On a collection of Hymenoptera in Baltic amber, with the description of a new species of Pantolyta Förster, 1856 (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae)

Two hundred and seventeen specimens of Hymenoptera in Baltic amber were studied. The distribution of taxa is discussed and Pantolyta antiqua sp. n. is described

Avispa parasitoide Inostemma striaticornu Buhl (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) en cultivos de pimiento en Argentina

Some species of the genus Inostemma have been recorded in pests associated with numerous botanical families, the current work records the presence of the mentioned parasitoid in an area of high plant diversity in La Plata, Argentina. The parasitoid wasp Inostemma striaticornu Buhl (Platygastrinae) is mentioned for the first time in the country in bell pepper crops.Algunas especies del género Inostemma han sido registradas en plagas asociadas a numerosas familias botánicas, aquí se registra la presencia del parasitoide en un área con gran diversidad vegetal en La Plata, Argentina. Se cita por primera vez la avispa parasitoide Inostemma striaticornu Buhl (Platygastrinae) en el país en cultivos de pimiento.Fil: Margaría, Cecilia B.. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.agrarias y Forestales. Centro de Investigacion En Sanidad Vegetal.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Neerup Buhl, Peter. The Natural History Museum of Denmark; DinamarcaFil: Aquino, Daniel Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; ArgentinaFil: Ricci, Mónica. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Completing Linnaeus's inventory of the Swedish insect fauna: Only 5,000 species left?

Despite more than 250 years of taxonomic research, we still have only a vague idea about the true size and composition of the faunas and floras of the planet. Many biodiversity inventories provide limited insight because they focus on a small taxonomic subsample or a tiny geographic area. Here, we report on the size and composition of the Swedish insect fauna, thought to represent roughly half of the diversity of multicellular life in one of the largest European countries. Our results are based on more than a decade of data from the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative and its massive inventory of the country's insect fauna, the Swedish Malaise Trap Project The fauna is considered one of the best known in the world, but the initiative has nevertheless revealed a surprising amount of hidden diversity: more than 3,000 new species (301 new to science) have been documented so far. Here, we use three independent methods to analyze the true size and composition of the fauna at the family or subfamily level: (1) assessments by experts who have been working on the most poorly known groups in the fauna; (2) estimates based on the proportion of new species discovered in the Malaise trap inventory; and (3) extrapolations based on species abundance and incidence data from the inventory. For the last method, we develop a new estimator, the combined non-parametric estimator, which we show is less sensitive to poor coverage of the species pool than other popular estimators. The three methods converge on similar estimates of the size and composition of the fauna, suggesting that it comprises around 33,000 species. Of those, 8,600 (26%) were unknown at the start of the inventory and 5,000 (15%) still await discovery. We analyze the taxonomic and ecological composition of the estimated fauna, and show that most of the new species belong to Hymenoptera and Diptera groups that are decomposers or parasitoids. Thus, current knowledge of the Swedish insect fauna is strongly biased taxonomically and ecologically, and we show that similar but even stronger biases have distorted our understanding of the fauna in the past. We analyze latitudinal gradients in the size and composition of known European insect faunas and show that several of the patterns contradict the Swedish data, presumably due to similar knowledge biases. Addressing these biases is critical in understanding insect biomes and the ecosystem services they provide. Our results emphasize the need to broaden the taxonomic scope of current insect monitoring efforts, a task that is all the more urgent as recent studies indicate a possible worldwide decline in insect faunas

Leptacis athos : Masner 1960

Leptacis athos Masner, 1960 Leptacis athos: Masner 1960: 9, 10, 15. Material examined: 1♂ TOGO, Région des Plateaux, Akloa, at creek Domi coming from the Cascades d’Akloa (07°30'46"N 00°36'36"E), 22.iv. 2008, 280 m, cocoa and avocado plantation, swept, M. von Tschirnhaus.Published as part of Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1) on page 80, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Leptacis quadrilineata Buhl 2014, sp. n.

