Abstract
The genus Cotesia Cameron, 1891 is one of the most diverse of the Microgastrinae, a subfamily of wasps that are exclusively endoparasitic on lepidopteran larvae. Species of Cotesia are widely utilised as biological control agents across the world. In Australia, there are currently 10 confirmed native species as well as four species introduced for the management of lepidopteran pests. The genus is morphologically conserved and has not been studied in the Australasian region for many decades. In this study, we use both comparative morphology and sequence data from the COI gene to delineate species, and in so doing describe seven new species from Australia: C. lasallei sp. nov., C. medusae sp. nov., C. ocellata sp. nov., C. reidarum sp. nov., C. scripta sp. nov., C. tjapekki sp. nov. and C. wonboynensis sp. nov., raising the number of species of Cotesia formally recorded in Australia to 21. We also provide updated descriptions of the previously described native species, diagnoses for the introduced species and a key to all currently described species found on the continent and from Papua New Guinea. This study treats only a fraction of the likely diversity of Cotesia, but provides a solid framework for future work.
Highlights
Microgastrinae are an extremely diverse, cosmopolitan subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps
In Australia, there are currently 10 described native species (C. anthelae (Wilkinson, 1928), C. australiensis (Ashmead, 1900), C. deliadis (Bingham, 1906), C. geometricae Austin, 2000, C. nonagriae (Olliff, 1893), C. philoeampa (Cameron, 1911), C. radiantis (Wilkinson, 1929), C. ruficrus (Haliday, 1834), C. rufiventris (Bingham, 1906) and C. urabae Austin & Allen, 1989), with an additional four species introduced as biological control agents (C. glomerata (Linnaeus, 1758), C. kazak (Telenga, 1949), C. rubecula (Marshall, 1885) and C. vestalis (Haliday, 1834) (the senior synonym of C. plutellae (Kurdjumov, 1912)))
Terms for general morphology follow Fernández-Triana et al (2014) who combined traditional microgastrine morphological terms, such as those used by Mason (1981), with the standards introduced in the Hymenoptera Anatomy Ontology (HAO) project (Yoder et al 2010; Seltmann et al 2012) (Fig. 34)
Summary
Microgastrinae are an extremely diverse, cosmopolitan subfamily of braconid parasitoid wasps. Cotesia Cameron, 1891 is one of the most utilised genera of Microgastrinae Foerster, 1862 for the biological control of lepidopteran pests, with numerous species translocated around the world (Whitfield 1997). In Australia, there are currently 10 described native species (C. anthelae (Wilkinson, 1928), C. australiensis (Ashmead, 1900), C. deliadis (Bingham, 1906), C. geometricae Austin, 2000, C. nonagriae (Olliff, 1893), C. philoeampa (Cameron, 1911), C. radiantis (Wilkinson, 1929), C. ruficrus (Haliday, 1834), C. rufiventris (Bingham, 1906) and C. urabae Austin & Allen, 1989), with an additional four species introduced as biological control agents (C. glomerata (Linnaeus, 1758), C. kazak (Telenga, 1949), C. rubecula (Marshall, 1885) and C. vestalis (Haliday, 1834) (the senior synonym of C. plutellae (Kurdjumov, 1912))). Strains of C. ruficrus were introduced to Australia from Pakistan (Cumber et al 1977; Michael 1985) and the species is listed above as native only due to successive questionable synonymies with C. sydneyensis (Cameron, 1911) based on morphological data in the 1920s
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
