Scratching the tip of the iceberg: integrative taxonomy reveals 30 new species records of Microgastrinae (Braconidae) parasitoid wasps for Germany, including new Holarctic distributions.

Substantial parts of the European and German insect fauna still remain largely unexplored, the so-called "dark taxa". In particular, midges (Diptera) and parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera) are abundant and species-rich throughout Europe, yet are often neglected in biodiversity research. One such dark taxon is Microgastrinae wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a group of parasitoids of lepidopteran caterpillars with 252 species reported in Germany so far. As part of the German Barcode of Life Project GBOL III: Dark Taxa, reverse DNA barcoding and integrative taxonomic approaches were used to shed some light on the German Fauna of Microgastrinae wasps. In our workflow, DNA barcoding was used for molecular clustering of our specimens in a first step, morphological examination of the voucher specimens in a second step, and host data compared in a third step. Here, 30 species are reported for the first time in Germany, adding more than 10% to the known German fauna. Information for four species is provided in a new Holarctic context, reporting them for the Nearctic or, respectively, Palaearctic region, and 26 additional country records are added from sequenced material available in the collections accessible to us. Molecular clusters that show signs of discrepancies are discussed. Results show that we are just scratching the tip of the iceberg of the unexplored Microgastrinae diversity in Germany.

A revision of the parasitoid wasp genus Alphomelon Mason with the description of 30 new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae).

The parasitoid wasp genus Alphomelon Mason, 1981 is revised, based on a combination of basic morphology (dichotomous key and brief diagnostic descriptions), DNA barcoding, biology (host data and wasp cocoons), and distribution data. A total of 49 species is considered; the genus is almost entirely Neotropical (48 species recorded from that region), but three species reach the Nearctic, with one of them extending as far north as 45° N in Canada. Alphomelon parasitizes exclusively Hesperiinae caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), mostly feeding on monocots in the families Arecaceae, Bromeliaceae, Cannaceae, Commelinaceae, Heliconiaceae, and Poaceae. Most wasp species parasitize either on one or very few (2-4) host species, usually within one or two hesperiine genera; but some species can parasitize several hosts from up to nine different hesperiine genera. Among species with available data for their cocoons, roughly half weave solitary cocoons (16) and half are gregarious (17); cocoons tend to be surrounded by a rather distinctive, coarse silk (especially in solitary species, but also distinguishable in some gregarious species). Neither morphology nor DNA barcoding alone was sufficient on its own to delimit all species properly; by integrating all available evidence (even if incomplete, as available data for every species is different) a foundation is provided for future studies incorporating more specimens, especially from South America. The following 30 new species are described: cruzi, itatiaiensis, and palomae, authored by Shimbori & Fernandez-Triana; and adrianguadamuzi, amazonas, andydeansi, calixtomoragai, carolinacanoae, christerhanssoni, diniamartinezae, duvalierbricenoi, eldaarayae, eliethcantillanoae, gloriasihezarae, guillermopereirai, hazelcambroneroae, josecortesi, keineraragoni, luciarosae, manuelriosi, mikesharkeyi, osvaldoespinozai, paramelanoscelis, paranigriceps, petronariosae, ricardocaleroi, rigoi, rostermoragai, sergioriosi, and yanayacu, authored by Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori.

Annotated and illustrated world checklist of Microgastrinae parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae).

