Abstract
African species of Oxyscelio (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae s.l.) are revised. A total of 14 species are recognized, 13 of which are described as new: Oxyscelio absentiae Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio galeri Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio gyri Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio idoli Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio intensionis Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio io Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio kylix Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio lunae Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio nemesis Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio pulveris Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio quassus Burks, sp. n., Oxyscelio teli Burks, sp. n. and Oxyscelio xenii Burks, sp. n. The genus Freniger Szabó, syn. n. is recognized as part of an endemic African species group of Oxyscelio with incomplete hind wing venation, and Oxyscelio bicolor (Szabó), comb. n. is therefore recognized as the only previously described species of Oxyscelio from Africa. The Oxyscelio crateris and Oxyscelio cuculli species groups, previously known from southeast Asia, are represented in Africa by seven and one species respectively.
Highlights
Oxyscelio Kieffer was first described to contain a single species of Scelioninae from Java (Kieffer 1907)
It remained in obscurity until Dodd (1931) recognized that it was the oldest generic name corresponding to a set of Australian and Indo-Malayan species that previously had been placed in several other genera
The Indo-Malayan, Palearctic (Burks et al 2013a, Johnson et al 2013), Australian, and Pacific (Burks et al 2013b) species of Oxyscelio have been recently reviewed, expanding the number of described species of the genus from 36 to 170, while retaining as valid all but one of the species that had been recognized by Dodd
Summary
Oxyscelio Kieffer was first described to contain a single species of Scelioninae from Java (Kieffer 1907) It remained in obscurity until Dodd (1931) recognized that it was the oldest generic name corresponding to a set of Australian and Indo-Malayan species that previously had been placed in several other genera. Four of the remaining species are placed in a uniquely African species group comprising the only species of Oxyscelio known to have incomplete hind wing venation, a feature that has most notably been found in other genera of Scelioninae, including Scelio Latreille, Sparasion Latreille, and Nixonia Masner. These species are determined to belong to Oxyscelio based on a single spur on both the mid and hind tibia, the presence of a facial submedian carina, and fore wing with a punctiform marginal vein and no pseudostigma (sensu Masner 1976)
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