Eucoilinae
subfamily of insects
Eucoilinae is the largest subfamily within the wasp family Figitidae (Cynipoidea), comprising nearly 1000 described species in over 80 genera. They are small to minute parasitoid wasps that are endoparasitoids of cyclorrhaphous dipteran larvae. Eucoilines are recognized by the presence of a distinctive raised and often sculptured plate or cup on the dorsal surface of the scutellum (the mesoscutellum).
Taxonomy and systematics
Eucoilinae has historically been treated as a separate family (Eucoilidae) by some authors, but recent phylogenetic analyses have consistently placed it as a subfamily within an expanded concept of Figitidae. It is considered part of the "core figitids," a clade that also includes the subfamilies Pycnostigminae, Emargininae, Aspicerinae, and Figitinae, all of which are parasitoids of Diptera.
The most distinctive and diagnostic feature of the subfamily is the scutellar plate (or cup), a raised, distinctly margined structure on the dorsal surface of the scutellum, which contains a glandular pit. This feature is universally present in eucoilines and unique to them among parasitic wasps.
A comprehensive phylogenetic study in 2002 tested the monophyly of six informal genus groups proposed by Nordlander (1982). The results supported the monophyly of the Eucoilinae and suggested a revised grouping of genera, with early divergences indicating an ancient split between primarily Afrotropical and Neotropical lineages.
Description
Adults are small, typically 1–5 mm in length, and most species are fully winged, though some are brachypterous.
“Eucoilinae” enters the record as subfamily of insects. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Eucoilinae, subfamily and insects can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Eucoilinae” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Eucoilinae, subfamily and insects provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q21029948. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1000, 2002 and 1982.
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This entry incorporates text from “Eucoilinae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.