Abstract
Pseudochalcura alba Heraty & Heraty, sp. n. is described from Santiago del Estero and Catamarca provinces in northwestern Argentina. Th e male and female have long dorsal rami on all of the flbasal to the terminal segment, which is a unique feature within the genus and shared only with some species of Rhipipalloidea. Antennal modifi cations are compared across the Stilbula clade, of which all are parasitoids of Camponotini (Formicinae). A phylogenetic hypothesis for the group is proposed based on an analysis of 28S and 18S sequence data for 28 species. Ramose antennae are derived independently in both males and females across the clade, but with fully ramose female antennae restricted to the New World prolata group of Pseudochalcura and to some species of the Old World genus Rhipipalloidea. A sister group relationship between these genera is proposed based on both morphological and molecular data. Female antennae in other species of these genera, and other genera in the clade are at most dorsally lobate or serrate, but more commonly cylindrical. Monophyly of species of Obeza and Lophyrocera is supported and linked to a behavioral trait of oviposition into fruits as opposed to fl ower heads or leaf buds. Within the Stilbula clade, a dichotomy between New and Old World taxa suggest relatively recent post-Miocene exchanges across the Northern Hemisphere.
Highlights
Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are parasitoids of ant pupae (Clausen 1940, Heraty 2002)
Specimens of Striostilbula (Australia) were not available for molecular analysis, its placement in the Stilbula clade is based on weak morphological support and its inclusion is suspect (Heraty 2002)
Parsimony analysis of the 7 genera in the Stilbula clade resulted in a single tree (247 steps, r.i. 0.88; Fig. 23)
Summary
Eucharitidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) are parasitoids of ant pupae (Clausen 1940, Heraty 2002). The Stilbula clade is a distinct group within the Eucharitini (Eucharitidae: Eucharitinae), with all known host records from Camponotini (Formicinae) (Clausen 1940, Heraty 2002). Oviposition within this group is either in large egg masses that resemble fruit, or into the skin of fruits themselves, introducing larvae into the foraging proximity of their hosts (Clausen 1940; Heraty and Barber 1990, Torréns et al 2008). Pseudochalcura exemplify the behavior typical of the clade and are the focus of this paper, along with the description of a species with unusual antennal features for both the genus and family
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