The Mymarommatoidea are a very small superfamily of microscopic
fairyfly-like
parasitic wasps. It contains only a single living family,
Mymarommatidae, and three other extinct families known from
Cretaceous aged
amber. Less than half of all described species are living taxa (the others are fossils), but they are known from all parts of the world.[1][2] Undoubtedly, many more await discovery, as they are easily overlooked and difficult to study due to their extremely small size (most have an overall length of around 0.3 mm).
Classification
As taxonomists have examined this group more closely, they have become less certain about which other group of wasps represents the nearest living relatives of the Mymarommatoidea.[1] They are generally placed in the
Proctotrupomorpha, amongst the group that includes all members of Proctotrupomorpha other than
Cynipoidea.[3] Their closest relatives seem to be the extinct superfamily Serphitoidea (including
Serphitidae and
Archaeoserphitidae), with both groups being united in the clade Bipetiolarida.[4][5] There is no consensus on how the four families of Mymarommatoidea relate to each other.[5]
^
abGibson, G.A.P.; Read, J.; Huber, J.T. (2007) Diversity, classification and higher relationships of Mymarommatoidea (Hymenoptera). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 16: 51–146.
^Engel, M.S.; Grimaldi, D.A. (2007) New false fairy wasps in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey and Myanmar (Hymenoptera: Mymarommatoidea). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 110: 159–168.
^Honsberger DN, Huber JT, Wright MG (2022) A new Mymaromma sp. (Mymarommatoidea, Mymarommatidae) in Hawai‘i and first host record for the superfamily. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 89: 73-87.
https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.89.77931