science

Holopsenellidae

Holopsenellidae is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Holopsenellidae rather than just read about it. In short: †Holopsenellidae is an extinct family of wasps in the infraorder Aculeata. Specimens have been found in Burmese and Lebanese amber from the Cretaceous period.

Key takeaways

Holopsenellidae belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Holopsenellidae to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Holopsenellidae from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

†Holopsenellidae is an extinct family of wasps in the infraorder Aculeata. Specimens have been found in Burmese and Lebanese amber from the Cretaceous period.

Taxonomy †Holopsenellidae was considered to be a subfamily within Bethylidae by its original authors. However, a later study found that the venation of the hind wing was more complete, which corresponds more with Plumariidae, and that the members of †Holopsenella, the type genus which all other genera in the subfamily must be compared to, lack key diagnostic features of Bethylidae. This means that the only genus left in the family was †Holopsenella. The authors also found no solid evidence to place Holopsenellidae in any lower taxon than Aculeata. The other genera that were previously included in Holopsenellidae (†Cretabythus, †Holopsenelliscus and †Megalopsenella) did show the diagnostic features of Bethylidae, and are therefore still considered to be in Bethylidae, but had not yet been assigned to any subfamilies as of 2022. In 2025, a second genus was described, †Typhopsenella, but no updates were made to the taxonomic placement of †Holopsenellidae.

Etymology The name of the family stems from the name of the type genus, †Holopsenella. This name is composed of two parts. The first is holos, which in Greek means "complete," and the second is psen, which means "wasp". The Latin diminutive psenella is also found in the names of the primitive genera Lytopsenella and Eupsenella.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Holopsenellidae

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Holopsenellidae claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Holopsenellidae before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Holopsenellidae ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Holopsenellidae

In research: Holopsenellidae appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Holopsenellidae in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Holopsenellidae is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Apocrita, Hymenoptera families, Prehistoric Hymenoptera, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Holopsenellidae outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Holopsenellidae in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Holopsenellidae means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Holopsenellidae out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Holopsenellidae in simple terms?

†Holopsenellidae is an extinct family of wasps in the infraorder Aculeata. Specimens have been found in Burmese and Lebanese amber from the Cretaceous period.

Why does Holopsenellidae matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Holopsenellidae?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Holopsenellidae.