FAMILY CHALCIDIDAE 
The family Chalcididae contains many primary and secondary 
parasites of Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera. 
The adults of certain species are fairly large and conspicuous; 
a are solitary in habit; and practically all develop inside their 
osts. 
A few of the more important species and their hosts are: Halti- 
chella rhyacioniae Gahan—the Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhya- 
cionia rigidana, and the western pine tip moth; H. wanticles 
(Walk.)—the European pine shoot moth and the oak skeletonizer ; 
Phasgonophora sulcata Westw.—the bronze birch and the flat- 
headed apple tree borers; Trigonura elegans Prov.—several 
species of woodborers including the flatheaded apple tree borer, 
the red elm bark and black elm bark weevils; Spilochalcis albi- 
frons (Walsh)—numerous hosts including the locust leaf and 
arborvitae leaf miners, and the larch casebearer; S. flavopicta 
(Cresson)—the Nantucket pine tip moth; S. mariae (Riley) — 
the bagworm and several species of Saturnid moths; Brachymeria 
compsilurae (Cwfd.)—tachinid flies, especially Compsilura con- 
cinnata and Blepharipa scutellata (202); and B. ovata (Say)—a 
wide variety of lepidopterous hosts including the white-marked 
tussock moth, hemlock looper, and bagworm. 
SUPERFAMILY CYNIPOIDEA 
The superfamily Cynipoidea consists of very small, dark- 
colored wasps. Many species are gall makers or gall inquilines. 
The remainder are parasitic on other insects. Weld (754) divides 
the superfamily into four families—Ibaliidae, Liopteridae, Figiti- 
dae, and Cynipidae. The liopterids are mostly exotic, and their 
habits are unknown. 
FAMILY IBALIIDAE 
Members of this family are all parasitic on horntails of the 
family Siricidae. Four species are recorded from eastern United 
States—Ibalia anceps Say, I. ensiger Norton, I. maculipennis 
Haldeman, and I. scalpellator Westw. 
Ibalia maculipennis Hald., a common species in eastern United 
States and southeastern Canada, is a parasite of the pigeon tre- 
mex. The adult is marked with a yellow and dark-brown pattern, 
has two conspicuous dark-brown to black bands on the forewings, 
and is about 12 mm. long. 
FAMILY FIGITIDAE 
This family is represented in eastern America by 30 species. 
The majority are parasitic in dipterous puparae; a few are para- 
sitic in the cocoons of chrysopids. 
A478 
