Research Article |
Corresponding author: Stefania Laudonia ( laudonia@unina.it ) Academic editor: Michael Ohl
© 2017 Stefania Laudonia, Gennaro Viggiani, Silvano Biondi.
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.
Citation:
Laudonia S, Viggiani G, Biondi S (2017) A new species of Poropoea Foerster from Africa (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Trichogrammatidae). ZooKeys 658: 81-87. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.658.11501
|
A new species of Poropoea Foerster (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Trichogrammatidae) was obtained from eggs of attelabid beetles (Coleoptera: Attelabidae) associated with Combretum sp. (Myrtales, Combretaceae). This species is described from Ogooué-Ivindo province in north-eastern Gabon. The new species is easily distinguished from the known members of the genus Poropoea by the following combination of characters: female antennal club unsegmented, premarginal vein of the fore wing with a nodular premarginal vein and the stigma of the stigmal vein black, the wing lacks the RS1 track; front and hind legs more robust than the middle leg and with coxa and femur markedly enlarged, and ovipositor exserted to one-third of the gaster length. Morphological features of this new species are discussed and illustrated. A key to females of Poropoea species lacking the Rs1 track in the fore wing has been constructed and is presented here.
Attelabidae , club unsegmented, key, leaf-rolling weevils, Paratomapoderus brachypterus
The trichogrammatid genus Poropoea Foerster, 1851 (Hymenoptera, Trichogrammatidae) currently contains 19 species (
From a Combretum sp., 67 leaf rolls of P. brachypterus were sampled from 15 to 25 June 2016 in Gabon, Ogooué-Ivindo, Ivindo National Parc, Ipassa Makokou Strict Nature Reserve, Station de Recherche de Ipassa, 500m a.s.l; 0°30'43"N, 12°48'12"E. The emerged parasitoids, two specimens, were initially preserved in 70% alcohol. These specimens were later dissected and mounted on slides using balsam-phenol as permanent mounting medium. For the terminology,
♀ (on slide). Gabon: Ogooué-Ivindo, Parc N. Ivindo, Station de Recherche de Ipassa, m a.s.l 500; 0°30'43"N, 12°48'12"E (DMS), June 2016, leg. Silvano Biondi. Paratype: 1 ♀, same data as holotype. Holotype and paratype will be deposited in the Entomological collection of the Dipartimento di Agraria dell'Università degli Studi “Federico II”, Portici, Napoli, Italia.
The new species is easily distinguished from the known members of the genus Poropoea by the following combination of characters: female antennal club unsegmented; premarginal vein of the fore wing with a basal “knot” and stigma of the stigmal vein black; lack of RS1 track in the fore wing; front and hind legs more robust than the middle ones, and with coxa and femur markedly enlarged; and ovipositor exserted for one-third of the gaster length. For the lack of the RS1 track on fore wing, P. africana shares this character only with P. bella Hayat et Poorani, P. longicornis Viggiani, and P. orientalis Subba Rao, but it is unique in having the club unsegmented, a nodular premarginal vein, and the coxa and femur of the front and hind legs markedly enlarged.
Female (Fig.
Metasoma shorter than mesosoma (48:41); ovipositor inserted at level of the first segment of gaster with the exserted part one-third as long as metasoma length; third valvulae nearly one-third the total length of the ovipositor; stylets very long.
Male. unknown.
The name refers to the continent of the collection site.
Gabon, West-Central Africa.
The new species is easily distinguished from the known members of the genus Poropoea. The markedly enlarged coxa and femur of the front and hind legs is an interesting character which appears to be clear adaptations to host parasitisation [probably for body stability and propulsive efficiency of the ovipositor], and not reported for any other species of the genus Poropoea. Similar features of the legs are present in the male of Blastophaga psenes (L.) (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Agaonidae), a well-known gall maker and pollinator of Ficus carica and in other fig-wasps only (
Some characters of P. africana, such as the antennal formula, the nodular premarginal vein, and the and modified legs, may suggest the inclusion of this species at least in a new subgenus, but this proposal is deferred until more material, including males, could be collected for a proper evaluation of these characters.
1 | Antennal formula 1(scape), 1(pedicel), (2)(anelli), 3 (funicle), 2 (club) | 2 |
– | Antennal formula 1, 1, (2), 2, (3) or 1, 1, (2), 2, 1 | 3 |
2 | Exserted part of the ovipositor about as long as meso-and metathorax combined; funicular segments at least 2.5 times as long as wide | P. longicornis Viggiani |
– | Exserted part of the ovipositor as long as head, meso-and metathorax combined, funicular segments a little more than 2 times as long as wide | P. orientalis Subba Rao |
3 | Antennula formula 1,1,(2), 2, (3); mid lobe of mesoscutum and scutellum with a longitudinal, median groove; normal legs | P. bella Hayat & Poorani |
– | Antennal formula 1,1,(2), 2,1; mid lobe of mesoscutum and scutellum without a longitudinal, median groove; middle legs markedly smaller than fore and hind legs | P. africana sp. n. |