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 typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism — that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they reach adulthood.
Apocrita is a suborder of insects in the order Hymenoptera. It includes wasps, bees, and ants, and consists of many families. It contains the most advanced hymenopterans and is distinguished from Symphyta by the narrow "waist" (petiole) formed between the first two segments of the actual abdomen; the first abdominal segment is fused to the thorax, and is called the propodeum. Therefore, it is general practice, when discussing the body of an apocritan in a technical sense, to refer to the mesosoma and metasoma rather than the "thorax" and "abdomen", respectively. The evolution of a constricted waist was an important adaption for the parasitoid lifestyle of the ancestral apocritan, allowing more maneuverability of the female's ovipositor. The ovipositor either extends freely or is retracted, and may be developed into a stinger for both defense and paralyzing prey. Larvae are legless and blind, and either feed inside a host or in a nest cell provisioned by their mothers.
The Eulophidae is a large family of hymenopteran insects, with over 4,300 described species in some 300 genera. 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, making identification of most museum specimens difficult. The larvae of very few species feed on plants, but the majority are primary parasitoids on a huge range of arthropods 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. Eulophids are found throughout the world in virtually all habitats.
Kiggaella is a genus of hymenopteran insects belonging to the family Eulophidae. There is just one described species, Kiggaella oryzae, only known from rice paddies in Karnataka and Kerala states, India.
Aprostoporoides is a small Indomalayan genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae which was described in 2004 with two newly described species from Kerala.
Baeoentedon is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae, they are parasitoids of whitefly from the family Aleyrodidae which are found on trees of the genus Ficus. They have been recorded from Australia, China, India, Indonesia and Florida. A fifth species, Baeoentodon farazi, was described from Karnataka, India, in 2017.
Colpoclypeus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae.
Emersonella is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae. Several species are known to be phoretic parasitoids of female tortoise beetles, laying their eggs in the eggs of the beetle host.
Eprhopalotus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae. Their distribution varies between species but ranges from Costa Rica, Mexico to Texas. There are currently 5 species of Eprhopalotus:
Euplectrus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae.
Goetheana is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae. As a parasitoid of thrips, this wasp is used in biological pest control.
Horismenus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae occurring primarily in the Americas. As of 2015 over 400 species in the genus have been described. Horismenus species are often described as parasitizing other insects.
Kokandia is a monotypic genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae. The only known species Kokandia salsolicola is a parasitoid of gall midges belonging to the family Cecidomyiidae which use plants of the goosefoot genus Salsola as hosts.
Melittobia is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae.
Minotetrastichus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae. They are parasites of leaf-mining Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera.
Pediobius is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the chalcid wasp family Eulophidae. Like their relatives, the larvae of these diminutive wasps are parasitoids of various arthropods. Some Pediobius are used in biological pest control.
Quadrastichus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae.
Tetrastichus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae.
Arastichus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae. It is only known from the neotropics. At least one of the three known species induces galls on plants in the family Araceae.
Pnigalio mediterraneus is a species of insect in the family Eulophidae. It is a parasitoid of the olive fruit fly and the horse-chestnut leaf miner.
