Abstract
Eucalyptus species have become one of the most commonly planted trees worldwide, including China, due to their fast growth and various commercial applications. However, the productivity of Eucalyptus plantations has been threatened by exotic invasive insect pests in recent years. Among these pests, gall inducers of the genus Ophelimus of the Eulophidae family are among the most important invasive species in Eucalyptus plantations. We report here for the first time the presence of a new invasive Eucalyptus gall wasp, Ophelimus bipolaris sp. n., in Guangzhou, China, which also represents the first species of the genus reported from China. The identity of the new species was confirmed by an integrative approach combing biological, morphological and molecular evidence. The new species is described and illustrated. This wasp induces galls only on the leaf blade surface of four Eucalyptus species: E. grandis, E. grandis × E. urophylla, E. tereticornis and E. urophylla. Our preliminary observation showed that O. bipolaris could complete a life cycle on E. urophylla in approximately 2 months under local climatic conditions (23.5-30 °C). Considering the severe damage it may cause to Eucalyptus production, further investigations of its biology and control are urgently needed in China.
Highlights
Of the four sampled localities, six Eucalyptus species or hybrid species were surveyed and four of them were infected by Ophelimus wasps: E. grandis, E. grandis × E. urophylla, E. tereticornis and E. urophylla (Table 1)
By comparing the holotype of O. eucalypti and the original description of the species provided by Gahan [16], as well as running the key compiled by Borowiec et al [9], we conclude that the Ophelimus species we found belong to an undescribed species and we here describe it as new to science below
Our preliminary observation showed that O. bipolaris on E. urophylla only took approximately 2 months to complete a life cycle in Guangzhou, under local climatic conditions
Summary
In China, there are about 300 species of phytophagous insects associated with eucalypts [5], including the invasive gall-inducer, Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae), which was first reported from China in 2007 [6]. Leptocybe invasa is currently the only gall-forming pest of eucalypts recorded in China, and it forms galls (Figure 1A) on the stems, petioles and midribs of leaves of a few Eucalyptus species in the sections Exertaria, Latoanulata and Maidenaria [8]. At the site of the infected trees, we observed that wasps belong to the family Eulophidae (Hymenoptera) were apparently laying eggs on the young leaves (Figure 2A). On examination of the specimens collected from the leaves and reared from the galls, we found that these wasps are conspecific and belong to the genus Ophelimus Haliday
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