mita (2015) New Species of the Genera Methocha Latreille and Hylomesa Krombein from Japan (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae). Japanese Journal of Systematic Entomology, 21 (2): 373–380. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjsystent/21/2/21_373/_pdf/-char/en
  6. Terayama (2019) A New Species of the Genus Methocha Latreille from Japan (Hymenoptera: Thynnidae). Biogeography 21: 60 - 62.