The Eulophidae is a large family of
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
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s, with over 4,300 described species in some 300
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
. The family includes the genus ''
Elasmus'', which used to be treated as a separate family, "Elasmidae", and is now treated as a subfamily of Eulophidae.
These minute insects are challenging to study, as they deteriorate rapidly after death unless extreme care is taken (e.g., preservation in
ethanol
Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...
), making identification of most museum specimens difficult. The
larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
e of very few species feed on plants, but the majority are primary
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 on a huge range of
arthropod
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...
s at all stages of development. They are exceptional in that they are one of two hymenopteran families with some species that are known to parasitize
thrips
Thrips (Order (biology) , order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Entomologists have species description , described approximately 7,700 species. They fly on ...
.
Eulophids are found throughout the world in virtually all habitats (one is even aquatic, parasitising
water-penny beetles).
Eulophids are separable from most other
Chalcidoidea by the possession of only four
tarsomeres on each leg, a small, straight protibial spur (as opposed to the larger, curved one in most other chalcidoids), and by antennae with two to four funicle segments and at most 10 antennomeres.
See also
*''
Aprostocetus''
References
External links
Neotropical Eulophidae
Fauna Europaea
Spanish. Images.
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures web site
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Apocrita families