Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Subfamilies Scelioninae, Teleasinae, and Telenominae were formerly placed in a separate family, Scelionidae. Platygastroid phylogeny is discussed in Murphy et al. 2007.
Numbers
For Platygastridae,
Nearctica lists 237 species in 23 genera. The most numerous one is
Platygaster with about 110 species. For Scelionidae,
Nearctica lists 364 species in 35 genera.
Size
Scelionidae: Usually 2mm or less.
Identification
Scelionidae: Antennae are elbowed, rise low on the face, typically has 11 or 12 segments and may be clubbed. Abdomen flattened, the lateral margins sharp. Wing venation greatly reduced and may be similar to chalcid wasps. Hindwing is without a jugal lobe.
Remarks
Most of the information on this guide page (preceded by "Scelionidae:") was taken from the old page for Scelionidae, including the following:
Members of this family are parasitic on the eggs of of a diverse group of insects. (At least seven different orders.) The mothering wasps often do stay with the parasitized eggs until they are emergent, mostly to keep other egg parasites away. They can be very common at the end of summer when egg numbers are at a peak. (Comment by Herschel Raney).
Some species are very host specific, others parasitize a wide range of hosts.
Many species are used as biological controls of pests such as: gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar), migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), (Eurygaster integriceps), kissing bugs (Triatoma, Rhodnius), and horse flies (Tabanus spp.)
Print References
Borror & White, p. 338
(1)
Murphy, N.P., D. Carey, L. Castro, M. Dowton & A.D. Austin (2007) Phylogeny of the platygastroid wasps (Hymenoptera) based on sequences from the 18S rRNA , 28S rRNA and CO1 genes: implications for classification and the evolution of host relationships. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 91:653-669.
