Pelecinus

The genus Pelecinus is the only living member of the family Pelecinidae (there are also two fossil genera), and contains only three species restricted to the New World. One species, Pelecinus polyturator, occurs from North through South America, and the others occur in Mexico (Pelecinus thoracicus) and South America (Pelecinus dichrous). The females are glossy wasps, very long (up to 7 cm) and the abdomen is extremely attenuated, used to lay eggs directly on scarab larvae buried in the soil. Pelecinus polyturator is a shiny black wasp-like insect, about two inches long. Its abdomen is uniquely long and slender. It parasitizes June beetle larvae (white grubs). P. polyturator is parthenogenic; females do not require fertilization to reproduce. Females are common throughout its range; males are rare in the U.S. and Canada, but more common further south.