Belongs within: Proctotrupomorpha.
Contains: Diplolepidini, Cynipidae, Figitidae.
The Cynipoidea are a clade of small wasps that appear to have been ancestrally parasitic on plant-boring insects (Grimaldi & Engel 2005). Members have closely placed antennae and a more or less flat lateral panel on the pronotum. Classification of the superfamily is uncertain with recognised families often being defined by life habits more than morphology (Naumann 1991). The Australian Austrocynips mirabilis differs from other members of the superfamily in the presence of a pterostigma in the fore wing (Naumann 1991).
Characters (Grimaldi & Engel 2005): Metasoma laterally compressed; first and second metasomal sterna broadly fused; forewing median vein following distinctive course; forewing costa absent; antennal radicle absent.
<==Cynipoidea
| i. s.: Asiacynipites Hong 2002H02
| `--*A. virides Hong 2002H02
| Hemerocynipites Hong 2002H02
| `--*H. wanghuacunensis Hong 2002H02
|--ArchaeocynipsRJ93 [ArchaeocynipidaeR02]
| `--A. villosa Rasnitsyn & Kovalev 1988RJ93
`--+--AustrocynipsN91 [AustrocynipidaeRN-A01, Austrocynipinae]
| `--A. mirabilisN91
`--+--ParaulaciniBS23
| |--Paraulax quelensisBS23
| `--Cecinothofagus ibarraiBS23
`--+--+--Pediaspis [Pediaspidini]BS23
| | `--P. aceris [=Bathyaspis aceris; incl. P. sorbi]A81
| `--DiplolepidiniBS23
`--+--Eschatocerus [Eschatocerini]BS23
| |--E. acaciaeA81
| `--E. nigerBS23
`--+--+--GerocynipidaeGE05
| `--CynipidaeRN-A01
`--FigitidaeRN-A01
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A81] Adler, H. 1881. Les Cynipides. 1re partie. Introduction. La génération alternante chez les cynipides, traduit et annoté par J. Lichtenstein, suivi de la classification des cynipides d’après le Dr G. Mayr. C. Coulet: Montpellier.
[BS23] Blaimer, B. B., B. F. Santos, A. Cruaud, M. W. Gates, R. R. Kula, I. Mikó, J.-Y. Rasplus, D. R. Smith, E. J. Talamas, S. G. Brady & M. L. Buffington. 2023. Key innovations and the diversification of Hymenoptera. Nature Communications 14: 1212.
[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.
[N91] Naumann, I. D. 1991. Hymenoptera (wasps, bees, ants, sawflies). In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2nd ed. vol. 2 pp. 916–1000. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).
[R02] Rasnitsyn, A. P. 2002. Superorder Vespidea Laicharting, 1781. Order Hymenoptera Linné, 1758 (=Vespida Laicharting, 1781). In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 242–254. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.
[RN-A01] Ronquist, F., & J. L. Nieves-Aldrey. 2001. A new subfamily of Figitidae (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 133: 483–494.
[RJ93] Ross, A. J., & E. A. Jarzembowski. 1993. Arthropoda (Hexapoda; Insecta). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 363–426. Chapman & Hall: London.