Gasteruptiidae

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How to read a taxobox
Gasteruptiidae
Gasteruption jaculator
Gasteruption jaculator
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Evanioidea
Family: Gasteruptiidae
Genera and species

see text

The family Gasteruptiidae is one of the more distinctive among the Apocritan wasps, with surprisingly little variation in appearance for a group that contains around 500 species in 9 genera worldwide. The propleura form an elongated "neck", the petiole attaches very high on the propodeum, and the hind tibiae are swollen and club-like. The females commonly have a long ovipositor, and lay eggs in the nests of solitary bees and wasps, where their larvae prey upon the host larvae and provisions.

The absence of "teeth" on the crown of the head and the somewhat thickened antennae readily separate these wasps from those in the unrelated family Stephanidae, which also contains very slender wasps with long necks.

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