Gall wasps (Cynipidae) represent the most spectacular radiation of gall-inducing insects. In addition to true gall formers, gall wasps also include phytophagous inquilines, which live inside the galls induced by gall wasps or other insects. Here we present the first comprehensive molecular and total-evidence analyses of higher-level gall wasp relationships. We studied more than 100 taxa represe...

A new gall wasp species, Dryocosmus zhuili Liu et Zhu, is herein described from the southeastern Fujian province of China. The new species induces galls on trees of Henry's chestnut, Castanea henryi, which is also a native host for the notorious Oriental chestnut gall wasp (OCGW, Dryocosmus kuriphilus Yasumatsu). D. zhuili overlaps with OCGW in emergence time and induces galls morphologically s...

A systematic study of the genus Ormyrus (Chalcidoidea, Ormyridae) was conducted based on the morphology and biology of the terminal-instar larvae of ten west European species that are parasitoids of gall wasps and gallflies of the families Cynipidae, Eurytomidae and Tephritidae. The first detailed descriptions are provided of the terminal-instar larvae of these ten species using SEM images to i...

Although many species of tumbling ßower beetles (Coleoptera: Mordellidae) are common and abundant, little is known of their life histories. Larvae of most species seem to be phytophagous, and acts of predation are considered rare and accidental. In this study, we dissected host plants of the endophytic mordellid Mordellistena aethiops Smith and subjected plant and insect samples to stable isoto...

An overview of Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera) in New Zealand is presented with information on families, genera, and when available, species. Notes on their distribution, biology, and a taxonomic key are provided. The New Zealand cynipoid fauna is very poorly known, with only 11 described species, and five genus-only taxa. The fauna is dominated by introduced species; two species have been deliberatel...