Braconidae

Braconidae
Temporal range: Cretaceous–Present
Atanycolus sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Ichneumonoidea
Family: Braconidae
Latreille, 1829
Subfamilies

47, see text

Synonyms

Stenophasmidae Benoit, 1949

The Braconidae are a family of parasitoid wasps. After the closely related Ichneumonidae, braconids make up the second-largest family in the order Hymenoptera, with about 17,000 recognized species and many thousands more undescribed.[1] One analysis estimated a total between 30,000 and 50,000, and another provided a narrower estimate between 42,000 and 43,000 species.[1]

A female tropical braconid ovipositing into dead wood
  1. ^ a b Jones, Owen R.; Purvis, Andy; Baumgart, Eligiusz; Quicke, Donald L.J. (2009). "Using taxonomic revision data to estimate the geographic and taxonomic distribution of undescribed species richness in the Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea)". Insect Conservation and Diversity. 2 (3): 204–212. doi:10.1111/j.1752-4598.2009.00057.x. S2CID 86775770.