Eucharitidae

Eucharitidae is a family of parasitic wasps known as Eucharitid wasps. Eucharitid wasps are members of the superfamily Chalcidoidea and consist of three subfamilies: Oraseminae, Eucharitinae, and Gollumiellinae. There are 55 genera and 417 species of Eucharitidae; most of which are members of the Oraseminae and Eucharitinae subfamilies. Most Eucharitids live in tropical regions of the world.

Eucharitids are specialized parasitoids of ants, meaning each species is usually only parasitic of one genus of ant. Furthermore, they are one of the few parasitoids that have been able to utilize ants as hosts, despite ants’ effective defense system against most parasitoids. Eucharitidae parasitism occurs year round, with a majority of it occurring during hot and humid months. However, the amount of parasitism that occurs depends primarily on the size of the ant colony and the number of host pupae in them, and not on the season.