The genus ''Pelecinus'' is the only living member of the family

Pelecinidae Pelecinidae is a family of parasitic wasps in the superfamily Proctotrupoidea. It contains only one living genus, '' Pelecinus'', with three species known from the Americas. The earliest fossil species are known from the Jurassic, and the group ...

(there are also many fossil genera), and contains only three species, restricted to the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. One species, '' Pelecinus polyturator'', occurs from North through South America, and the others occur in Mexico ('' Pelecinus thoracicus'') and South America ('' Pelecinus dichrous''). The females are glossy

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s, very long (up to 7 cm) and the abdomen is extremely attenuated, used to lay eggs directly on scarab larvae buried in the soil.

References

Proctotrupoidea Hymenoptera genera Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille Insects described in 1800 Hymenoptera of North America Hymenoptera of South America {{Apocrita-stub