The Chalcididae are a moderate-sized
family within the
Chalcidoidea
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 ...
, composed mostly of
parasitoid
In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
s and a few
hyperparasitoids.
The family is apparently
polyphyletic, though the different subfamilies may each be
monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
, and some may be elevated to family status in the near future. As presently defined, there are over 85 genera and over 1460 species worldwide.
They are often black with yellow, red, or white markings, rarely brilliantly metallic, with a robust
mesosoma and very strong sculpturing. The hind
femora are often greatly enlarged, with a row of teeth or serrations along the lower margin.
One of the more remarkable uses of the muscular hind legs is the species ''Lasiochalcidia igiliensis'', which attacks the predatory larvae of
ant lions, holding the mandibles of the larva spread apart while the wasp injects an egg into the membrane of the exposed throat.
References
External links
Universal Chalcidoidea DatabaseHymis ForumTagged images
Pbase Chalcididae
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Chalcidoidea
Apocrita families