The Ceraphronidae are a small hymenopteran family with 14

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

and some 360 known

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

, 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 (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

), 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 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 circula ...

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

Alexander Henry Haliday Alexander Henry Haliday (1806–1870, also known as Enrico Alessandro Haliday, Alexis Heinrich Haliday, or simply Haliday) was an Irish entomologist. He is primarily known for his work on Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Thysanoptera, but worked on ...

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