Pelecinellidae is a small family of chalcidoid wasps, formerly treated as the subfamily Leptofoeninae within

Pteromalidae The Pteromalidae are a very large family of mostly parasitoid wasps, with some 3,450 described species in about 640 genera (the number was greater, but many species and genera have been reduced by synonymy in recent years). The subfamily-level d ...

. They, like many small chalcidoids, are brilliantly metallic. The subfamily contains three genera, '' Nefoenus'', '' Doddifoenus'' (with four species) and ''

Leptofoenus ''Leptofoenus'' is a genus of wasp in the family Pelecinellidae found in South America, Central America, and southern North America. The genus contains five living species and one extinct species known from early Miocene Burdigalian stage Domin ...

'' (with five extant species). The species '' Doddifoenus wallacei'' is the largest known

chalcidoid Chalcid wasps (, , for their metallic colour) are insects within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, part of the order Hymenoptera. The superfamily contains some 22,500 known species, and an estimated total diversity of more than 500,000 species, me ...

wasp, reaching nearly in length (including

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

).Krogmann, L., Burks, R.A. (2009) ''Doddifoenus wallacei'', a new giant parasitoid wasp of the subfamily Leptofoeninae (Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae), with a description of its mesosomal skeletal anatomy and a molecular characterization.

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week. ...

2194: 21-36. The first pelecinellid species known from the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

record, ''

Leptofoenus pittfieldae ''Leptofoenus pittfieldae'' is an extinct species of wasp in the family Pteromalidae. It is known from early Miocene Burdigalian stage Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola. The species is known from a single male specimen excav ...

'', was described in 2009 by Michael S. Engel from a specimen discovered in

Dominican amber Dominican amber is amber from the Dominican Republic derived from resin of the extinct tree ''Hymenaea protera''. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil incl ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q117884729 Chalcidoidea Apocrita families