SPECIES OF MELITTOBIA (HYMENOPTERA: EULOPHIDAE) ESTABLISHED IN BAHAMAS, COSTA RICA, CUBA, HISPANIOLA, PUERTO RICO, AND TRINIDAD

Abstract

Melittobia is a cosmopolitan genus with about 13 species. They are gregarious ectoparasitoids primarily on prepupae of aculeate hymenopterans, but their wide host range includes species in orders as diverse as Coleoptera and Diptera, especially under laboratory conditions (Dahms 1984b). They are normally associated with mud dauber wasps of the genera Thypoxylon and Sceliphron (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) and some species serve as model organisms to demonstrate biological, ecological, and behavioral concepts to students from elementary to college level (Matthews 1997, 2000; Matthews et al. 1996). Due to confusion surrounding species identity in this genus, this report is part of efforts to promote nomenclatural stability and facilitate future work on Melittobia (Gonzdlez & Matthews 2002; Gonzalez et al. 2004a, b). Our findings suggest that Melittobia are more widely distributed in the Caribbean region than previously thought, although probably not native to this region. Melittobia was previously reported from Cuba as parasites of the sphecid wasps Sceliphron assimile (Dahlbom), S. jamaicense (Fabricius), Trypoxylon succintum Cresson and T subimpressum (Smith), and the solitary vespids Pachodynerus nasidens (Latreille), P cubensis (Saussure), and Ancistrocerus cingulatus (Cresson) (Alayo & Hernandez 1978; Fernandez et al. 2002; Genaro 1994,1996). While examining specimens of Melittobia deposited in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, we found 5 females of Melittobia acasta (Walker) labeled: Baragua, Cuba. VI9-29, T.P.R.F. Ent No. 3541, taken on a mud cell, L.C. Scaramuzza, Col., Melittobia acasta (Walker), det. E. Dahms 1985. Melittobia acasta is regarded as the only species of this genus native to Europe (Boucek 1977) but it also has been reported from Argentina, Canada, India, Japan, New Zealand, USA, and Venezuela (Dahms 1984a; De Santis 1983; Husain & Khan 1986; Hobbs 1968; Hobbs & Krunic 1971; Gonzalez 1994; Gonzalez & Teran 1996; Gonzalez et al. 2004b; La Salle 1993; MacFarlane & Donovan 1989) where it presumably has been accidentally introduced. Melittobia australica (Girault) was originally described from Australia (Girault 1912), but it has been found in Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Trinidad, South Africa, USA, and Venezuela (Dahms 1984a; MacFarlane & Palma 1987; La Salle 1993; Gonza'lez 1994; Gonzailez & Teran 1996). One of us (JAG) has collected specimens of Melittobia australica from two locations in Cuba comprising eight females from Playa Vitoria, Yaguajay, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba,-VII-1996, from nests of Sceliphronjamaicense (Fabricius); and 23 females from Cienfuegos, Cuba, XI-1988 from Sceliphron sp. Melittobia was reported from Costa Rica by Hanson & Gauld (1995). However, an earlier report (Hunt 1993) mentions wasps identified by one of us (RWM) as Melittobia australica from Guanacaste Province attacking Sceliphron assimile (Sphecidae). We also keep a culture inour laboratory obtained originally from a species of Centris (Anthophoridae) collected at Lomas Barbudal Reserve, 8.5 km NW of Bagaces, Guanacaste Province (S.B. Vinson, March 2001) in Costa Rica. Melittobia sp. was also reported to occur in Puerto Rico (Maldonado C. & Navarro 1967), and we thought it most likely to be M. australica. This was confirmed when we discovered many specimens of M. australica from various Puerto Rico localities in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution). As far as we know, Melittobia parasitoid wasps had not been reported previously from the Bahamas, Trinidad, and Hispaniola. However, in material borrowed from the Entomology Research Center-Agriculture, Canada C.E.F., we found a female of Melittobia australica collected at San Salvador, Bahamas (8-13/XII/80, sweeping pool, B. Brown), and from 2 localities in Trinidad (Carapichaima and Curepe) parasitizing Eumeninae wasps (Vespidae) as well as Thypoxylon sp. (Sphecidae). Finally, during an expedition by one of us (JAG) to Dominican Republic, Melittobia australica was found parasitizing Sceliphron sp. at Oviedo Province, Pedernales (20-XI-2003). We thank Philip D. Perkins (Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University), Michael Gates (Smithsonian institution), and John Huber (C.E.F. Agriculture, Canada) for allowing us to study the Melittobia specimens under their care. S.B. Vinson and F. C6nsoli sent us the Costa Rican M. australica. Ivon Arias (Grupo Jaragua) and Kelvin Guerrero (Parque Nacional del Este)