A new genus in the braconid subfamily Miracinae is described from the Oriental region including a new species from south India. Additionally, six new species of the genus Centistidea Rohwer is described from India and Sri Lanka. Taxonomic keys to separate the new genus from other miracine genera, to the extant species of Rugosimirax gen. nov. and to the Oriental species of Centistidea are provided.
Hymenoptera , Animals , India , Sri Lanka , Hymenoptera/classification
The genera Astrenis Förster, 1869 and Phrudus Förster, 1869 from the Ukrainian Carpathians are reviewed. Five species have been found in the studied region, including the first Ukrainian records of Astrenis nigrifacies Viknerg, 2000, and Phrudus badensis Hilpert, 1987. Another Phrudus species, Phrudus carpathicus sp. n., is described and illustrated.
Hymenoptera , Animals , Hymenoptera/classification
Introduction: Species of Mesochorus are found worldwide and members of this genus are primarily hyperparasitoids of Ichneumonoidea and Tachinidae. Objectives: To describe species of Costa Rican Mesochorus reared from caterpillars and to a lesser extent Malaise-trapped. Methods: The species are diagnosed by COI mtDNA barcodes, morphological inspection, and host data. A suite of images and host data (plant, caterpillar, and primary parasitoid) are provided for each species. Results: A total of 158 new species of Mesochorus. Sharkey is the taxonomic authority for all. Conclusions: This demonstrates a practical application of DNA barcoding that can be applied to the masses of undescribed neotropical insect species in hyperdiverse groups.
Introducción: Las especies de Mesochorus se encuentran en todo el mundo y los miembros de este género son principalmente hiperparasitoides de las familias Ichneumonoidea y Tachinidae. Objetivos: Describir las especies de Mesochorus costarricenses obtenidas de orugas y en menor medida por trampas Malaise. Métodos: Las especies se diagnosticaron mediante el uso de código de barra molecular por COI del ADNmt, inspección morfológica y datos del huésped. Se proporciona un conjunto de imágenes y datos de los huéspedes (planta, oruga y parasitoide primario) para cada especie. Resultados: Se encontró un total de 158 nuevas especies de Mesochorus. Sharkey es la autoridad taxonómica para todas las especies. Conclusiones: Se demuestra una aplicación práctica del código de barras de ADN que se puede aplicar a grandes cantidades de especies de insectos neotropicales no descritas para grupos hiperdiversos.
Animals , Hymenoptera/classification , Costa Rica , DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic
Three new species of Messatoporus are described and illustrated from Brazil: Messatoporus claretee sp. nov., Messatoporus luizae sp. nov. and Messatoporus suzane sp. nov. The species are characterized by having long mandibles, with dorsal tooth much longer than ventral tooth, propodeum with long transverse striation and first metasomal tergite long with spiracle near the middle.
Hymenoptera , Animals , Hymenoptera/classification
Abstract Introduction: Seed removal by ants is an interaction that may greatly affect the dynamic and structure of the vegetation. This aspect is well known for granivorous ants; however, there is little information on the effect of omnivorous ants. Objective: To assess the potential impact of the omnivorous ant Dorymyrmex insanus on vegetation. Methods: In the Pedregal Reserve, Mexico City, we identified the items in the refuse piles of ten ant colonies, for one year, covering the rainy and dry seasons. For each season we calculated seed diversity and analyzed the possible relationship between seed size and their abundance in the refuse piles, with regression models. We also did germination tests with seeds of Tagetes micrantha, comparing seeds from piles and from plants. Results: D. insanus removed seeds of 19 plant species as well as plant remains (such as leaves, twigs, roots), and remains of insects. Seed diversity was higher in the rainy season but the greatest abundance was in the dry season. When analyzing the relationship between seed length and abundance in the refuse piles, we found that the ants preferred seeds of around 10 mm. We also found that more seeds of T. micrantha germinated when they were previously handled by ants. Conclusions: The ant D. insanus actively participates in the removal of seeds from several species, favoring germination, and seasonality affects the selectivity of resources.
