The Cynipoidea are a moderate-sized

hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typi ...

n superfamily that presently includes seven extant families and three extinct families, though others have been recognized in the past. The most familiar members of the group are phytophagous, especially as

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or war ...

-formers, though the actual majority of included species are

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 or hyperparasitoids. They are typically glossy, dark, smooth wasps with somewhat compressed bodies and somewhat reduced wing venation. It is common for various

metasoma The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma (biology), 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 sy ...

l segments to be fused in various ways (often diagnostic for families or subfamilies), and the petiole is very short, when present. With the exception of the Cynipidae (the gall wasps), it is a poorly known group as a whole, though there are nearly 3000 known species in total, and a great many species are still undescribed, mostly in the Figitidae. Each of the constituent families differs in biology, though life histories of one of the families ( Liopteridae) are still largely unknown. In July 2020, an identification key for the superfamily was published in the journal ''Insect Systematics and Diversity'', enabling identification to the family level. Several groups formerly included in Cynipidae were elevated to family status in 2023.

Classification

::: Family Protimaspidae Liu & Engel, 2007 ::: Family Stolamissidae Liu & Engel, 2007 ::: Family Gerocynipidae Liu & Engel, 2007 ::: Family

Austrocynipidae ''Austrocynips mirabilis'' is a species of parasitic wasp. It is the only species in the genus ''Austrocynips'' and the family Austrocynipidae. It was originally described as a subfamily of Cynipidae; however, it was promoted to family status i ...

Riek, 1971 ::: Family Paraulacidae Nieves-Aldrey & Liljeblad, 2009 ::: Family Diplolepididae Latreille, 1802 ::::: Subfamily Diplolepidinae Latreille, 1802 ::::: Subfamily Pediaspinae Ashmead, 1903 ::: Family Ibaliidae Thomson, 1862 ::::: Subfamily Archaeibaliinae Liu & Engel, 2010 ::::: Subfamily Ibaliinae Thomson, 1862 ::: Family Liopteridae Ashmead, 1895 ::::: Subfamily Proliopterinae Liu & Engel, 2007 ::::: Subfamily Goeraniinae Liu & Engel, 2007 ::::: Subfamily Mayrellinae Hedicke, 1922 ::::: Subfamily Dallatorrellinae Kieffer, 1911 ::::: Subfamily Oberthuerellinae Hedicke, 1903 ::::: Subfamily Liopterinae Ashmead, 1895 ::: Family Figitidae Thomson, 1862 ::::: Subfamily Rasnicynipinae Kozlov, 1996 ::::: Subfamily Palaeocynipinae Kozlov, 1995 ::::: Subfamily Charipinae Dalla Torre & Kieffer, 1910 ::::: Subfamily Emargininae Kovalev, 1994 ::::: Subfamily Eucoilinae Thomson, 1862 :::::: Tribe Diglyphosematini Belizin, 1961 :::::: Tribe Eucoilini Thomson, 1862 :::::: Tribe Ganaspini Belizin, 1961 :::::: Tribe Kleidotomini Hellén, 1960 :::::: Tribe Trichoplastini Kovalev, 1989 :::::: Tribe Zaeucoilini Buffington, 2009 ::::: Subfamily Figitinae Thomson, 1862 ::::: Subfamily Mikeiinae Paretas-Martinez & Pujade-Villar, 2011 ::::: Subfamily Aspicerinae Dalla Torre & Kieffer, 1910 ::::: Subfamily Anacharitinae Thomson, 1862 ::::: Subfamily Pycnostigminae Cameron, 1905 ::::: Subfamily Thrasorinae Kovalev, 1994 ::::: Subfamily Plectocynipinae Ros-Farré & Pujade-Villar, 2007 ::::: Subfamily Euceroptresinae Buffington & Liljeblad, 2008 ::::: Subfamily Parnipinae Ronquist & Nieves-Aldrey, 2001 ::: Family Cynipidae Latreille, 1802 ::::: Subfamily Hodiernocynipinae Kovalev, 1994 ::::: Subfamily Cynipinae Latreille, 1802 :::::: Tribe Aulacideini Nieves-Aldrey & Ronquist, 2015 :::::: Tribe Aylacini Ashmead, 1903 :::::: Tribe Ceroptresini Nieves-Aldrey, Nylander, & Ronquist, 2015 :::::: Tribe Cynipini Latreille, 1802 :::::: Tribe Diastrophini Nieves-Aldrey, Nylander, & Ronquist, 2015 :::::: Tribe Eschatocerini Ashmead, 1903 :::::: Tribe Phanacidini Nieves-Aldrey, Nylander, & Ronquist, 2015 :::::: Tribe Qwaqwaiini Liljeblad, Nieves-Aldrey, & Melika, 2011 :::::: Tribe Synergini Ashmead, 1896

References

Apocrita superfamilies Hymenoptera superfamilies {{Apocrita-stub