Diparidae is a 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. This group was formerly treated as Diparinae, a subfamily of

Pteromalidae The Pteromalidae are a large family of wasps, the majority being parasitoids of other insects. They are found throughout the world in virtually all habitats, and many are important as biological control agents. The oldest known fossil is known fr ...

. Most diparids are collected from leaf litter in forests, where they are known to parasitise

weevils Weevils are beetles belonging to the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small – less than in length – and Herbivore, herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. ...

, although diparids have been known to emerge from

mantid Mantidae is one of the largest families in the order of praying mantises, based on the type species ''Mantis religiosa''; most genera are tropical or subtropical. Historically, this was the only family in the order, and many references still ...

egg cases and

fly 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 ...

pupae A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

. They are found almost worldwide, but appear to have

Gondwanan Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealandia, Arabia, and the ...

roots, with most diversity (at genus level) in South Africa and Australia.

Description

Diparids often exhibit marked

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

. Most known males have wings (they are macropterous), have filiform antennae, and males of different genera appear morphologically similar. Females, however, show far more morphological variation; they may be macropterous, brachypterous (reduced wings), or apterous (wingless), and often have clavate antennae. Distinguishing features include: Antenna with 12

flagellomeres An antenna (plural: antennae) is one of a pair of appendages used for sensing in arthropods. Antennae are sometimes referred to as ''feelers''. Antennae are connected to the first one or two segments of the arthropod head. They vary widely in ...

, including a small fourth clavomere; The labrum is flexible, subrectangular, and hidden behind the

clypeus The clypeus is one of the sclerites that make up the face of an arthropod. In insects, the clypeus delimits the lower margin of the face, with the labrum articulated along the ventral margin of the clypeus. The mandibles bracket the labrum, but ...

; labrum with a row of marginal setae;

Mandibles In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

have three or four teeth; All legs have five tarsomeres.

Genera

Diparidae consists of 11 genera: * '' Cerodipara'' * '' Chimaerolelaps'' * '' Conodipara'' * '' Conophorisca'' * '' Dipara'' * '' Diparisca'' * '' Dozodipara'' * '' Hedgvistina'' * '' Lelaps'' * '' Myrmicolelaps'' * '' Netomocera''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q116039536 Apocrita families