A checklist of world species of Microgastrinae parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is provided. A total of 81 genera and 2,999 extant species are recognized as valid, including 36 nominal species that are currently considered as species inquirendae. Two genera are synonymized under Apanteles. Nine lectotypes are designated. A total of 318 new combinations, three new replacement names, three species name amendments, and seven species status revised are proposed. Additionally, three species names are treated as nomina dubia, and 52 species names are considered as unavailable names (including 14 as nomina nuda). A total of three extinct genera and 12 extinct species are also listed. Unlike in many previous treatments of the subfamily, tribal concepts are judged to be inadequate, so genera are listed alphabetically. Brief diagnoses of all Microgastrinae genera, as understood in this paper, are presented. Illustrations of all extant genera (at least one species per genus, usually more) are included to showcase morphological diversity. Primary types of Microgastrinae are deposited in 108 institutions worldwide, although 76% are concentrated in 17 collections. Localities of primary types, in 138 countries, are reported. Recorded species distributions are listed by biogeographical region and by country. Microgastrine wasps are recorded from all continents except Antarctica; specimens can be found in all major terrestrial ecosystems, from 82°N to 55°S, and from sea level up to at least 4,500 m a.s.l. The Oriental (46) and Neotropical (43) regions have the largest number of genera recorded, whereas the Palaearctic region (28) is the least diverse. Currently, the highest species richness is in the Palearctic region (827), due to more historical study there, followed by the Neotropical (768) and Oriental (752) regions, which are expected to be the most species rich. Based on ratios of Lepidoptera and Microgastrinae species from several areas, the actual world diversity of Microgastrinae is expected to be between 30,000-50,000 species; although these ratios were mostly based on data from temperate areas and thus must be treated with caution, the single tropical area included had a similar ratio to the temperate ones. Almost 45,000 specimens of Microgastrinae from 67 different genera (83% of microgastrine genera) have complete or partial DNA barcode sequences deposited in the Barcode of Life Data System; the DNA barcodes represent 3,545 putative species or Barcode Index Numbers (BINs), as estimated from the molecular data. Information on the number of sequences and BINs per genus are detailed in the checklist. Microgastrinae hosts are here considered to be restricted to Eulepidoptera, i.e., most of the Lepidoptera except for the four most basal superfamilies (Micropterigoidea, Eriocranioidea, Hepialoidea and Nepticuloidea), with all previous literature records of other insect orders and those primitive Lepidoptera lineages being considered incorrect. The following nomenclatural acts are proposed: 1) Two genera are synonymyzed under Apanteles: Cecidobracon Kieffer & Jörgensen, 1910, new synonym and Holcapanteles Cameron, 1905, new synonym; 2) Nine lectotype designations are made for Alphomelon disputabile (Ashmead, 1900), Alphomelon nigriceps (Ashmead, 1900), Cotesia salebrosa (Marshall, 1885), Diolcogaster xanthaspis (Ashmead, 1900), Dolichogenidea ononidis (Marshall, 1889), Glyptapanteles acraeae (Wilkinson, 1932), Glyptapanteles guyanensis (Cameron, 1911), Glyptapanteles militaris (Walsh, 1861), and Pseudapanteles annulicornis Ashmead, 1900; 3) Three new replacement names are a) Diolcogaster aurangabadensis Fernandez-Triana, replacing Diolcogaster indicus (Rao & Chalikwar, 1970) [nec Diolcogaster indicus (Wilkinson, 1927)], b) Dolichogenidea incystatae Fernandez-Triana, replacing Dolichogenidea lobesia Liu & Chen, 2019 [nec Dolichogenidea lobesia Fagan-Jeffries & Austin, 2019], and c) Microplitis vitobiasi Fernandez-Triana, replacing Microplitis variicolor Tobias, 1964 [nec Microplitis varicolor Viereck, 1917]; 4) Three names amended are Apanteles irenecarrilloae Fernandez-Triana, 2014, Cotesia ayerzai (Brèthes, 1920), and Cotesia riverai (Porter, 1916); 5) Seven species have their status revised: Cotesia arctica (Thomson, 1895), Cotesia okamotoi (Watanabe, 1921), Cotesia ukrainica (Tobias, 1986), Dolichogenidea appellator (Telenga, 1949), Dolichogenidea murinanae (Capek & Zwölfer, 1957), Hypomicrogaster acarnas Nixon, 1965, and Nyereria nigricoxis (Wilkinson, 1932); 6) New combinations are given for 318 species: Alloplitis congensis, Alloplitis detractus, Apanteles asphondyliae, Apanteles braziliensis, Apanteles sulciscutis, Choeras aper, Choeras apollion, Choeras daphne, Choeras fomes, Choeras gerontius, Choeras helle, Choeras irates, Choeras libanius, Choeras longiterebrus, Choeras loretta, Choeras recusans, Choeras sordidus, Choeras stenoterga, Choeras superbus, Choeras sylleptae, Choeras vacillatrix, Choeras vacillatropsis, Choeras venilia, Cotesia asavari, Cotesia bactriana, Cotesia bambeytripla, Cotesia berberidis, Cotesia bhairavi, Cotesia biezankoi, Cotesia bifida, Cotesia caligophagus, Cotesia cheesmanae, Cotesia compressithorax, Cotesia delphinensis, Cotesia effrena, Cotesia euphobetri, Cotesia elaeodes, Cotesia endii, Cotesia euthaliae, Cotesia exelastisae, Cotesia hiberniae, Cotesia hyperion, Cotesia hypopygialis, Cotesia hypsipylae, Cotesia jujubae, Cotesia lesbiae, Cotesia levigaster, Cotesia lizeri, Cotesia malevola, Cotesia malshri, Cotesia menezesi, Cotesia muzaffarensis, Cotesia neptisis, Cotesia nycteus, Cotesia oeceticola, Cotesia oppidicola, Cotesia opsiphanis, Cotesia pachkuriae, Cotesia paludicolae, Cotesia parbhanii, Cotesia parvicornis, Cotesia pratapae, Cotesia prozorovi, Cotesia pterophoriphagus, Cotesia radiarytensis, Cotesia rangii, Cotesia riverai, Cotesia ruficoxis, Cotesia senegalensis, Cotesia seyali, Cotesia sphenarchi, Cotesia sphingivora, Cotesia transuta, Cotesia turkestanica, Diolcogaster abengouroui, Diolcogaster agama, Diolcogaster ambositrensis, Diolcogaster anandra, Diolcogaster annulata, Diolcogaster bambeyi, Diolcogaster bicolorina, Diolcogaster cariniger, Diolcogaster cincticornis, Diolcogaster cingulata, Diolcogaster coronata, Diolcogaster coxalis, Diolcogaster dipika, Diolcogaster earina, Diolcogaster epectina, Diolcogaster epectinopsis, Diolcogaster grangeri, Diolcogaster heterocera, Diolcogaster homocera, Diolcogaster indica, Diolcogaster insularis, Diolcogaster kivuana, Diolcogaster mediosulcata, Diolcogaster megaulax, Diolcogaster neglecta, Diolcogaster nigromacula, Diolcogaster palpicolor, Diolcogaster persimilis, Diolcogaster plecopterae, Diolcogaster plutocongoensis, Diolcogaster psilocnema, Diolcogaster rufithorax, Diolcogaster semirufa, Diolcogaster seyrigi, Diolcogaster subtorquata, Diolcogaster sulcata, Diolcogaster torquatiger, Diolcogaster tristiculus, Diolcogaster turneri, Diolcogaster vulcana, Diolcogaster wittei, Distatrix anthedon, Distatrix cerales, Distatrix cuspidalis, Distatrix euproctidis, Distatrix flava, Distatrix geometrivora, Distatrix maia, Distatrix tookei, Distatrix termina, Distatrix simulissima, Dolichogenidea agamedes, Dolichogenidea aluella, Dolichogenidea argiope, Dolichogenidea atreus, Dolichogenidea bakeri, Dolichogenidea basiflava, Dolichogenidea bersa, Dolichogenidea biplagae, Dolichogenidea bisulcata, Dolichogenidea catonix, Dolichogenidea chrysis, Dolichogenidea coffea, Dolichogenidea coretas, Dolichogenidea cyane, Dolichogenidea diaphantus, Dolichogenidea diparopsidis, Dolichogenidea dryas, Dolichogenidea earterus, Dolichogenidea ensiger, Dolichogenidea eros, Dolichogenidea evadne, Dolichogenidea falcator, Dolichogenidea gelechiidivoris, Dolichogenidea gobica, Dolichogenidea hyalinis, Dolichogenidea iriarte, Dolichogenidea