The present scientific name for the chalcidoid wasps is derived from Chalcis Fabricius and the group name was first formally established by Latreille (1817). Walker (1834) was the first to call it family Chalcididae in the present sense (Bouček, 1988).

The family currently includes 87 genera and 1464 species world wide. The Indian fauna consists of 220 species under 30 genera (Noyes, 2016 Universal Chalcidoidea Database ).

The species of Chalcididae are relatively easily recognizable by the enlarged hind femora bearing a variety of teeth on the ventral edge, combined with the strong punctation of the mesosoma and a sharp carina bordering the gena posteriorly. The family Chalcididae comprises medium to large wasps ranging from 2.5 - 9.0 mm in length.