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

Aceroteta africana : Buhl 2005

<i>Aceroteta</i> cf. <i>africana</i> Buhl, 2005 <p> <i>Aceroteta africana</i>: Buhl 2005: 282.</p> <p> Material examined: 1♀ TOGO, Région des Plateaux, Manma­Kopé N of Gbadi Nkougna, SE of Badou (07°27'02"N 00°41'59"E), 25.iv. 2008, 660 m, plantation (coffee, oilpalm, <i>Acacia</i>), swept above sawdust, M. von Tschirnhaus.</p> <p> Remark: This specimen has basal flagellar segments shorter than in the unique holotype of <i>A.africana</i> from the Republic of South Africa, but that could be due to the small body size of the specimen from Togo (approx. 0.50 mm; the holotype is 0.85 mm long).</p>Published as part of <i>Buhl, Peter Neerup, 2014, New species and new records of Platygastrinae and Sceliotrachelinae from Togo (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), pp. 68 in African Invertebrates 55 (1)</i> on page 69, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/7649696">http://zenodo.org/record/7649696</a&gt

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

Platygaster : Latreille 1809

Genus Platygaster Latreille, 1809 Isorhombus Förster, 1856: 107. Hypocampsis Förster, 1856: 108. Polygnotus Förster, 1856: 108. Coelopelta Ashmead, 1893: 263. Aneuron Brues, 1910: 49. Triplatygaster Kieffer, 1913 b: 178. Misocyclops Kieffer, 1914: 362. Parepimeces Kieffer, 1926: 563. Platygaster: Latreille 1809: 31. Type species: Scelio ruficornis Latreille, 1805, 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 92, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Synopeas : Forster 1856

Genus Synopeas Förster, 1856 Sactogaster Förster, 1856: 108. Ectadius Förster, 1856: 108. Polymecus Förster, 1856: 144. Dolichotrypes Crawford & Bradley, 1911: 124. Haustagaster Szabo, 1979: 178. Synopeas: Förster 1856: 108. Type species: Synopeas inermis Thomson, 1859; designated by Muesebeck & Walkley (1951).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 106, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Leptacis fusiformis : Buhl 2005

Leptacis fusiformis Buhl, 2005 Leptacis fusiformis: Buhl 2005: 287. Material examined: 1♀ TOGO, Région des Plateaux, NE of Badou, at creek Okpabè (07°35'19"N 00°07'17"E), 20.iv. 2008, 370 m, creek bank in remains of secondary rainforest, swept; 1♀ Région des Plateaux, AbriwaNko, about 5 km N of Badou, at creek Ègnulu–Agbadja (07°37'18"N 00°36'13"E), 24.iv. 2008, 310 m, swept in cocoa and avocado plantation. Both M. von Tschirnhaus. Hitherto, known only from the holotype (Republic of South Africa). The specimens from Togo are smaller (about 0.7 mm) and have less slender antennae than the holotype, head about twice as wide as long, 1.3× as wide as mesosoma, fore wing 3.25× as long as wide, with marginal cilia 0.4× width of wing, and female metasoma slightly shorter than rest of body (20:21).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 83, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969

Platygaster planivertex Buhl 2014, sp. n.

Platygaster planivertex sp. n. Figs 59, 60 Etymology: Derived from Latin plana (flat) as well as vertex (top of head); in reference to the characteristic flattened vertex. Diagnosis: Head characteristically flat above, with vertex projecting over eyes; female A8–A9 each hardly longer than wide. Description: Female. Body length 0.90–1.20 mm. Black, T1 medium brown;A1–A6 and legs including coxae yellowish brown; mandibles, tegulae, A7–A10 and last segment of tarsi medium-dark brown. Head from above 2.15× as wide as long, fully 1.25× as wide as mesosoma (23:18); occiput transversely finely striated just around opening of neck, antero­medially with fine and dense oblique striation, towards sides finely and densely longitudinally striated; hyperoccipital carina absent; vertex behind ocelli transversely finely reticulatestriated, the rest reticulate-coriaceous (at most slightly transversely so); frons in about upper half smooth, along eyes weakly transversely reticulate-coriaceous, in lower half distinctly and transversely reticulate-striate. OOL=1.6 LOL. Head in frontal view (Fig. 59) fully 1.25× as wide as high (23:18), characteristically flat above with vertex extended over eyes, angular there. Antenna with A1 0.9× as long as height of head, longer than distance between inner orbits (16:15); A2 0.9× as long as A3–A4 combined;A4 1.6× as long as wide, about 1.15× as long as A5; A6–A10 forming a clava, A8–A9 each hardly noticeably longer than wide. Mesosoma (Fig. 60) 1.5× as long as wide, slightly more than 1.1× as high as wide. Sides of pronotum distinctly reticulate-striated longitudinally, smooth in large upper hind corners. Mesoscutum with very few setae, smooth except for slight rugosity along margins, anteriorly and along notauli, this being weak, not present in anterior 0.3; mid lobe posteriorly blunt, hardly extended but reaching base of scutellum, at each side with about seven moderately long setae over scuto-scutellar grooves. Mesopleuron smooth. Scutellum evenly convex, smooth and bare along middle, towards sides moderately densely setose. Metapleuron with pilosity all over. Propodeal carinae divergent, area between carinae about as long as its posterior width. Fore wing 0.85× as long as entire body, 2.7× as long as wide, almost clear, with fine and dense microtrichia; marginal cilia 0.12× width of wing. Hind wing 6.2× as long as wide, with two hamuli; marginal cilia 0.4× width of wing. Metasoma (Fig. 60) about 0.9× the length of head and mesosoma combined, 0.8× as wide as mesosoma. T1 with a transverse depression around midlength, with fine longitudinal crenulation in front of it, smooth behind it. T2 without striation, in anterior 0.35 with two elongate basal foveae and a few setae, the following tergites also almost smooth, with setae in rather shallow punctures: four on T4, eight on T5, and about six on T6. Comparison: Similar to P. hedayati Buhl, 2010, from Tanzania in respect of head shape but with more transverse head, much shorter antennae, smoother T2, and lighter-coloured body appendages. 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.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 98-100, DOI: 10.5733/afin.055.0106, http://zenodo.org/record/764969