Ceraphronidae

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Ceraphronidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Ceraphronoidea
Family: Ceraphronidae
Genera

see text

Ceraphronidae is a small Hymenopteran family with 14 genera and some 360 known species, though a great many species are still undescribed. It is a poorly-known group as a whole, though most are believed to be parasitoids (esp. of flies), and a few hyperparasitoids. Many are found in the soil, and of these, a number are wingless.

The family is distinguished from the closely-related Megaspilidae by having a very small stigma in the wing, a very broad metasomal petiole, and a single median groove in the mesoscutum.