Rotoitidae

Taxobox
name = Rotoitidae
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
subordo = Apocrita
superfamilia = Chalcidoidea
familia = Rotoitidae
familia_authority = Bouček & Noyes, 1987
subdivision_ranks = Genera & Species
subdivision =
*"Chiloe micropteron" Gibson & Huber, 2000
*"Rotoita basalis" Bouček & Noyes, 1987

Rotoitidae is a very small family of rare, relictual parasitic wasps in the superfamily Chalcidoidea. There are only two species known, each in their own genus, one from New Zealand and one from Chile. They are the most recently-discovered family of chalcidoids (even though, ironically, they may be the most ancient lineage), and nothing is known about their biology. Females of the Chilean species, "Chiloe micropteron", have their wings reduced to tiny bristles.

Features of their anatomy, including very "primitive" wing venation, have led researchers to believe that rotoitids may be very close to the base of the chalcidoid family tree, close to the Mymaridae.

External Links

* [http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/chalcidoids/pteromalidae1.html Universal Chalcidoid Database]