Revision of Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Scelionidae) of the Indian region with descriptions of new species

  • Kamalanathan Veenakumari ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, P.B. No. 2491, Hebbal, Bengaluru, India
  • Anandhan Rameshkumar Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
  • Sreedevi Kolla ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, P.B. No. 2491, Hebbal, Bengaluru, India
  • Satya Nand Sushil ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, P.B. No. 2491, Hebbal, Bengaluru, India
  • Duleep Kumar Samuel Division of Plant Pathology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, India
  • Puthuvayi Girish Kumar Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Kozhikode, India
  • Farmanur Rahman Khan Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
  • Prashanth Mohanraj ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, P.B. No. 2491, Hebbal, Bengaluru, India
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1088.3319
Keywords: biodiversity, crickets, Dicroscelio, Oriental, taxonomy

Abstract

The genus Calliscelio (Platygastroidea: Scelionidae) of the Indian region is revised. Ten new species of Calliscelio, viz., Calliscelio abbakkae Veenakumari sp. nov., C. brennanae Veenakumari sp. nov., C. gulika Veenakumari sp. nov., C. heramba Veenakumari sp. nov., C. kaliya Veenakumari sp. nov., C. obavvae Veenakumari sp. nov., C. pinaki Veenakumari sp. nov., C. shesha Veenakumari sp. nov., C. sundari Veenakumari sp. nov. and C. ulupi Veenakumari sp. nov. are described from India. Eight species previously known from this region are redescribed: Calliscelio agaliensis Narendran & Ramesh Babu, 1999, C. carinatus Narendran & Ramesh Babu, 1999, C. coorgensis Sharma, 1982, C. glabratus Rajmohana, 2014, C. indicus Narendran & Ramesh Babu, 1999, C. longicarinatus Narendran & Ramesh Babu, 1999, C. orientalis Sharma, 1978, and C. rugosus Rajmohana & Peter, 2012. Two species have been synonymized: Calliscelio tiro Kozlov & Lê, 2000 syn. nov. is treated as a junior synonym of C. orientalis Sharma, 1978; and Calliscelio urgo Kozlov & Lê, 2000 syn. nov. is treated as a junior synonym of C. indicus Narendran & Ramesh Babu, 1999. Dicroscelio emarginatus (Narendran & Ramesh Babu, 1999) comb. nov. is transferred from Calliscelio Ashmead. A new species group – the elegans species group – is proposed. The previously described C. coromandelensis has been excluded from this genus. Keys to the females and known males of the Indian species of Calliscelio are furnished along with illustrations.

References

Ashmead W.H. 1893. A monograph of the North American Proctotrypidae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 45: 1–472. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.03629236.45.1

Chen H-y, Masner L. & Johnson N.F. 2017. New World species of the genus Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Scelioninae). ZooKeys 648: 1–136. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.648.10935

Debnath R., Rajmohana K. & Peter A. 2024. New species and new combination in Calotelea Westwood, 1837 (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) from India. European Journal of Taxonomy 968: 200–218. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.968.2729

Harris R.A. 1979. A glossary of surface sculpturing. Occasional Papers in Entomology 28: 1–31. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.26215

Hill R.L. 1983. Two egg parasites (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) of the black field cricket, Teleogryllus commodus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 10: 57–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.1983.10423890

Johnson N.F. 1992. Catalog of world Proctotrupoidea excluding Platygastridae. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 51: 1–825. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23657

Johnson N.F., Chen H. & Huber B.A. 2018. New species of Idris Forster (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea) from southeast Asia, parasitoids of the eggs of pholcid spiders (Araneae, Pholcidae). ZooKeys 811: 65–80. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.811.29725

Kieffer J.J. 1926. Scelionidae. Das Tierreich Vol. 48. Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin.

Lê X.H. 2000. Egg-parasites of Family Scelionidae (Hymenoptera). Fauna of Vietnam, Vol. 3. Science and Technics Publishing House, Hanoi.

