Ibaliidae

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Ibaliidae (suborder Apocrita, super-family Cynipoidea) Family comprising a small and rare group of insects, parasitic on members of the Siricidae, and containing some of the largest Cynipoidea (up to 15 mm long) and those with the most complex wing venation. Adults are black and yellowish-brown, with an elongate and laterally compressed abdomen, the gaster being almost sessile. The fore wing has brownish spots medially and apically. The abdomen is laterally flattened like a knife edge, and the ovipositor is curled up beneath in a sheath. The sensitive antennae of the ibaliids seek out the tunnels made by the woodwasp, and eggs are laid in the body of the host.