Cynipoidea, Latreille, 1802

JENNINGS, JOHN T., KROGMANN, LARS & BURWELL, CHRIS, 2013, Review of the hymenopteran fauna of New Caledonia with a checklist of species, Zootaxa 3736 (1), pp. 1-53 : 35

Cynipoidea

Austrocynipidae . This rare endemic Australian family is known from a single species, Austrocynips mirabilis (Riek) , reared from larvae of the family Oecophoridae (Lepidoptera) in the cones of Araucaria in Queensland ( Riek 1971; Paretas-Martínez et al. 2013).

Cynipidae . Cynipids are gall inducers or phytophagous inquilines in galls and are particularly diverse in the northern hemisphere ( Richie 1993). The Cynipidae are poorly represented in Australia and New Zealand. The sole described Australian species, Phanacis hypochoeridis (Kieffer, 1887) is introduced ( ABRS 2013; Table 1), although specimens of Andricus sp. are known ( Paretas-Martinez et al. 2013). The family is unknown from New Caledonia.

Figitidae . This is the largest cynipoid family in the Australasian region with 47 described species in Australia and six in New Zealand ( Buffington 2008; Paretas-Martínez & Pujade-Villar 2010; Paretas-Martínez et al. 2011, 2013; ABRS 2013; Table 1). There are also a significant number of undescribed genera and species in various collections ( Paretas-Martinez et al. 2013). The most familiar members of the group are phytophagous, especially as gall-formers, though the majority of included species are parasitoids or hyperparasitoids. Figitids have not been formally recorded from New Caledonia but unidentified specimens exist in several collections (Matt Buffington, pers. comm.).

Ibaliidae . This family is represented naturally in Australasia only by a single very rare genus, Eileenella , from New Guinea ( Liu & Nordlander 1994). The dominant genus Ibalia is known from 15 species distributed in the northern hemisphere ( Liu & Nordlander 1994). Two of these species have been introduced into Australia and New Zealand as biological control agents of sirex woodwasps ( Siricidae ) (Stevens et al. 2007; Table 1). The family is not known from New Caledonia.

Liopteridae . In Australasia this family is known from a single genus, Dallatorrella , with one species described from Australia ( Liu 2001; Paretas-Martinez et al. 2013; Table 1) and one from New Guinea ( Liu 2001). Limited host records from the northern hemisphere indicate that members of the family parasitise larvae of cerambycids and other wood-boring beetles.