The Perilampidae are a small

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

within the

Chalcidoidea 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 ...

, composed mostly of

hyperparasitoid A hyperparasite, also known as a metaparasite, is a parasite whose host, often an insect, is also a parasite, often specifically a parasitoid. Hyperparasites are found mainly among the wasp-waisted Apocrita within the Hymenoptera, and in two othe ...

s. The family is closely related to the

Eucharitidae The Eucharitidae are a family of parasitic wasps. Eucharitid wasps are members of the superfamily Chalcidoidea and consist of four subfamilies: Akapalinae, Eucharitinae, Gollumiellinae, and Oraseminae. Most of the 42 genera and >400 species o ...

, Chrysolampidae, and Eutrichosomatidae. As presently defined, six genera are described worldwide. They are often brilliantly metallic (especially blue or green), with robust

mesosoma The mesosoma is the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings. Wasps, bees and a ...

e and a small, triangular

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 ...

e. They are generally very strongly sculptured. The

prothorax The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ...

is typically very broad and disc-like, and the labrum is multidigitate, a feature shared with the Eucharitidae. A feature shared by the Eucharitidae, Perilampidae, Chrysolampidae, and Eutrichosomatidae is that the first-instar larvae (called " planidia") are responsible for gaining access to the host, rather than the egg-laying females. Those species which are hyperparasitoids burrow into a secondary host's body and seek out endoparasitoid larvae, such as tachinid flies or ichneumonoid wasps, and attack them.

Genera

These genera belong to the family Perilampidae: * '' Burksilampus'' Boucek, 1978^{c g} * ''

Euperilampus ''Euperilampus'' is a genus of chalcid wasps in the family Perilampidae. There are about 18 described species in ''Euperilampus''. Species These 18 species belong to the genus ''Euperilampus'': * ''Euperilampus ameca'' Darling, 1983 * ''Euperil ...

'' Walker, 1871^{c g b} * '' Krombeinius'' Boucek, 1978^{c g} * '' Monacon'' Waterston, 1922^{c g} * '' Perilampus'' Latreille, 1809^{i c g b} * '' Steffanolampus'' Peck, 1974^{c g} Perilampidae and Aphis nerii

Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

References

External links

Universal Chalcidoidea Database
{{Authority control Chalcidoidea Apocrita families Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille