What is Chalcid wasp?
[[File:IC Leucospis gigas.JPG|thumb|250px|''Leucospis'', a parasite of stinging wasps]] [[Image:E. amygdali-Ponte 3.JPG|thumb|250px|A chalcid wasp, unusual in laying its eggs on plant material]] The '''chalcid wasps''' are formally called the '''Chalcidoidea'''. They are a [[superfamily]] of [[parasitoid wasp]]s. They have a huge number of [[species]], estimated as over 500,000 (half a million).<ref>Heraty, John M. and others 2013. A phylogenetic analysis of the megadiverse Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). ''Cladistics'' '''29''' (5): 466–542. [https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12006]</ref> The [[superfamily]] includes 22 [[family (biology)|families]]. The data included [[morphology]] and [[ribosome|ribosomal]] 18S data. The researchers comment that only about 22,506 species of the half-million have been formally described. Most of the species are [[parasitic]] on other kinds of insect. They attack the egg or [[larva]]l stages of at least 12 different insect [[Order (biology)|orders]]. When that insect is itself a parasitoid, then the chalcid is called a [[hyperparasitoid]]. Chalcids are sometimes used to control [[crop]] [[pests]]. A few chalcids actually eat plants, and the most famous of these are the [[fig wasp]]s. There are 19 living families of chalcids. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Wasps]] [[Category:Parasitoids]]