Rhipiphoridae
This unique looking beetle is a male of the family Rhipiphoridae. You can tell it’s a male by the presence of heavily branched flabellate antennae. Just visible behind the antennae are the brownish-orange elytra (the first set of wings). These are quite short in many species of the family. Behind the elytra are the hind wings, used for flight. The strange shape of the hind wings probably indicates the presence of fold-lines along which the wings are folded and packed away when the beetle is not in flight. Rhipiphoridae is a small family and very uncommonly sampled. All species for which the biology is known are parasitoids, particularly of bees and wasps. Rhipiphoridae are also hypermetamorphic. Females lay eggs on vegetation (flowers, etc.) or sites where potential hosts are found. First instar larvae (triungulins) are free living and attach themselves to foraging hosts, who carry the triungulin larva or larvae back to the nest of the host. Subsequent rhipiphorid stages are internal parasitoids of the host’s larvae. This type of life cycle is uncommon among parasitoids.
Credits: Dr Robert Copeland