Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

See Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in Wisconsin, July 10-12


Previous events


TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Family Eulophidae

Grapevine Epimenis cat. w/ eggs on it (?) - Euplectrus Chalcid from Schizomyia racemicola gall - Aprostocetus - male Wasp from Stigmella leaf mine in red oak - Cirrospilus - female Eulophidae, another something lateral Chalcidoid from a phyllonorycter mine - aspen Small Resting Wasp Eulophid wasp - Aulogymnus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon ("Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps)
Superfamily Chalcidoidea (Chalcidoid Wasps)
Family Eulophidae
Numbers
4 subfamilies with >830 spp. in ~110 genera in our area and >4,300 spp. in >330 genera worldwide(1) (numbers in (2) are outdated. =v=)
Identification
The 4-segmented tarsi helps distinguish this chalcid from the very similar pteromalid group. These wasps also shrivel up badly after death which is also a characteristic of this family. Most species are primary parasitoids of hidden larvae (e.g. leafmining orders such as Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, etc.), and some are hyperparasitoids as well. The host range is very diverse. (Comment by Ross Hill).
Other features: dark metallic coloration, 4-segmented tarsi with protibial spur short and straight. Antennae with 2 to 4-segmented funicle, (i.e. antenna at most with 10 segments).
Key to nearctic genera (except Tetrastichinae) in(3)
Range
Worldwide
Food
Feed on mites, spider egg cases (hyperparasites on ichneumonid egg predators), a few Homoptera (Coccidae, Diaspididae), Thysanoptera, and numerous families of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. A large number of species parasitize the leaf-mining and wood-boring Lepidoptera and Diptera, perhaps more so than any other Hymenoptera.
Print References
Gauthier N., LaSalle J., Quicke D.L.J., Godfray H.C.J. (2000) Phylogeny of Eulophidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), with a reclassification of Eulophinae and the recognition that Elasmidae are derived eulophids. Syst. Entomol. 25: 521-539.