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Ceidae

Ceidae is a small family of chalcid wasps, previously classified as subfamily Ceinae, in the polyphyletic family Pteromalidae. These wasps are parasitoids of other small insects. Hosts are known only for Cea pulicaris and Spalangiopelta alata.

Last revised
Jun 20, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
323 w
Citations
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Wikipedia ↗
Ceidae
Female Cea pulicaris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Chalcidoidea
Family: Ceidae
Bouček, 1961
Type genus
Cea
Walker, 18371
Genera
Female Bohpa maculata source ↗

Ceidae is a small family of chalcid wasps, previously classified as subfamily Ceinae, in the polyphyletic family Pteromalidae.1 These wasps are parasitoids of other small insects. Hosts are known only for Cea pulicaris (small Agromyzid flies) and Spalangiopelta alata (small Drosophilid flies).23

Description

Its antennae have twelve flagellomeres, and its labrum is subrectangular and exposed.1

Genera and species

Bohpa Darling, 1991

Cea Walker, 1837

Spalangiopelta Masi, 1922

  • S. alata Bouček, 1953 (West Palaearctic),
  • S. albigena Darling, 1991 (Nearctic, Neotropical),
  • S. alboaculeata Darling, 1995 (West Palaearctic),
  • S. apotherisma Darling & Hanson, 1986 (Nearctic),
  • S. brachyptera Masi, 1922 (West Palaearctic),
  • S. canadensis Darling, 1991 (Nearctic),
  • S. ciliata Yoshimoto, 1977 (Nearctic),
  • S. dudichi Erdős, 1955 (West Palaearctic),
  • S. felonia Darling & Hanson, 1986 (Nearctic),
  • S. ferrierei (Hedqvist, 1964) (Neotropical),
  • S. hiko Darling, 1995 (East Palaearctic),
  • S. laevis Darling, 1991 (Neotropical),
  • S. procera Graham, 1966 (West Palaearctic)
  • S. rameli Mitroiu, 2016 (West Palaearctic)
  • S. viridis Mitroiu, 2016 (Canary Islands)

There is one fossil species: S. georgei Darling, 1997.2

References

References

  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.
  2. Mitroiu, Mircea-Dan (15 December 2016). "Review of world genera of Ceinae, with the description of two new Palaearctic species of Spalangiopelta Masi (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae)". European Journal of Taxonomy (251). doi:10.5852/ejt.2016.251. ISSN 2118-9773. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  3. Noyes, J.S. (March 2019). "Universal Chalcidoidea Database". The Natural History Museum. Retrieved 2 May 2023.