A dearth of data: fitting parasitoids into ecological networks

Studying parasitoids can provide insights into global diversity estimates, climate change impacts, and agroecosystem service provision. However, this potential remains largely untapped due to a lack of data on how parasitoids interact with other organisms. Ecological networks are a useful tool for studying and exploiting the impacts of parasitoids, but their construction is hindered by the magnitude of undescribed parasitoid species, a sparse knowledge of host ranges, and an under-representation of parasitoids within DNA-barcode databases (we estimate <5% have a barcode). Here, we advocate the use of DNA metabarcoding to construct the host-parasitoid component of multilayer networks. While the incorporation of parasitoids into network-based analyses has far ranging applications, we focus on its potential for assessing ecosystem service provision within agroecosystems

Rediscovery and redescription of Centrodora damoni (Girault) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) from Australia, an egg parasitoid of Gonipterus spp (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), after nearly a century

Background Centrodora is a relatively common and widespread genus of morphologically diverse species, and is the most polyphagous genus known within the Aphelinidae, attacking eggs of insects in addition to pupae of Diptera and Hymenoptera, and nymphs of Hemiptera (Polaszek 1991). There are currently about 60 valid species in the genus, but given its morphological and biological diversity, some elevation of species-groups and subgenera to genus-level might be useful in future. Centrodora is represented in Australia by twelve species (Noyes 2015). New information Centrodora damoni (Girault) is redescribed and diagnosed from recently collected specimens reared from the eucalyptus weevil Gonipterus sp. near scutellatus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Tasmania, Australia. A lectotype is designated from a syntype specimen.© Ward S et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.NHM Repositor

Two new species of Eretmocerus Haldeman (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) parasitizing Aleurolobus rhododendri Takahashi and Dialeuropora decempunctata (Quaintance &amp; Baker) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from Taiwan

Background: Species of Eretmocerus Haldeman develop as primary ecto-endoparasites of whiteflies (Rose and Rosen 1992). Currently, the genus Eretmocerus comprises 86 species worldwide, of which 11 species have been previously recorded from Taiwan (Shih et al. 2015). Despite having been recently revised for Taiwan, two new species are here added to the Taiwan fauna. New information: Two new species, Eretmocerus garrywardi Ward sp. nov. and Eretmocerus liangyihchoui Shih sp. nov. found parasitizing Aleurolobus rhododendri Takahashi and Dialeuropora decempunctata respectively, are described. A key to females of Eretmocerus species occurring in Taiwan is provided.© Ward S et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.NHM Repositor

Revision of Scelio pulchripennis - group species (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea, Platygastridae)

The charismatic pulchripennis-group of Scelio Latreille is revised and 18 species are treated. The species group is described and diagnosed. Eight new species are described: S. clarkei Yoder, sp. n. (India, Sri Lanka); S. ememeye Yoder, sp. n. (Sri Lanka, Nepal); S. leipo Yoder, sp. n. (Madagascar); S. parapulchripennis Yoder, sp. n. (Madagascar); S. masneri Yoder, sp. n. (Botswana, South Africa); S. paranitens Yoder, sp. n. (Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe); S. tria, Yoder & Masner, sp. n. (India); and S. turbidus Yoder, sp. n. (Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania). Scelio princeps Nixon is treated as a junior synonym of S. poecilopterus Priesner (syn. n.). Scelio variegatus Kozlov & Kononova is removed from synonymy with S. poecilopterus Priesner and treated as a valid species (stat. n.). Lectotypes are designated for Scelio baoli Risbec, S. corion Nixon, and S. pulchripennis Brues. Known hosts are eggs of grasshoppers in the family Acrididae (Orthoptera). The electronic version of this paper contains numerous hyperlinks that make use of biodiversity informatics standards to reference supporting data

A review of the Indonesian species of the family Signiphoridae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea), with description of three new species.

Volume: 897Start Page: 29-4

Trichogramma canariensis (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) a parasitoid of eggs of the twinspot moth Chrysodeixis chalcites (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in the Canary Islands

A new species of Trichogramma Westwood (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitizing eggs of the golden twin-spot moth (or tomato looper) Chrysodeixis chalcites (Esper) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on banana crops in the Canary Islands, Spain, is described as Trichogramma canariensis del Pino & Polaszek, sp.n. The new species is closely related to T. brassicae Bezdenko. Limited aspects of morphology, coupled with ITS2 and COI sequences and reproductive data are presented to distinguish T. canariensis sp.n. from T. brassicae

The Chalcidoidea bush of life: evolutionary history of a massive radiation of minute wasps.

Chalcidoidea are mostly parasitoid wasps that include as many as 500 000 estimated species. Capturing phylogenetic signal from such a massive radiation can be daunting. Chalcidoidea is an excellent example of a hyperdiverse group that has remained recalcitrant to phylogenetic resolution. We combined 1007 exons obtained with Anchored Hybrid Enrichment with 1048 ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) for 433 taxa including all extant families, >95% of all subfamilies, and 356 genera chosen to represent the vast diversity of the superfamily. Going back and forth between the molecular results and our collective knowledge of morphology and biology, we detected bias in the analyses that was driven by the saturation of nucleotide data. Our final results are based on a concatenated analysis of the least saturated exons and UCE datasets (2054 loci, 284 106 sites). Our analyses support an expected sister relationship with Mymarommatoidea. Seven previously recognized families were not monophyletic, so support for a new classification is discussed. Natural history in some cases would appear to be more informative than morphology, as illustrated by the elucidation of a clade of plant gall associates and a clade of taxa with planidial first-instar larvae. The phylogeny suggests a transition from smaller soft-bodied wasps to larger and more heavily sclerotized wasps, with egg parasitism as potentially ancestral for the entire superfamily. Deep divergences in Chalcidoidea coincide with an increase in insect families in the fossil record, and an early shift to phytophagy corresponds with the beginning of the "Angiosperm Terrestrial Revolution". Our dating analyses suggest a middle Jurassic origin of 174 Ma (167.3-180.5 Ma) and a crown age of 162.2 Ma (153.9-169.8 Ma) for Chalcidoidea. During the Cretaceous, Chalcidoidea may have undergone a rapid radiation in southern Gondwana with subsequent dispersals to the Northern Hemisphere. This scenario is discussed with regard to knowledge about the host taxa of chalcid wasps, their fossil record and Earth's palaeogeographic history

The feather thief: beauty, obsession, and the natural history heist of the century

Polaszek, Andrew (2021): The feather thief: beauty, obsession, and the natural history heist of the century. Journal of Natural History 54 (41-42): 2743-2744, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2020.1867771, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2020.186777

Masnerium wellsae gen. n., sp. n. (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Sceliotrachelinae) a parasitoid of Aleuroduplidens wellsae Martin (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) in Australia

Masnerium wellsae Polaszek, gen. n., sp. n. is described from Merbein, Victoria, Australia. It is a primary endoparasitoid of the whitefly Aleuroduplidens wellsae Martin, described from the same type locality with identical collection data. Masnerium is most closely related to the genera Aleyroctonus Masner & Huggert, and Aphanomerus Perkins, but differs from both these genera in several morphological characters that are of primary importance at genus level in the Sceliotrachelinae