Overview
For the most part, eupelmids are primary parasitoids of a variety of insects, often associated with hosts concealed in plant tissue. Calosotinae and Neanastatinae develop primarily on wood-boring beetles, although some species attack various gall-midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). In contrast, Eupelminae display a much wider host range, among them species of Lepidoptera (moths & butterflies), Coleoptera (beetles), Hemiptera (Coccoidea; scale insects), Orthoptera (crickets and grasshoppers), Blattodea (cockroaches), Mantodea (mantids), and Diptera (flies). They can act as either primary parasitoids or hyperparasitoids (usually through cocoons of braconids). One genus,
Anastatus
, attacks large eggs of Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Mantodea and Blattodea.
Description
The Eupelmidae are a medium-sized family, characterised by the mesopleuron large, convex and longer than high; the spur of the mid tibia usually somewhat enlarged; insertion of mid coxa anterior to the midline of the mesopleuron and at the posterior margin of mesopleuron; the mesoscutum often with a large concave median groove or furrow; and cerci usually placed at or near the apex of the metasoma.
Distribution
Keys to Australasian genera are included in Boucek (1988), while keys to world genera of Calosotinae and Neanastatinae are provided by Gibson (1989), and world genera of Eupelminae by Gibson (1995).
Further information about the Eupelmidae can be found in Boucek 1988, Gibson 1989, Gibson 1995, Naumann 1991, Noyes 2001 and Noyes & Valentine 1989.