Chalcedectidae is a small family of

chalcid wasp 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, m ...

s, previously classified as part of the subfamily Cleonyminae, in the

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

family

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 di ...

. Most species are parasitoids of wood-boring beetles. Astrid Cruaud and coworkers found that ''Chalcedectus'' (the only genus in the family) falls in what they called the "weird clade",Cruaud, A., Rasplus, J. Y., Zhang, J., Burks, R., Delvare, G., Fusu, L., ... & Heraty, J. M. (2022). The Chalcidoidea bush of life–a massive radiation blurred by mutational saturation. bioRxiv, 2022-09
DOIPDF
/ref> but these wasps look very different from their closest relatives, the

Pelecinellidae Pelecinellidae is a small family of chalcidoid wasps, formerly treated as the subfamily Leptofoeninae within Pteromalidae. They, like many small chalcidoids, are brilliantly metallic. The subfamily contains three genera, '' Nefoenus'', '' Doddi ...

. This, along with the long time since the divergence, supports the treatment of the genus as a separate family Chalcedectidae. In fact, in his 1852 paper on chalcid wasps,Walker, Francis (1852) Notes on Chalcidites, and Descriptions of various new species. The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology (Second Series) 10. 47-48
BHL
/ref> where Francis Walker described ''Chalcedectus maculicornis'' (the type species) he stated: "This is one of the tropical forms whose characters are more compound or complicated than those of any genera which inhabit more temperate regions; and may be considered either as a connecting link between families, or as a common and governing centre, representing various remote groups, and associating them together. It comes between the

and the

Eupelmidae Eupelmidae is a family of parasitic wasps in the superfamily Chalcidoidea. The group is apparently polyphyletic, though the different subfamilies may each be monophyletic, and may be elevated to family status in the near future. As presently defi ...

, and is one of the Cleonymidae, and is most allied to '' Lycisca''; but it has the head of '' Perilampus'', the thoracic sculpture of the

Perilampidae The Perilampidae are a small family within the Chalcidoidea, composed mostly of hyperparasitoids. The family is closely related to the Eucharitidae, and the eucharitids appear to have evolved from within the Perilampidae, thus rendering the f ...

and the

Eurytomidae The Eurytomidae are a family within the superfamily Chalcidoidea. Unlike most chalcidoids, the larvae of many are phytophagous (feeding in stems, seeds, or galls), while others are more typical parasitoids, though even then the hosts are usuall ...

, and the hind-legs of the

Leucospidae The Leucospidae (sometimes incorrectly spelled Leucospididae) are a specialized group of wasps within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, that are ectoparasitoids of aculeate wasps or bees. They are typically mimics of bees or stinging wasps, often ...

and of the Chalcidae."

Species

*''Chalcedectus annulicornis'' (Cameron, 1884) *''Chalcedectus annulipes'' Ashmead, 1904 *''Chalcedectus balachowskyi'' Steffan, 1968 *''Chalcedectus busckii'' (Ashmead, 1900) *''Chalcedectus caelatus'' (Grissell, 1991) *''Chalcedectus cuprescens'' (Westwood, 1874) *''Chalcedectus guaraniticus'' (Strand, 1911) *''Chalcedectus histrionicus'' (Westwood, 1874) *''Chalcedectus hyalinipennis'' (Ashmead, 1896) *''Chalcedectus lanei'' De Santis, 1970 *''Chalcedectus maculicornis'' Walker, 1852 *''Chalcedectus maculipennis'' (Ashmead, 1896) *''Chalcedectus meteorus'' (Girault, 1927) *''Chalcedectus poeta'' (Girault, 1927) *''Chalcedectus regalis'' (Westwood, 1874) *''Chalcedectus sedecimdentatus'' (Westwood, 1874) *''Chalcedectus septemdentatus'' (Westwood, 1874) *''Chalcedectus sinaiticus'' (Masi, 1936) *''Chalcedectus superbus'' (De Santis, 1977) *''Chalcedectus texanus'' Brues, 1907

Gallery

Chalcedectus caelatus 65665944 Will Kuhn Jun 28, 2019.jpg, ''Chalcedectus caelatus'' Chalcedectus caelatus 65665944 2 Will Kuhn Jun 28, 2019.jpg, Face of ''Chalcedectus caelatus'' Chalcedectus hyalinipennis Sample ID CNCHYM 10623.jpg, ''Chalcedectus hyalinipennis'' Chalcedectus maculipennis Sample ID CNCHYM 10625.jpg, ''Chalcedectus maculipennis''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q115791672 Chalcidoidea Apocrita families