The family Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) is reviewed with the goal of providing nomenclatural changes and morphological diagnoses in preparation for a new molecular phylogeny and a book on world fauna that will contain keys to identification. Most subfamilies and some tribes of Pteromalidae are elevated to family level or transferred elsewhere in the superfamily. The resulting classification is a compromise, with the aim of preserving the validity and diagnosability of other, well-established families of Chalcidoidea. The following former subfamilies and tribes of Pteromalidae are elevated to family rank: Boucekiidae, Ceidae, Cerocephalidae, Chalcedectidae, Cleonymidae, Coelocybidae, Diparidae, Epichrysomallidae, Eunotidae, Herbertiidae, Hetreulophidae, Heydeniidae, Idioporidae, Lyciscidae, Macromesidae, Melanosomellidae, Moranilidae, Neodiparidae, Ooderidae, Pelecinellidae (senior synonym of Leptofoeninae), Pirenidae, Spalangiidae, and Systasidae. The following subfamilies are transferred from Pteromalidae: Chromeurytominae and Keiraninae to Megastigmidae, Elatoidinae to Neodiparidae, Nefoeninae to Pelecinellidae, and Erotolepsiinae to Spalangiidae. The subfamily Sycophaginae is transferred to Pteromalidae. The formerly incertae sedis tribe Lieparini is abolished and its single genus Liepara is transferred to Coelocybidae. The former tribe Tomocerodini is transferred to Moranilidae and elevated to subfamily status. The former synonym Tridyminae (Pirenidae) is treated as valid. The following former Pteromalidae are removed from the family and, due to phylogenetic uncertainty, placed as incertae sedis subfamilies or genera within Chalcidoidea: Austrosystasinae, Ditropinotellinae, Keryinae, Louriciinae, Micradelinae, Parasaphodinae, Rivasia, and Storeyinae. Within the remaining Pteromalidae, Miscogastrinae and Ormocerinae are confirmed as separate from Pteromalinae, the former tribe Trigonoderini is elevated to subfamily status, the former synonym Pachyneurinae is recognized as a distinct subfamily, and as the senior synonym of Austroterobiinae. The tribe Termolampini is synonymized under Pteromalini, and the tribe Uzkini is synonymized under Colotrechnini. Most former Otitesellinae, Sycoecinae, and Sycoryctinae are retained in the tribe Otitesellini, which is transferred to Pteromalinae, and all other genera of Pteromalinae are treated as Pteromalini. Eriaporidae is synonymized with Pirenidae, with Eriaporinae and Euryischiinae retained as subfamilies. Other nomenclatural acts performed here outside of Pteromalidae are as follows: Calesidae: elevation to family rank. Eulophidae: transfer of Boucekelimini and Platytetracampini to Opheliminae, and abolishment of the tribes Elasmini and Gyrolasomyiini. Baeomorphidae is recognized as the senior synonym of Rotoitidae. Khutelchalcididae is formally excluded from Chalcidoidea and placed as incertae sedis within Apocrita. Metapelmatidae and Neanastatidae are removed from Eupelmidae and treated as distinct families. Eopelma is removed from Eupelmidae and treated as an incertae sedis genus in Chalcidoidea. The following subfamilies and tribes are described as new: Cecidellinae (in Pirenidae), Enoggerinae (incertae sedis in Chalcidoidea), Erixestinae (in Pteromalidae), Eusandalinae (in Eupelmidae), Neapterolelapinae (incertae sedis in Chalcidoidea), Solenurinae (in Lyciscidae), Trisecodinae (in Systasidae), Diconocarini (in Pteromalidae: Miscogastrinae), and Trigonoderopsini (in Pteromalidae: Colotrechninae). A complete generic classification for discussed taxa is provided.

The Swedish entomologist, Karl-Johan Hedqvist (1917-2009) described 261 species of insects, 260 species of Hymenoptera and one of Coleoptera, plus 72 genera and a small number of family-level taxa. These taxa are catalogued and the current depositories of the types are listed, as well as some brief notes on the history of the Hedqvist collection. We also discuss some issues that can arise when type-rich specimen collections are put on the commercial market.

Capturing phylogenetic signal from a massive radiation can be daunting. The superfamily Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution. Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that until now included 27 families, 87 subfamilies and as many as 500,000 estimated species. We combined 1007 exons obtained with Anchored Hybrid Enrichment with 1048 Ultra-Conserved Elements (UCEs) for 433 taxa including all extant families, over 95% of all subfamilies and 356 genera chosen to represent the vast diversity of the superfamily. Going back and forth between molecular results and our collective morphological and biological knowledge, we detected insidious bias driven by the saturation of nucleotide data and highlighted morphological convergences. Our final results are based on a concatenated analysis of the least saturated exons and UCE data sets (2054 loci, 284,106 sites). Our analyses support a sister relationship with Mymarommatoidea. Seven of the previously recognized families were not monophyletic, so foundations for a new classification are discussed. Biology appears potentially more informative than morphology, as illustrated by the elucidation of a clade of plant gall associates and a clade of taxa with planidial first-instar larvae. The phylogeny suggests a shift from smaller soft-bodied wasps to larger and more heavily sclerotized wasps. Deep divergences in Chalcidoidea coincide with an increase in insect families in the fossil record, and an early shift to phytophagy corresponds with the beginning of the "Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution". Our dating analyses suggest a Middle Jurassic origin of 174 Ma (167.3-180.5 Ma) and a crown age of 162.2 Ma (153.9-169.8 Ma) for Chalcidoidea. During the Cretaceous, Chalcidoidea underwent a rapid radiation in southern Gondwana with subsequent dispersals to the Northern Hemisphere. This scenario is discussed with regard to knowledge about host taxa of chalcid wasps, their fossil record, and Earth's paleogeographic history.

Background A revised checklist of the British and Irish Chalcidoidea and Mymarommatoidea substantially updates the previous comprehensive checklist, dating from 1978. Country level data (i.e. occurrence in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man) is reported where known. New information A total of 1754 British and Irish Chalcidoidea species represents a 22% increase on the number of British species known in 1978.

Illustrated redescriptions are given for three species of encyrtid wasps first described in the early 1800s: Microterys cedrenus (Walker), M. cyanocephalus (Dalman) and M. interpunctus (Dalman), and four new synonyms are proposed: M. aldreyi Japoshvili (of M. cedrenus), M. dichrous (Mercet) (of M. cedrenus), M. steinbergi Sugonjaev (of M. cyanocephalus), and M. duplicatus (Nees) (of M. interpunctus).