RES Handbook Vol 8 Part 3d ii. Hymenoptera. Proctotrupoidea. Diapriidae subfamily Belytinae

THE Diapriidae, as interpreted by Kieffer in Das Tierreich, Diapriidae (1916), are divided into two subfamilies, the Diapriinae and the Belytinae. These have been accorded family rank by some authors but Muesebeck and Walkley, whose nomenclature as set out in the Synoptic catalogue of the Hymenoptera of America N. of Mexico (1951) has, in the main, been followed, prefer to retain the lower status for them. This . Handbook sets a precedent in that it covers rather more than the British fauna and also includes new genera and species. The reason for this was in part a serious lack of British material, offset on the other hand by the availability in the British Museum of a magnificent collection frpm South Sweden. Comprising some 5000 specimens of Belytinae, this collection was made by Mr. and Mrs. J. F. ~erkins in 1938. It proved indispensable to a stu4y of the British fauna and not to have worked it out as a whole would have been, in my opinion, a serious mistake. It therefore became the basis of this synopsis, giving it a wider scope than was originally intended without, it is hoped, diminishing its usefulness to British entomologists