It has an oval shape, a moderately-curved carapace and a transverse clypeus, and the third tergite is finely sculpted with longitudinal lines.

[3] This wasp is found in Canada, the United States and Mexico, and has also been recorded in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Venezuela.

By the winter, the host larva is fully developed and enters diapause in a chamber near the base of the plant.

[4] In the United States, the sunflower stem weevil (C. adspersus) is the most common host species, but other larvae parasitised include the red sunflower seed weevil (Smicronyx fulvus), the boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), the plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar),[2] and the potato stalk borer (Trichobaris trinotata).

[4] In Mexico, the main insect host is Trichobaris championi, feeding on the Mexican husk tomato (Physalis ixocarpa).