\u3ci\u3eIshtarella thailandica\u3c/i\u3e Martens, new genus, new species (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of aphid parasitoid from Thailand, with a country checklist of Aphidiinae

Abstract

Ishtarella Martens new genus (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) and I. thailandica Martens new species are described and illustrated from Doi Phu Kha National Park, Nan Province, Thailand. The genus is assigned to the tribe Aphidiini, subtribe Trioxina. Based on morphology, Ishtarella appears most closely related to Binodoxys Mackauer. An updated checklist of the aphidiine fauna of Thailand, based on published records, is presented. Parasitoid wasps in the subfamily Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) comprise about 60 genera and more than 650 species worldwide (Yu et al. 2016). The Aphidiinae of Thailand were all but unknown prior to a Thai­land Inventory Group for Entomological Research (TIGER) project from 2006–2009 (Starý et al. 2008). As part of the TIGER project the Thai aphidiine fauna was surveyed using Malaise and pan traps; 20 species collectively representing 15 genera were reported from mixed deciduous or pine forests from 230 m to 2500 m above sea level (Starý et al. 2008, 2010a, 2010b). Although there are no identification keys to the Thai Aphidiinae, genus-level identifications can be made using the keys presented in Starý and Schlinger (1967), Starý and Ghosh (1983), Raychaudhuri (1990), and Chen and Shi (2001). The new genus described herein is assigned to the tribe Aphidiini, subtribe Trioxina. Females of most genera in this subtribe possess an elongate and curved ovipositor sheath and ovipositor. Additionally, females of some genera, like Binodoxys Mackauer and Trioxys Haliday, possess distinctive hypopygial prongs that are used to hold and restrain the aphid host during oviposition (Völkl and Mackauer 2000)