Revision of the Afrotropical species of Pristomerus (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), with descriptions of 31 new species

  • Pascal Rousse Natural History Department, Iziko South African Museum, PO Box 61, Cape Town, 8000; Stellenbosch University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Evolutionary Genomics Group, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch, 7602.
  • Simon van Noort Natural History Department, Iziko South African Museum, PO Box 61, Cape Town, 8000; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2015.124
Keywords: Africa, Hymenoptera, identification key, parasitoid wasp, solitary koinobiont endoparasitoid

Abstract

We revised the species of the genus Pristomerus Curtis, 1836 in the Afrotropical Region. Fortynine species are recognized, of which 31 are newly described. The following new species are described: P. afrikaner, P. aka, P. babinga, P. bemba, P. dikidiki, P. herero, P. hutu, P. kagga, P. khoikhoi, P. kuku, P. masai, P. mbaka, P. mbama, P. mboum, P. nzakara, P. protea, P. restio, P. san, P. sara, P. sotho, P. swahili, P. teke, P. tutsi, P. venda, P. wolof, P. xhosa, P. yakoma, P. yangere, P. yoccolo, P. zande and P. zulu spp. nov. New synonyms: P. africator, P. cunctator and P. luteolus are new junior synonyms of P. pallidus. New records: new host records are reported for the widespread P. pallidus; new country-level distribution records are added for P. bullis, P. keyka, P. kelikely and P. pallidus; and reports of Trathala concolor and P. veloma in South Africa are shown to have been erroneous. An illustrated dichotomous key to females is provided; an online Lucid interactive matrix key is also available at www.waspweb.org. Finally, the ecological and geographical correlates of colour patterns exhibited by Pristomerus in the Afrotropical region are discussed.

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Published
2015-05-28
How to Cite
Rousse, P., & van Noort, S. (2015). Revision of the Afrotropical species of Pristomerus (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), with descriptions of 31 new species. European Journal of Taxonomy, (124). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2015.124
Issue
No. 124 (2015): Revision of the Afrotropical species of Pristomerus (Ichneumonidae: Cremastinae), with descriptions of 31 new species
Section
Entomology
Copyright (c) 2015 Pascal Rousse, Simon van Noort

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