lakhaensis, Dolichogenidea lampe, Dolichogenidea laspeyresiella, Dolichogenidea latistigma, Dolichogenidea lebene, Dolichogenidea lucidinervis, Dolichogenidea malacosomae, Dolichogenidea maro, Dolichogenidea mendosae, Dolichogenidea monticola, Dolichogenidea nigra, Dolichogenidea olivierellae, Dolichogenidea parallelis, Dolichogenidea pelopea, Dolichogenidea pelops, Dolichogenidea phaenna, Dolichogenidea pisenor, Dolichogenidea roepkei, Dolichogenidea scabra, Dolichogenidea statius, Dolichogenidea stenotelas, Dolichogenidea striata, Dolichogenidea wittei, Exoryza asotae, Exoryza belippicola, Exoryza hylas, Exoryza megagaster, Exoryza oryzae, Glyptapanteles aggestus, Glyptapanteles agynus, Glyptapanteles aithos, Glyptapanteles amenophis, Glyptapanteles antarctiae, Glyptapanteles anubis, Glyptapanteles arginae, Glyptapanteles argus, Glyptapanteles atylana, Glyptapanteles badgleyi, Glyptapanteles bataviensis, Glyptapanteles bistonis, Glyptapanteles borocerae, Glyptapanteles cacao, Glyptapanteles cadei, Glyptapanteles cinyras, Glyptapanteles eryphanidis, Glyptapanteles euproctisiphagus, Glyptapanteles eutelus, Glyptapanteles fabiae, Glyptapanteles fulvigaster, Glyptapanteles fuscinervis, Glyptapanteles gahinga, Glyptapanteles globatus, Glyptapanteles glyphodes, Glyptapanteles guierae, Glyptapanteles horus, Glyptapanteles intricatus, Glyptapanteles lamprosemae, Glyptapanteles lefevrei, Glyptapanteles leucotretae, Glyptapanteles lissopleurus, Glyptapanteles madecassus, Glyptapanteles marquesi, Glyptapanteles melanotus, Glyptapanteles melissus, Glyptapanteles merope, Glyptapanteles naromae, Glyptapanteles nepitae, Glyptapanteles nigrescens, Glyptapanteles ninus, Glyptapanteles nkuli, Glyptapanteles parasundanus, Glyptapanteles penelope, Glyptapanteles penthocratus, Glyptapanteles philippinensis, Glyptapanteles philocampus, Glyptapanteles phoebe, Glyptapanteles phytometraduplus, Glyptapanteles propylae, Glyptapanteles puera, Glyptapanteles seydeli, Glyptapanteles siderion, Glyptapanteles simus, Glyptapanteles speciosissimus, Glyptapanteles spilosomae, Glyptapantelessubpunctatus, Glyptapanteles thespis, Glyptapanteles thoseae, Glyptapanteles venustus, Glyptapanteles wilkinsoni, Hypomicrogaster samarshalli, Iconella cajani, Iconella detrectans, Iconella jason, Iconella lynceus, Iconella pyrene, Iconella tedanius, Illidops azamgarhensis, Illidops lamprosemae, Illidops trabea, Keylimepie striatus, Microplitis adisurae, Microplitis mexicanus, Neoclarkinella ariadne, Neoclarkinella curvinervus, Neoclarkinella sundana, Nyereria ituriensis, Nyereria nioro, Nyereria proagynus, Nyereria taoi, Nyereria vallatae, Parapanteles aethiopicus, Parapanteles alternatus, Parapanteles aso, Parapanteles atellae, Parapanteles bagicha, Parapanteles cleo, Parapanteles cyclorhaphus, Parapanteles demades, Parapanteles endymion, Parapanteles epiplemicidus, Parapanteles expulsus, Parapanteles fallax, Parapanteles folia, Parapanteles furax, Parapanteles hemitheae, Parapanteles hyposidrae, Parapanteles indicus, Parapanteles javensis, Parapanteles jhaverii, Parapanteles maculipalpis, Parapanteles maynei, Parapanteles neocajani, Parapanteles neohyblaeae, Parapanteles nydia, Parapanteles prosper, Parapanteles prosymna, Parapanteles punctatissimus, Parapanteles regalis, Parapanteles sarpedon, Parapanteles sartamus, Parapanteles scultena, Parapanteles transvaalensis, Parapanteles turri, Parapanteles xanthopholis, Pholetesor acutus, Pholetesor brevivalvatus, Pholetesor extentus, Pholetesor ingenuoides, Pholetesor kuwayamai, Promicrogaster apidanus, Promicrogaster briareus, Promicrogaster conopiae, Promicrogaster emesa, Promicrogaster grandicula, Promicrogaster orsedice, Promicrogaster repleta, Promicrogaster typhon, Sathon bekilyensis, Sathon flavofacialis, Sathon laurae, Sathon mikeno, Sathon ruandanus, Sathon rufotestaceus, Venanides astydamia, Venanides demeter, Venanides parmula, and Venanides symmysta.

