Overview
Females are attracted to the symbiotic fungi in the oviposition shafts of
Sirex
and oviposit on eggs or early larval instars.
Description
Ibaliids are the largest members of Cynipoidea (15 20 mm) and can be recognised by the long thin radial cell in the fore wing, the hind femur short, the first tarsal segment of the legs very long, and the metasoma very strongly compressed from the sides.
Distribution
This
parasitoid
family is represented naturally in Australasia only by a single very rare genus
Eileenella
from New Guinea. The dominant genus
Ibalia
is known from 15 species distributed in the northern hemisphere. However, two species have been introduced into Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) as biological control agents of
Sirex
woodwasps
(Siricidae).
Further information about the Ibaliidae can be found in Liu & Nordlander 1994, Richie 1993 and Ronquist 1999.