Biology

Virtually all life-histories found in Chalcidoidea occur in the family Pteromalidae. There are solitary (most species) and gregarious species (e.g. the well known Pteromalus puparum (L.)), ectoparasitoids and endoparasitoids, koinobionts and idiobionts, primary and secondary parasitoids (most species), or predators of eggs and larvae of insects (species of Eunotinae, Panstenoninae) and even spiders (e.g. Pteromalus platyphilus Walker). They can be egg (rarely - e.g. Louriciinae or Caenocrepis spp.), larval or pupal parasitoids (most species), but some attack even adult coleopterans (e.g. Tomicobia Ashmead).

Most species develop as solitary or gregarious ectoparasitoids of larvae and pupae of holometabolous insects, mainly Diptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera. Many species attack hosts concealed in plant tissue, such as wood-borers, stem- and leaf-miners, gall-formers etc., while some are phytophagous (e.g. some Ormocerinae).

For more details regarding the host group for each subfamily, see Classification.