The Ceraphronidae are a small hymenopteran family with 14 genera and some 360 known

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, though a great many species are still undescribed. It is a poorly known group as a whole, though most are believed to be parasitoids (especially of

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

), and a few

hyperparasitoid A hyperparasite, also known as a metaparasite, is a parasite whose host, often an insect, is also a parasite, often specifically a parasitoid. Hyperparasites are found mainly among the wasp-waisted Apocrita within the Hymenoptera, and in two ...

s. Many are found in the soil, and of these, a number are wingless. The family is distinguished from the closely related Megaspilidae by having a very small stigma in the wing, a very broad

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory system, and circul ...

l petiole, and a single median groove in the mesoscutum. The taxon was erected by Alexander Henry Haliday in 1833.

References

*Dessart, P., 1965 Contribution à l'étudendes Hyménoptères Proctotrupoidea.(VI)Les Ceraphroninae et quelques Megaspilinae(Ceraphronidae)du Musée Civique d'Histoire Naturelles de Gênes. ''Bulletin et Annales de la Société Royale Entomologique de Belgique'':101:105-192. *Watson, L., and Dallwitz M.J., 2003. ''British insects: the families of Hymenoptera''.Version: 16 July 201

External links

Cedar Creek
Images of pinned specimens.
Images at Bug Guide
Ceraphronoidea Taxa named by Alexander Henry Haliday Apocrita families {{Apocrita-stub