Leptacis quadrilineata sp. n. Figs 27–30 Etymology: From Latin quattuor and linea, “four lines”; in reference to the distinct four lines formed by setae on the mesoscutum. Diagnosis: A small species with weak hyperoccipital carina; female A4 very slightly elongate, only slightly longer than A3 and shorter than A5; A9 1.2× as long as wide; mesoscutum with setae forming four distinct longitudinal lines; scutellum with a very small tooth; female metasoma 0.9× as long as rest of body. Description: Female. Body length 0.55 mm. Blackish; A1, tegulae and legs including coxae light brown, mandibles and A2–A10 darker brown. Head from above (Fig. 27) twice as wide as long, 1.25× as wide as mesosoma; occiput and hind part of vertex transversely reticulate-coriaceous, rest of vertex and frons weakly reticulate with rather large meshes (at most slightly transverse); hyperoccipital carina weak. Eyes bare. OOL slightly shorter than diameter of lateral ocellus. Head in frontal view 1.15× as wide as high. Antenna (Fig. 28) with A1 0.75× as long as height of head, as long as distance between inner orbits; A9 1.2× as long as wide. Mesosoma 1.5× as long as wide, 1.3× as high as wide. Sides of pronotum faintly leathery in less than anterior half, rest smooth. Mesoscutum with setae forming four distinct longitudinal lines: two along imaginary notaulic courses and one along each side, otherwise bare, weakly reticulate-coriaceous, without notauli; hind margin narrowly brownish, very slightly convex, with three setae at each side. Scuto-scutellar grooves invisible. Mesopleuron smooth. Scutellum (Fig. 29) rather densely setose, slightly smoother than mesoscutum, in dorsal view slightly elongate, Amblyaspis -like, in lateral view with a very small, brownish tooth behind, without lamella. Metapleuron smooth, with pilosity only posteriorly. Propodeal carinae moderately high, translucent, very close together. Fore wing 1.1× as long as entire body, 3.3× as long as wide, almost clear, with fine and dense microtrichia; marginal cilia fully 0.4× width of wing. Hind wing 12.5× as long as wide; marginal cilia 1.5× width of wing. Metasoma (Fig. 30) 0.9× as long as head and mesosoma combined, nearly 1.1× as wide as mesosoma. T1 raised anteriorly, behind with two weak longitudinal carinae, inconspicuously setose. T2 with two very weak basal foveae which have a few inconspicuous setae at their base, T2 otherwise smooth. T3–T6 with reticulate sculpture, apex of T6 smooth; apical tergites at most with very few, inconspicuous setae. Comparison: This species runs to L. microcera Buhl, 2003, in Buhl’s (2011 b) key, but that species has more elongate basal flagellar segments, mesosoma 1.7× as long as wide, scattered setae on mesoscutum, a much stronger scutellar spine, and fore wing with scattered, long microtrichia. Holotype: ♀ TOGO: Région des Plateaux, Ouwé NW of Gbadi Nkougna (SE of Badou), at creek Ouwé (07°29'32"N 00°41'56"E), 25.iv. 2008, 590 m, remains of secondary rainforest, swept, M. von Tschirnhaus.Published as part of Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1) on pages 85-86, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Leptacis terricola : Masner 1960

Leptacis terricola Masner, 1960 Leptacis terricola: Masner 1960: 12, 25. Material examined. 1♀ TOGO, Région des Plateaux, 1 km downstream of Totamé (07°35'21"N 00°37'55"E), 20.iv. 2008, 590 m, mountain slope with scattered forest trees and dense ground vegetation, rotting fruits of avocado, swept, M. von Tschirnhaus.Published as part of Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1) on page 88, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Inostemma : Haliday 1833

Genus Inostemma Haliday, 1833 Acerota Förster, 1856: 107. Ceratopsilus Kieffer, 1913 a: 462. Brachinostemma Kieffer, 1916: 551. Inocerota Szelényi, 1939: 121. Inostemma: Haliday 1833: 270. Type species: Psilus boscii Jurine, 1807, by monotypy.Published as part of Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1) on page 78, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Synopeas meieri Buhl 2014, sp. n.

Synopeas meieri sp. n. Figs 73–76 Etymology: Named after the dipterologist Dr Rudolf Meier, who first brought me in contact with Dr von Tschirnhaus. Diagnosis: A small species with head 1.2× as wide as mesosoma, with a distinct hyperoccipital carina; female A4 1.3× as long as A5,A9 1.3× as wide as long; scutellum ending in a tiny, low lamella; female metasoma about as long as rest of body, 1.2× as wide as high. Description: Female. Body length 0.80–0.95 mm. Head black, meso- and metasoma dark brown; A1–A6, mandibles and legs including coxae yellowish brown; A7–A10 dark brown. Head from above (Figs 73–74) 1.9× as wide as long, 1.2× as wide as mesosoma, dull, finely reticulate-coriaceous, on occiput slightly transversely so; hyperoccipital carina distinct and complete but not well developed. OOL hardly as long as diameter of lateral ocellus; LOL= 3 OOL. Head in frontal view 1.15× as wide as high. Antenna with A1 0.85× as long as height of head, longer than distance between inner orbits (11:9); A2 about as long as A3–A4 combined; A4 almost twice as long as A3, 1.3× as long as A5; A9 about 1.3× as wide as long. Mesosoma (Figs 73–74) 1.45× as long as wide, 1.1× as high as wide. Sides of pronotum faintly reticulate-coriaceous (not longitudinally so) in upper half, smooth below and along hind margin. Mesoscutum rather sparsely but evenly setose, finely reticulate­coriaceous, without notauli; mid lobe medially with a distinct smooth, flat, slightly brownish prolongation to base of scutellum; the wide scuto­scutellar grooves with dense white setation. Mesopleuron smooth. Scutellum (Fig. 75) densely setose all over, slightly raised along middle, ending behind in a tiny, low, oblique lamella. Metapleuron smooth, with long and dense whitish pilosity, except along narrow anterior margin. Propodeal carinae rounded, light brownish and translucent, fused. Fore wing slightly surpassing tip of metasoma, 0.75× as long as entire body, 2.6× as long as wide, clear, with fine and dense microtrichia; marginal cilia absent. Hind wing 6.6× as long as wide; marginal cilia 0.4× width of wing. Metasoma (Figs 74 and 76) slightly shorter (22:24) to very slightly longer (28:27) than head and mesosoma combined, 0.9× as wide as mesosoma, 1.2× as wide as high. T1 and base of T2 with strong whitish pubescence. T2 smooth except for weak reticulation along narrow hind margin. T3–T6 distinctly reticulate-coriaceous all over, only apex of T6 smooth; apical tergites with very few, inconspicuous setae. Comparison: This species runs to S. mazumbaiense Buhl, 2011, or to S. goengeti Buhl, 1997, in Buhl’s (2011 b) key, but S. mazumbaiense is larger (at least 1.2 mm), with head hardly as wide as mesosoma, and metasoma down-curved at apex. S. goengeti has head only 1.6× as wide as long, a weak and incomplete hyperoccipital carina, and metasoma less elongate, wider than mesosoma. Holotype: ♀ TOGO: Région des Plateaux, Plateau de Danyi, road from Atigba to Danyi–Apéyémé, at a tributary creek of river Danyi (07°11'04"N 00°41'31"E), 14.iv. 2008, 710 m, creek bank and below shrubs and bamboo, plantation, swept, M. von Tschirnhaus. Paratypes: 2♀ Région des Plateaux, Otandjobo near Zogbégan (SE of Badou), at river Otandjoboli (07°34'42"N 00°41'37"E), 21.iv. 2008, 500 m, at river, swept, cocoa plantation; 1♀ Région des Plateaux, Klabé–Azafi, at river Gonobè (07°36'00"N 00°43'21"E), 21.iv. 2008, 485 m, remains of secondary rainforest at river, rotting oranges, grass along road, swept. All M. von Tschirnhaus.Published as part of Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1) on pages 108-111, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Platygaster liga Buhl 2014, sp. n.

