Buffington, Buffington & Forshage & Liljeblad & Tang & Noort, 2020

Buffington, Matthew L., Forshage, Mattias, Liljeblad, Johan, Tang, Chang-Ti & Noort, Simon van, 2020, World Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera): A Key to Higher- Level Groups, Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (4), No. 1, pp. 1-69 : 50

Figitidae

This family is the most speciose group within the Cynipoidea . Members of this family are, when biology is known, internal parasitoids of other holometabolan insects, and in at least one group, hyperparasitoids. Buffington et al. (2012) reviewed all the host records of the family and summarized the reliable host records. With some 157 genera and more than 1,700 species, subfamilies and tribes have been erected to bring some order to this diversity. In fact, it is typically easier to identify the lower groups of Figitidae than the family itself, and this is reflected in the key here. In terms of biology,

the subfamilies fall into three categories: some are parasitoids of muscomorphan Diptera ( Eucoilinae , Figitinae ); some are inquilines or parasitoids inside galls ( Euceroptrinae , Mikeiinae , Parnipinae , Plectocynipinae , Thrasorinae : all species-poor); some are parasitoids of various insects attacking aphids ( Anacharitinae , Aspicerinae , Charipinae ). Finally, hosts are unknown for Emargininae and Pycnostigminae .