Choeras was defined by Mason (1981) to include species with a median carina on the propodeum (the Greek name of the genus precisely refers to that character). In addition, many species, although not all, have a more or less complete areolet (i.e. second submarginal cell) on the fore wing. The genus is far from being resolved, as Mason himself stated in the original description. Based on extensive material worldwide that we have been able to study, some species groups (e.g. the psarae group, as defined by Nixon (1965) and followed by Mason (1981), and many undescribed species) currently thought to be Choeras may be better placed in a different (new) genus; this applies especially to most of the species from the Oriental and Australasian regions. However, all of those species have a more or less complete median carina on the propodeum, and never have any indication of a propodeal areola (in contrast to Apanteles sensu stricto). DNA barcoding tends to clearly cluster the species of both genera separately (e.g. Smith et al. 2013).
Choeras was defined by Mason (1981) to include species with a median carina on the propodeum (the Greek name of the genus precisely refers to that character). In addition, many species, although not all, have a more or less complete areolet (i.e. second submarginal cell) on the fore wing. The genus is far from being resolved, as Mason himself stated in the original description. Based on extensive material worldwide that we have been able to study, some species groups (e.g. the psarae group, as defined by Nixon (1965) and followed by Mason (1981), and many undescribed species) currently thought to be Choeras may be better placed in a different (new) genus; this applies especially to most of the species from the Oriental and Australasian regions. However, all of those species have a more or less complete median carina on the propodeum, and never have any indication of a propodeal areola (in contrast to Apanteles sensu stricto). DNA barcoding tends to clearly cluster the species of both genera separately (e.g. Smith et al. 2013).