Platygaster liga sp. n. Figs 47–50 Etymology: Named in honour of Latvian artist Liga Puķīte (Mainz). Diagnosis: A small species with head nearly 1.4× as wide as mesosoma, without hyperoccipital carina, transversely reticulate­coriaceous behind, entire frons finely obliquely striated; female A9 very slightly longer than wide; notauli faintly indicated in posterior half of mesoscutum, mid lobe just reaching base of scutellum, this being evenly convex; fore wing 2.85× as long as wide; female metasoma only 0.8× as long as rest of body, T1 with two strong and complete carinae, T2 striated in and between basal foveae to 0.5. Description: Female. Body length 0.80 mm. Dark brown, T1 reddish brown; A1–A6, mandibles, tegulae and legs including coxae light yellowish brown; A7–A10 and last segment of tarsi darkened. Head from above (Fig. 47) 2.2× as wide as long, almost 1.4× as wide as mesosoma, rounded behind; occiput dull, transversely finely reticulate­coriaceous; vertex shiny, between ocelli with transverse reticulation, laterally unevenly reticulate-coriaceous; frons obliquely finely reticulate­striate all over. OOL=1.5 LOL. Head in frontal view almost 1.4× as wide as high. Antenna (Fig. 48) with A1 0.8× as long as height of head, shorter than distance between inner orbits (11:12); A9 very slightly longer than wide (hardly 1.1×). Mesosoma 1.4× as long as wide, 1.1× as high as wide. Sides of pronotum longitudinally finely reticulate­coriaceous except along narrow margins. Mesoscutum weakly reticulate-coriaceous, becoming almost smooth in posterior third and inside tegulae, with very few setae; notauli faintly indicated in about posterior half, well separated behind; mid lobe slightly prolonged to base of scutellum; scuto-scutellar grooves each with only two fine setae. Mesopleuron smooth except for 3–4 short, weak longitudinal wrinkles just below tegula. Scutellum (Fig. 49) very sparsely setose, smooth, evenly convex. Metapleuron dull, with pilosity all over. Propodeal carinae parallel; area between them slightly transverse, smooth and shiny. Fore wing 0.8× as long as entire body, 2.85× as long as wide, almost clear, with fine and dense microtrichia; marginal cilia 0.08× width of wing. Hind wing 6.4× as long as wide, with two hamuli; marginal cilia one-third of the width of wing. Metasoma (Fig. 50) about 0.8× as long as head and mesosoma combined, 0.85× as wide as mesosoma. T1 with several short longitudinal carinae along anterior margin (in at most anterior third), but with only two strong and complete longitudinal carinae. T2 striated in and between basal foveae to about half of its length. Apical tergites with faint traces of reticulation, and each tergite, except the bare T3, having eight shallow punctures with setae. Comparison: This species runs to P. malaisei Buhl, 2005, in Buhl’s (2011 b) key, but that species is larger and has head only 1.2× as wide as mesosoma, OOL:LOL=6:5, fore wing only 2.2× as long as wide, and metasoma as long as rest of body with T1 evenly crenulated and T2 only very shortly striated medially. Holotype: ♀ TOGO: Région des Plateaux, S of Ahassomé near river/brook Mono, NW of Tado (NW of Tohoun) (07°11'12"N 01°28'54"E until 07°11'12"N 01°32'14"E), 7.iv.2008, 95 m, teak forest (Tectona grandis) and path to river bank with Cyperaceae, Icacinaceae, Tridax procumbens (L.), partly swampy ground, swept, M. von Tschirnhaus.Published as part of Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1) on pages 94-96, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Aceroteta : Kozlov & Masner 1977

Genus Aceroteta Kozlov & Masner, 1977 Aceroteta: Kozlov & Masner 1977, in Kozlov 1977: 96. Type species: Aceroteta borealis Kozlov & Masner, 1977, by monotypy and original designation.Published as part of Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1) on page 69, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969