Chalcedectidae

Chalcedectidae
	Chalcedectus sp.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Superfamily:	Chalcidoidea
Family:	Chalcedectidae; Ashmead, 1904
Genus
	Chalcedectus;

Chalcedectidae is a small family of chalcid wasps, previously classified as part of the subfamily Cleonyminae, in the polyphyletic family Pteromalidae.^[1] Most species are parasitoids of wood-boring beetles.

Astrid Cruaud and coworkers found that Chalcedectus (the only genus in the family) falls in what they called the "weird clade",^[2] but these wasps look very different from their closest relatives, the Pelecinellidae. This, along with the long time since the divergence, supports the treatment of the genus as a separate family Chalcedectidae. In fact, in his 1852 paper on chalcid wasps,^[3] where Francis Walker described Chalcedectus maculicornis (the type species) he stated: "This is one of the tropical forms whose characters are more compound or complicated than those of any genera which inhabit more temperate regions; and may be considered either as a connecting link between families, or as a common and governing centre, representing various remote groups, and associating them together. It comes between the Pteromalidae and the Eupelmidae, and is one of the Cleonymidae, and is most allied to Lycisca; but it has the head of Perilampus, the thoracic sculpture of the Perilampidae and the Eurytomidae, and the hind-legs of the Leucospidae and of the Chalcidae."

Species

Chalcedectus annulicornis (Cameron, 1884)
Chalcedectus annulipes Ashmead, 1904
Chalcedectus balachowskyi Steffan, 1968
Chalcedectus busckii (Ashmead, 1900)
Chalcedectus caelatus (Grissell, 1991)
Chalcedectus cuprescens (Westwood, 1874)
Chalcedectus guaraniticus (Strand, 1911)
Chalcedectus histrionicus (Westwood, 1874)
Chalcedectus hyalinipennis (Ashmead, 1896)
Chalcedectus lanei De Santis, 1970
Chalcedectus maculicornis Walker, 1852
Chalcedectus maculipennis (Ashmead, 1896)
Chalcedectus meteorus (Girault, 1927)
Chalcedectus poeta (Girault, 1927)
Chalcedectus regalis (Westwood, 1874)
Chalcedectus sedecimdentatus (Westwood, 1874)
Chalcedectus septemdentatus (Westwood, 1874)
Chalcedectus sinaiticus (Masi, 1936)
Chalcedectus superbus (De Santis, 1977)
Chalcedectus texanus Brues, 1907

Gallery

Chalcedectus caelatus
Face of Chalcedectus caelatus
Chalcedectus hyalinipennis
Chalcedectus maculipennis

References

^ Roger A. Burks; Mircea-Dan Mitroiu; Lucian Fusu; et al. (20 December 2022). "From hell's heart I stab at thee! A determined approach towards a monophyletic Pteromalidae and reclassification of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera)". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 94: 13–88. doi:10.3897/JHR.94.94263. ISSN 1070-9428. Wikidata Q115923766.
^ Cruaud, A., Rasplus, J. Y., Zhang, J., Burks, R., Delvare, G., Fusu, L., ... & Heraty, J. M. (2022). The Chalcidoidea bush of life–a massive radiation blurred by mutational saturation. bioRxiv, 2022-09. DOI PDF
^ Walker, Francis (1852) Notes on Chalcidites, and Descriptions of various new species. The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology (Second Series) 10. 47-48. BHL

[BurksEtAl-1] Roger A. Burks; Mircea-Dan Mitroiu; Lucian Fusu; et al. (20 December 2022). "From hell's heart I stab at thee! A determined approach towards a monophyletic Pteromalidae and reclassification of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera)". Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 94: 13–88. doi:10.3897/JHR.94.94263. ISSN 1070-9428. Wikidata Q115923766.

[Cruaud2022-2] Cruaud, A., Rasplus, J. Y., Zhang, J., Burks, R., Delvare, G., Fusu, L., ... & Heraty, J. M. (2022). The Chalcidoidea bush of life–a massive radiation blurred by mutational saturation. bioRxiv, 2022-09. DOI PDF

[Walker1852-3] Walker, Francis (1852) Notes on Chalcidites, and Descriptions of various new species. The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology (Second Series) 10. 47-48. BHL

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