Resumen Introducción: La remoción de semillas por parte de las hormigas es una interacción que puede afectar en gran medida la dinámica y estructura de la vegetación. Este aspecto es bien conocido para las hormigas granívoras; sin embargo, hay poca información sobre el efecto de las omnívoras. Objetivo: Evaluar el impacto potencial de la hormiga omnívora Dorymyrmex insanus sobre la vegetación. Métodos: En la Reserva Pedregal, Ciudad de México, se identificaron los ítems en el área del basurero para diez colonias de hormigas, durante un año, cubriendo la época de lluvia y sequía. Para cada temporada calculamos la diversidad de semillas y analizamos la posible relación entre el tamaño de las semillas y su abundancia en los basureros, con modelos de regresión. También hicimos pruebas de germinación con semillas de Tagetes micrantha, comparando las encontradas en los basureros con las provenientes de las plantas. Resultados: D. insanus eliminó semillas de 19 especies de plantas, así como restos de plantas (hojas, ramitas, raíces) y restos de insectos. La diversidad de semillas fue mayor en la estación lluviosa pero la mayor abundancia lo fue en la estación seca. Al analizar la relación entre la longitud de las semillas y la abundancia en el área del basurero, encontramos que las hormigas preferían semillas de alrededor de 10 mm. También encontramos que germinaron más semillas de T. micrantha cuando fueron manipuladas previamente por hormigas. Conclusiones: La hormiga D. insanus participa activamente en la remoción de semillas de varias especies, favoreciendo la germinación, y la estacionalidad afecta la selectividad de recursos.
Animals , Ants , Green Belt , Seed Dispersal , Hymenoptera/classification , Mexico
The female and male of Sclerogibba berlandi Benoit, 1963 (Hymenoptera: Sclerogibbidae), collected in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) and characterized by a pronounced sexual dimorphism, were associated for the first time by mitochondrial COI sequences. A comparison with COI sequences of S. crassifemorata Riggio De Stefani-Perez, 1888 and S. talpiformis Benoit, 1950 from Abu Dhabi proved the diversity of S. berlandi. The COI sequence of a female of S. rossi Olmi, 2005 from Japan, Okinawa-jima, was analyzed for the first time and compared with the other sequences.
Hymenoptera/classification , Sex Characteristics , Animals , DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic , Female , Hymenoptera/anatomy & histology , Hymenoptera/genetics , Male , United Arab Emirates
Apechoneura nigriventris is removed from synonymy and re-instated as a valid species and included in the nigricornis species-group. Apechoneura seminigra is considered a new synonymy of A. nigriventris. Apechoneura pictiventris is included in the carinifrons species-group.
Hymenoptera , Animals , Hymenoptera/classification
We report an update of the Hymenoptera Genome Database (HGD; http://HymenopteraGenome.org), a genomic database of hymenopteran insect species. The number of species represented in HGD has nearly tripled, with fifty-eight hymenopteran species, including twenty bees, twenty-three ants, eleven wasps and four sawflies. With a reorganized website, HGD continues to provide the HymenopteraMine genomic data mining warehouse and JBrowse/Apollo genome browsers integrated with BLAST. We have computed Gene Ontology (GO) annotations for all species, greatly enhancing the GO annotation data gathered from UniProt with more than a ten-fold increase in the number of GO-annotated genes. We have also generated orthology datasets that encompass all HGD species and provide orthologue clusters for fourteen taxonomic groups. The new GO annotation and orthology data are available for searching in HymenopteraMine, and as bulk file downloads.
Databases, Genetic , Genome, Insect/genetics , Hymenoptera/genetics , Software , Animals , Computational Biology , Genomics/classification , Hymenoptera/classification , Molecular Sequence Annotation
Orgilinae is a small group of family Braconidae containing about 200 species globally including 4 Indian species. In the present work genus Orgilonia is recorded for the first time from India along with the redescription and illustrations of Orgilonia ashmeadi (Viereck, 1911). A new species Orgilus indicus sp. nov. is described from India, and a key to Indian tribes, genera and species with a checklist of Indian species belonging to subfamily Orgilinae is also provided.
Hymenoptera , Animals , Hymenoptera/classification , India
Leptocybe invasa Fisher et LaSalle is a global invasive pest that seriously damages Eucalyptus plants. Studying the genetic diversity, genetic structure and introgression hybridization of L. invasa in China is of great significance for clarifying the breeding strategy, future invasion and diffusion trends of L. invasa in China and developing scientific prevention and control measures. Genetic diversity and phylogenetic analyses of 320 L. invasa female adults from 14 geographic populations in China were conducted using 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci (SSRs) and mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene sequences (COIs). (1) The Bayesian phylogenetic tree and haplotype network diagram showed that only haplotype Hap3 existed in L. invasa lineage B in China, while haplotypes Hap1 and Hap2 existed in lineage A, among which haplotype Hap2 was found for the first time. The nucleotide and haplotype diversities of lineage A were higher than those of lineage B. (2) The SSR genetic diversity of the Wuzhou Guangxi, Ganzhou Jiangxi and Panzhihua Sichuan populations was higher than that of the other 11 populations, and the SSR genetic diversity of lineage A was higher than that of lineage B. (3) The AMOVA analysis of mitochondrial COI data showed that 75.55% of the variation was among populations, and 99.86% of the variation was between lineages, while the AMOVA analysis of nuclear SSR data showed that 35.26% of the variation was among populations, and 47.04% of the variation was between lineages. There were obvious differences in the sources of variation between the COI and SSR data. (4) The optimal K value of COI and SSR data in structure analysis was 2, and PCoA analysis also divided the dataset into two obvious categories. The UPMGA phylogenetic tree based on SSR data clustered 14 geographic species into two groups. The results of genetic structure analysis supported the existence of two lineages, A and B, in China. (5) Structural analysis showed that there was obvious introgressive hybridization in Wuzhou Guangxi, Ganzhou Jiangxi, Panzhihua Sichuan and other populations. These results suggest that lineage introgressive hybridization has occurred in the L. invasa population in China. The introgressive hybridization degree and genetic diversity of lineage A are obviously higher than those of lineage B. Lineage introgressive hybridization may be the driving force for further L. invasa invasion and diffusion in China in the future.