A revision of Dolichogenidea (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) with the second mediotergite broadly rectangular from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

The first species of Dolichogenidea (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Microgastrinae) with the second mediotergite broadly quadrate to rectangular are revised, and eight new species from Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), Costa Rica are described, all authored by Fernandez-Triana & Boudreault: alejandromasisi, angelagonzalezae, carlosmanuelrodriguezi, genuarnunezi, josealfredohernandezi, melaniamunozae, rogerblancoi, and yeimycedenoae. A new species group (carlosmanuelrodriguezi) within the genus is proposed to accommodate those species, as well as additional undescribed species from the Neotropical region found in collections. All new species are found in rainforests (120-900 m) and all are parasitoids of Depressariidae (except for one species parasitizing Choreutidae). The unique shape of the second mediotergite and long ovipositor are features shared with the alejandromorai species group in the genus Apanteles, an example of convergent evolution; both wasp groups also parasitize similar hosts in ACG.

Keylimepie peckorum gen. n. and sp. n., (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from southern Florida, U.S., the first known brachypterous member of the subfamily Microgastrinae.

Keylimepie peckorum Fernandez-Triana, gen. n. and sp. n., are described from southern Florida, U.S. Females have the shortest wings (0.6-0.7 × body length) of any known microgastrine wasp. The genus can also be recognized on features of the head, propodeum and first three metasomal tergites. All specimens were collected in hammock forests of the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park, but their host caterpillar is unknown. Because its morphology is unique and it is the first new microgastrine genus discovered in North America since 1985, the potential for future conservation of the species is discussed.

A biodiversity hotspot for Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) in North America: annotated species checklist for Ottawa, Canada.

Microgastrinae wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from the city of Ottawa and its surroundings (a 50-km radius circle, ~7,800 km2) were studied based on 1,928 specimens collected between 1894 and 2010, and housed in the Canadian National Collection of Insects. A total of 158 species from 21 genera were identified, which is by far the highest number of species ever recorded for a locality in North America. An annotated checklist of species is provided. Choeras parasitellae (Bouché, 1834) and Pholetesor nanus (Reinhard, 1880) are recorded for the first time in the Nearctic (previously only known from the Palearctic region), Cotesia depressa (Viereck, 1912) is recorded for the first time in Canada (previously only known from the United States), and Cotesia hemileucae (Riley, 1881) and Protapanteles phlyctaeniae (Muesebeck, 1929) are recorded for the first time in the province of Ontario. In Ottawa the most diverse genera are Cotesia, Apanteles, Microplitis, Pholetesor, Microgaster, and Dolichogenidea, altogether comprising 77% of the species found in the area. A total of 73 species (46%) were represented by only one or two specimens, suggesting that the inventory for Ottawa is still relatively incomplete. Seasonal distribution showed several peaks of activity, in spring, summer, and early fall. That general pattern varied for individual species, with some showing a single peak of abundance either in the summer or towards the end of the season, others species attaining two peaks, in late spring and late summer, or in early summer and early fall, and yet others attaining up to three different peaks, in spring, summer and fall. At least 72 of the Microgastrinae species from Ottawa have been previously associated with 554 species of Lepidoptera as hosts - but those historical literature records are not always reliable and in many cases are based on data from areas beyond Ottawa. Thus, our knowledge of the associations between the 158 species of microgastrine parasitoids and the caterpillars of the 2,064 species of Lepidoptera recorded from Ottawa is still very incomplete.

A poorly known high-latitude parasitoid wasp community: unexpected diversity and dramatic changes through time.

Climate change will have profound and unanticipated effects on species distributions. The pace and nature of this change is largely unstudied, especially for the most diverse elements of terrestrial communities--the arthropods--here we have only limited knowledge concerning the taxonomy and the ecology of these groups. Because Arctic ecosystems have already experienced significant increases in temperature over the past half century, shifts in community structure may already be in progress. Here we utilise collections of a particularly hyperdiverse insect group--parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera; Braconidae; Microgastrinae)--at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada in the early and mid-twentieth century to compare the composition of the contemporary community to that present 50-70 years ago. Morphological and DNA barcoding results revealed the presence of 79 species of microgastrine wasps in collections from Churchill, but we estimate that 20% of the local fauna awaits detection. Species composition and diversity between the two time periods differ significantly; species that were most common in historic collections were not found in contemporary collections and vice versa. Using barcodes we compared these collections to others from across North America; contemporary Churchill species are most affiliated with more south-western collections, while historic collections were more affiliated with eastern collections. The past five decades has clearly seen a dramatic change of species composition within the area studied coincident with rising temperature.