Superfamily MEGALYROIDEA

Magalyroidea

© Copyright Commonwealth of Australia

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Introduction

This superfamily comprises only a single family, Megalyridae, of small (2.5 mm) to very large (100 mm) wasps. The group is thought to be of Cretaceous origin and is pantropical in distribution, but extends into the temperate regions of Australia (Shaw 1990).

Acknowledgements

The compilation of this checklist was part of an ongoing project to complete the databasing of the Australian Hymenoptera. It was a co-operative project involving J.T. Jennings, N.B. Stevens, M. Iqbal & A.D. Austin of the Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity and the Department of Applied and Molecular Ecology, Waite Campus, Adelaide University, and the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS). Funding, editorial and Platypus technical support was provided by ABRS.

Database Notes

Taxa at each hierarchical level are listed in alphabetical order.

Limital Area

Distribution data in the Directory is by political and geographic region descriptors and serves as a guide to the distribution of a taxon. For details of a taxon's distribution, the reader should consult the cited references (if any) at genus and species levels.

Australia is defined as including Lord Howe Is., Norfolk Is., Cocos (Keeling) Ils, Christmas Is., Ashmore and Cartier Ils, Macquarie Is., Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard and McDonald Ils, and the waters associated with these land areas of Australian political responsibility. Political areas include the adjacent waters.

Terrestrial geographical terms are based on the drainage systems of continental Australia, while marine terms are self explanatory except as follows: the boundary between the coastal and oceanic zones is the 200 m contour; the Arafura Sea extends from Cape York to 124 DEG E; and the boundary between the Tasman and Coral Seas is considered to be the latitude of Fraser Island, also regarded as the southern terminus of the Great Barrier Reef.

Distribution records, if any, outside of these areas are listed as extralimital. The distribution descriptors for each species are collated to genus level. Users are advised that extralimital distribution for some taxa may not be complete.

General References

Shaw, S.R. 1990. Phylogeny and biogeography of the parasitoid wasp family Megalyridae (Hymenoptera). Journal of Biogeography 17: 569-581

History of changes