Mani M.S. & Sharma S.K. 1982. Proctotrupoidea (Hymenoptera) from India. A review. Oriental Insects 16: 135–258. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23680

Masner L. 1972. The classification and interrelationships of Thoronini (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea, Scelionidae). The Canadian Entomologist 104: 833–849. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent104833-6

Masner L. 1976. Revisionary notes and keys to world genera of Scelionidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotru-poidea). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 97: 1–87. https://doi.org/10.4039/entm10897fv

Masner L. 1980. Key to genera of Scelionidae of the Holarctic region, with descriptions of new genera and species (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada 113: 1–54. https://doi.org/10.4039/entm112113fv

Masner L., Johnson N. F. & Musetti L. 2009. Calliscelio elegans (Perkins), a tramp species, and a review of the status of the genus Caenoteleia Kieffer (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae). Zootaxa 2237: 59–66. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2237.1.4

MBD. Ohio State University’s Museum of Biological Diversity database. Available from https://mbd-p.asc.ohio-state.edu/hol/ [accessed 30 Apr. 2025].

Mikó I., Vilhelmsen L., Johnson N.F., Masner L. & Pénzes Z. 2007. Skeletomusculature of Scelionidae (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea): head and mesosoma. Zootaxa 1571: 1–78. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1571.1.1

Mikó I., Masner L. & Deans A.R. 2010. World revision of Xenomerus Walker (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea, Platygastridae). Zootaxa 2708: 1–73. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2708.1.1

Narendran T.C. 1998. A new species and a key to species of Calotelea Westwood (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) from India. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of Calcutta 51 (1): 70–74.

Narendran T.C. & Ramesh Babu M.G. 1999. A systematic study of six new species of Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) of India with a key to Indian species. Journal of the Zoological Society of Kerala 6–7: 1–10.

Perkins R.C.L. 1910. Supplement to Hymenoptera. Fauna Hawaiiensis 2: 600–686. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23706

Popovici O.A., Fallahzadeh M., Saghaei N., Copeland R. & Talamas E.J. 2024. A new species-group in Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) takes shape. Zootaxa 5463 (2): 201–214. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5463.2.2

Rajmohana K. 2006. Studies on Proctotrupoidea and Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera: Insecta) of Kerala. Memoirs of the Zoological Survey of India 21 (1): 1–153.

Rajmohana K. 2014. A systematic inventory of Scelioninae and Teleasinae (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) in the rice ecosystems of North central Kerala. Memoirs of Zoological Survey of India 22: 1–72.

Rajmohana K. & Peter A. 2012. A new species of Calliscelio Ashmead (Platygastridae: Hymenoptera: Insecta) from India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 112 (1): 75–79. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v112/i1/2012/122118

Rajmohana K., Peter A. & Narendran T.C. 2013. First record of the male of the widespread Calliscelio elegans (Perkins) (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae) along with some taxonomic notes on the species. Biodiversity Data Journal 1: e983. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.1.e983

Saraswat G.G. & Sharma S.K. 1978. On some Scelionidae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea) from India. Memoirs of the School of Entomology 5: 1–46.

Sharma S.K. 1982. On some Scelionidae (Proctotrupoidea: Hymenoptera) from India. Records of Zoological Survey of India 79: 319–342. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v79/i3-4/1981/161730

Talamas E.J., Johnston-Jordan D. & Buffington M.L. 2016. Calliscelio Ashmead expands (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 118: 404–423. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.118.3.404

Yoder M.J., Valerio A.A., Polaszek A., van Noort S., Masner L. & Johnson N.F. 2014. Monograph of the Afrotropical species of Scelio Latreille (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae), egg parasitoids of acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera, Acrididae). ZooKeys 380: 1–188. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.380.5755

Published
2026-08-25
How to Cite
Veenakumari, K., Rameshkumar, A., Kolla, S., Sushil, S. N., Samuel, D. K., Girish Kumar, P., Khan, F. R., & Mohanraj, P. (2026). Revision of Calliscelio Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Scelionidae) of the Indian region with descriptions of new species. European Journal of Taxonomy, 1088(1), 1–67. https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2026.1088.3319
Issue
Vol. 1088 (2026)
Section
Monograph

Copyright (c) 2026 Kamalanathan Veenakumari, Anandhan Rameshkumar, Sreedevi Kolla, Satya Nand Sushil, Duleep Kumar Samuel, Puthuvayi Girish Kumar, Farmanur Rahman Khan, Prashanth Mohanraj

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.