Higher classification Ceraphronoidea | Suborder Apocrita Scientific name Megaspilidae Rank Family | |
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Similar Ceraphronoidea, Ceraphronidae, Hymenopterans, Dendrocerus, Insect | ||
The Megaspilidae are a small hymenopteran family with 12 genera in two subfamilies, and some 450 known species, with a great many species still undescribed. It is a poorly known group as a whole, though most are believed to be parasitoids (especially of sternorrhynchan Hemiptera), and a few hyperparasitoids. Many are found in the soil, and of these, a number are wingless.
The family is distinguished from the closely related Ceraphronidae by having a very large stigma in the wing, a relatively constricted metasomal petiole, and three grooves in the mesoscutum.
The largest genus within Megaspilidae is Dendrocerus. The second largest genus is Conostigmus.
References
Megaspilidae Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA