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Braconidae (suborder Apocrita, superfamily Ichneumonoidea) Family of insects which are distinguished from the Ichneumonidae on the basis of their wing venation. Braconids are small (2–15 mm long) parasitic wasps, mostly brownish or black. Eggs are laid in or upon the body of the host insect, which is consumed before the parasite pupates (pupation sometimes occurring outside the host body in a silken cocoon). Braconids parasitize the larvae of Lepidoptera, Symphyta, Coleoptera, Diptera, etc., and some are important as biological-control agents.