This publication presents illustrated keys to the 19 families and 706 described genera of Chalcidoidea known to occur in the Nearctic region (minimally America north of Mexico, but also including those areas of Mexico generally considered as having a Nearctic insect fauna). The first three chapters provide an introduction to this superfamily of wasps, most of whose members are parasites of other insects; a review of chalcidoid morphology as related to terms used in the keys & diagnoses; and an overview of the superfamily, including a 41 couplet key to families. Each of the remaining 19 chapters reviews one family & includes sections on recognition, systematics & relationships, biology, literature, an annotated key to the Nearctic genera, and for larger families an index to genera based on couplet number. Over 1,800 line drawings & electron micrographs illustrate the keys. Annotations include references to existing keys to species, estimated number of species, and known distribution & host range in the region.

This volume, the tenth in the series, comprises modern treatments for the families and genera of the eudicot orders Sapindales and Cucurbitales. The circumscription of the orders, families and genera conforms to the most recent systematic studies. The family treatments include descriptions of the families and the genera, genera classification keys, discussions of relationships and data on their morphology, reproductive biology, distribution, ecology and economic importance. Sapindales and Cucurbitales, as understood in this volume, comprise 16 families with 637 genera and roughly 9,240 species. Sapindales include large tropical and southern temperate tree families such as the Anacardiaceae, Sapindaceae (these in the modern circumscription, which includes Aceraceae and Hippocastanaceae), Meliaceae and Rutaceae, which have long been considered to be closely related. Cucurbitales represent a relatively new ordinal concept; apart from some small woody groups, the order contains two large families, Cucurbitaceae and Begoniaceae, which are predominantly, and likely basically, herbaceous. A detailed treatment of the tropical and southern temperate woody family Myrtaceae (itself comprising 142 genera and 6,700 species) is an addendum to the treatment of the Myrtales in Vol. IX of this series.