Review of the genus Acantholabus Heinrich (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1052.3263
Keywords: Darwin wasps, Eastern Himalaya, Three Parallel Rivers, Ichneumoninae, Platylabini

Abstract

The genus Acantholabus Heinrich, 1974 is reviewed. The three previously known species are re-described, and a new species, Acantholabus yunlingensis Reshchikov & Kikuchi sp. nov., from Northwestern Yunnan, is described and illustrated. An identification key to the species of the genus is also provided.

References

Ashton L.A., Nakamura A., Burwell C.J., Tang Y., Cao M., Whitaker T., Sun Z., Huang H. & Kitching R.L. 2016. Elevational sensitivity in an Asian ‘hotspot’: moth diversity across elevational gradients in tropical, sub-tropical and sub-alpine China. Scientific Reports 6: 26513. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep26513

Butler L. 1993. Parasitoids associated with the macrolepidoptera community at Coopers Rock State Forest, West Virginia: a baseline study. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 95 (3): 504–510. Available from https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/16151238 [accessed 20 Mar. 2026].

Bradley G.A. 1978. Parasites of Forest Lepidoptera in Canada. Part 2. Subfamily Ichneumoninae Stenopneusticae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Department of Fisheries and the Environment, Canadian Forestry Service, Forestry Technical Report 26.

Broad G.R., Shaw M.R. & Fitton M.G. 2018. Ichneumonid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): their classification and biology. Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects 7 (12): 1–418. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781800625471.0000

Farjon A. 2017. A Handbook of the World’s Conifers (2nd edition). Vol 2. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004324510

Heinrich G.H. 1974. Burmesische Ichneumoninae IX. Tribus Platylabini. Annales Zoologici 32: 103–197.

Kikuchi N. & Konishi K. 2018. Two new species of Dentilabus Heinrich (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae) from Japan and Korea, with redefinition of the genus. Zootaxa 4524: 87–96. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4524.1.6

Malaise R. 1944. Entomological results from the Swedish Expedition 1934 to Burma and British India (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinoidea). Collected by René Malaise. The Tenthredinoidea of South-Eastern Asia. Subfamily II. Selandriinae. Arkiv för Zoologi, Stockholm 35: 1–58.

Riedel M. 2008. Revision der westpalaearktischen Platylabini 1. Die Gattung Platylabus Wesmael, 1845 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae). Spixiana 31 (1): 105–172.

Riedel M. 2017. Contribution to the Ichneumoninae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) of Southeastern Asia: 4. Platylabini, Eurylabini, and Oedicephalini. Linzer biologische Beiträge 49 (2): 1275–1307.

Riedel M. 2023a. Contribution to the knowledge of the Ichneumoninae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from Maritime Southeast Asia. Zootaxa 5363: 1–94. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5363.1.1

Riedel M. 2023b. Notes on Ichneumoninae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Southern China, with descriptions of one new genus and twelve new species. Contributions to Entomology 73: 223–248. https://doi.org/10.3897/contrib.entomol.73.e107542

Riedel M., Schmidt K. & Zmudzinski F. 2013. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der badischen Schlupfwespenfauna (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) 11. Nachträge und Berichtigungen. Carolinéa – Beiträge zur naturkundlichen Forschung in Südwestdeutschland 71: 25–53.

Roman A. 1939. Nordische Ichneumoniden – und einige andere. Entomologisk Tidskrift 60: 176–205.

Sanyal A.K., Dey P., Uniyal V.P., Chandra K. & Raha A. 2017. Geometridae Stephens, 1829 from different altitudes in Western Himalayan Protected Areas of Uttarakhand, India (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). SHILAP 45 (177): 143–163. https://doi.org/10.57065/shilap.978

Shaw M.R., Kan P. & Kan-van Limburg Stirum B. 2015. Emergence behaviour of adult Trogus lapidator (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae, Heresiarchini) from pupa of its host Papilio machaon L. (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae), with a comparative overview of emergence of Ichneumonidae from Lepidoptera pupae in Europe. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 47: 65–85. https://doi.org/10.3897/JHR.47.6508

Short M.W., Schmidt S. & Lukacs Z. 2002. Parasitisation rates of some parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) of the autumn gum moth (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). The Australian Entomologist 29: 69–72. Available from https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/62372613 [accessed 20 Mar. 2026].

Smetacek P. 2008. Moths recorded from different elevations in Nainital District, Kumaon Himalaya, India. Bionotes 10: 5–15.

Tereshkin A.M. 2009. Illustrated key to the tribes of subfamilia Ichneumoninae and genera of the tribe Platylabini of world fauna (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2): 1317–1608.

van Veen J.C. 1981. The biology of Poecilostictus cothurnatus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) an endoparasite of Bupalus piniarius (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Annales Entomologici Fennici 47: 77–93.

Yang X., Huang Z.P., Cui L.W., Dal Pos D., Reshchikov A. & Xiao W. 2024. A new record of Coelichneumon rufofemoratus (Cameron, 1903) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Eastern Himalayas, with a checklist of all the species of the genus from the Oriental region. Journal of Insect Biodiversity 50 (2): 32–50. https://doi.org/10.12976/jib/2024.50.2.1

Yoder M.J., Mikó I., Seltmann K.C., Bertone M.A. & Deans A.R. 2010. A gross anatomy ontology for Hymenoptera. PLoS ONE 5: e15991 (8 pages). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015991

Yu D.S., van Achterberg K. & Horstmann K. 2016. World Ichneumonoidea 2015. Taxonomy, biology, morphology and distribution. [Flash drive]. Taxapad®, Vancouver, Canada.

Published
2026-04-21
How to Cite
Yang, X., Reshchikov, A., Kikuchi, N., Riedel, M., & Huang, Z.-P. (2026). Review of the genus Acantholabus Heinrich (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). European Journal of Taxonomy, 1052(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1052.3263
Issue
Vol. 1052 (2026)
Section
Research article

Copyright (c) 2026 Xia Yang, Alexey Reshchikov, Namiki Kikuchi, Matthias Riedel, Zhi-Pang Huang

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Copyright Notices

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are NOT PERMITTED to post their submitted work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) prior to publication, as it may lead to nomenclatural issues.