Hymenoptera/classification , Microsatellite Repeats , Oxidoreductases/genetics , Animals , Bayes Theorem , China , Female , Genetic Introgression , Genetic Variation , Hymenoptera/genetics , Insect Proteins/genetics , Introduced Species , Pest Control , Phylogeny
Recent technical advances combined with novel computational approaches have promised the acceleration of our understanding of the tree of life. However, when it comes to hyperdiverse and poorly known groups of invertebrates, studies are still scarce. As published phylogenies will be rarely challenged by future taxonomists, careful attention must be paid to potential analytical bias. We present the first molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the family Chalcididae, a group of parasitoid wasps, with a representative sampling (144 ingroups and seven outgroups) that covers all described subfamilies and tribes, and 82% of the known genera. Analyses of 538 Ultra-Conserved Elements (UCEs) with supermatrix (RAxML and IQTREE) and gene tree reconciliation approaches (ASTRAL, ASTRID) resulted in highly supported topologies in overall agreement with morphology but reveal conflicting topologies for some of the deepest nodes. To resolve these conflicts, we explored the phylogenetic tree space with clustering and gene genealogy interrogation methods, analyzed marker and taxon properties that could bias inferences and performed a thorough morphological analysis (130 characters encoded for 40 taxa representative of the diversity). This joint analysis reveals that UCEs enable attainment of resolution between ancestry and convergent/divergent evolution when morphology is not informative enough, but also shows that a systematic exploration of bias with different analytical methods and a careful analysis of morphological features is required to prevent publication of artifactual results. We highlight a GC content bias for maximum-likelihood approaches, an artifactual mid-point rooting of the ASTRAL tree and a deleterious effect of high percentage of missing data (>85% missing UCEs) on gene tree reconciliation methods. Based on the results we propose a new classification of the family into eight subfamilies and ten tribes that lay the foundation for future studies on the evolutionary history of Chalcididae.
Conserved Sequence , Hymenoptera/anatomy & histology , Hymenoptera/classification , Hymenoptera/genetics , Phylogeny , Animals , Base Composition , Biodiversity , Biological Evolution , Genetic Techniques , Likelihood Functions
The egg parasitoid Telenomus remus (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) has been investigated for classical and applied biological control of noctuid pests, especially Spodoptera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) species. Although T. remus was introduced into Brazil over three decades ago for classical biological control of S. frugiperda, this wasp has not been recorded as established in corn or soybean crops. We used an integrative approach to identify T. remus, combining a taxonomic key based on the male genitalia with DNA barcoding, using a cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene fragment. This is the first report of natural parasitism of T. remus on S. frugiperda and S. cosmioides eggs at two locations in Brazil. We also confirmed that the T. remus lineage in Brazil derives from a strain in Venezuela (originally from Papua New Guinea and introduced into the Americas, Africa, and Asia). The occurrence of T. remus parasitizing S. frugiperda and S. cosmioides eggs in field conditions, not associated with inundative releases, suggests that the species has managed to establish itself in the field in Brazil. This opens possibilities for future biological control programs, since T. remus shows good potential for mass rearing and egg parasitism of important agricultural pests such as Spodoptera species.
Hymenoptera/classification , Parasites/classification , Phylogeography , Spodoptera/parasitology , Animals , Brazil , DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic , Electron Transport Complex IV/genetics , Female , Genitalia, Male/anatomy & histology , Haplotypes/genetics , Hymenoptera/anatomy & histology , Male , Parasites/anatomy & histology
Two new species of Microterys (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), Microterys motuoensis Li Zhang sp. nov. and Microterys tibetensis Li Zhang sp. nov., are described from Tibet, China. Microterys motuoensis was reared from Kermes sp. (Hemiptera: Kermesidae) on Castanea sp. (Fagales: Fagaceae), and Microterys tibetensis from Saissetia sp. (Hemiptera: Coccidae) on Tetracera sarmentosa Vahl. (Dilleniales: Dilleniaceae).
Hymenoptera/classification , Animals , Tibet
Melanocryptus Cameron, 1902 is a neotropical genus with 11 described species (Yu et al. 2016). The first three species of the genus were originally placed in different genera: Melanocryptus Cameron (1902), Lobocryptus Schmiedeknecht (1904) and Hoplophorina Szépligeti (1916). Townes Townes (1966) placed these species into a single taxon, Melanocryptus, and included the genus as part of the subtribe Mesostenina (apud Aguiar Santos, 2015). Despite this original placement, in 1970, Townes created an exclusive subtribe Melanocryptina for the genus.
Hymenoptera/classification , Animals , Brazil , Forests
The characters that define the subgenus Parabates of the genus Netelia are investigated. The shape of the basal apodeme of the aedeagus is considered to be a synapomorphy of this subgenus, suggesting the monophyly of Parabates. A new species, Netelia (Parabates) fusciapicalis n. sp. belonging to the ishiharai group is described from Taiwan, Vietnam and Laos. This is the sixth extant species of the subgenus, the first record of the genus Netelia from Vietnam and Laos, and the first record of the subgenus Parabates from Taiwan.
Hymenoptera/classification , Animals , Hymenoptera/anatomy & histology , Laos , Taiwan , Vietnam
The genus Casinaria Holmgren, 1859 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Campopleginae) from China is revised. Nine new species are proposed (C. albifunda sp. nov., C. artivultis sp. nov., C. exilis sp. nov., C. exiloides sp. nov., C. hei sp. nov., C. melasoma sp. nov., C. partolstoyi sp. nov., C. remota sp. nov., and C. xui sp. nov.) and two species are recorded as new to China (C. ajanta Maheshwary Gupta and C. varuni Maheshwary Gupta). A key to the Chinese species of Casinaria is provided.
Hymenoptera/classification , Animals , China
A checklist of all confirmed species of the family Scoliidae (Hymenoptera) from China is made based on the Chinese specimens in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (RMNH, Leiden) and on additional specimens from the Chinese Academy of Insect Science (IOZ, Beijing), the Zhejiang University (ZJUH, Hangzhou), and the Sun Yat-sen University (SYSUBM, Guangzhou). The Scoliid species from China belong to one subfamily, two tribes, 11 genera and 52 species. Two species are deleted from the fauna of China: Campsomeriella ilanensis (Tsuneki, 1972) and Scolia (Discolia) quadripustulata Fabricius, 1782. One subspecies, i.e., Carinoscolia vittifrons nipponensis Uchida, 1933, status nov., is elevated to species rank. Scolia (Discolia) formosicola Betrem, 1928, status nov. and S. (D.) inouyei Okamoto, 1924 are re-instated valid species.
Hymenoptera/classification , Animals , China
A revision of the Palaearctic species of the genus Idiotypa Förster is provided. The genus Eunuchopria Szabó, 1961 is a junior synonym of Idiotypa Förster, 1856 syn. n. and the new combination Idiotypa nitens (Szabó, 1961) comb. n., is established. Dublicate original spellings I. marii and I. mariae are resolved by first reviser action; I. mariae is now the correct original spelling. Lectotypes are designated for Idiotypa mariae and I. maritima. New synonymy is proposed: I. maritima (Haliday, 1833) = I. rufiventris (Thomson, 1858) syn. n.; = I. nigriceps Kieffer, 1909 syn. n.; = I. nigriceps Kieffer, 1911 syn. n. The three valid species I. mariae Gregor, 1939, I. maritima (Haliday, 1833) and I. nitens (Szabó, 1961) are redescribed, illustrated and keyed.
Hymenoptera/classification , Animals
The genera Pristocera Klug and Pristepyris Kieffer from Russia and neighboring countries are reviewed for the first time. Pristocera is represented in Russia by two species. Pristocera depressa (Fabricius) is first recorded from a number of regions in southwestern European Russia (Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and North Ossetia Republics), as well as for Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey. The illustrated redescriptions of both sexes of the type species of Pristocera depressa is provided, and the lectotype of Bethylus depressus from J.C. Fabricius collection is designated. A new species, Pristocera morawitzi sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on males and females from south of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Pristepyris is represented in Russia by single species, Pristepyris masii (Giordani Soika). It is also indicated for the first time from Rostov and Volgograd Provinces and Stavropol Territory of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. A previously unknown female of P. masii is described and illustrated. The original key to both sexes of all studied genera and species is provided.
Hymenoptera/classification , Animal Distribution , Animals , Female , Male , Russia
The genus Brachycyrtus is recorded for the first time from continental Africa. Three new species are described: Brachycyrtus antoninoi sp. n., B. cerrettii sp. n., and B. lucchii sp. n. A key to distinguish the newly described taxa is provided.
Hymenoptera/classification , Africa , Animals
