A new genus of Tetracampidae (Hymenoptera) from South Africa

  • Alex Gumovsky Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, 15 Bogdan Khmelnitsky St., 01601 Kiev-30
Keywords: Afrotropical, Chalcidoidea, parasitoids, new genus, taxonomy

Abstract

Afrocampe gen. nov. is described for its only species, A. prinslooi gen. et sp. nov., from Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa. This new genus is recognized as a member of the subfamily Tetracampinae Förster, 1856 of Tetracampidae Förster, 1856 based on the possession of 5-segmented tarsi in females and 4-segmented tarsi in males, the short straight calcar, the mesoscutum with distinct notauli, the mesoscutellum with two pairs of setae, the reduced mesopleural suture and the short stigmal and long postmarginal veins of the fore wing. Afrocampe gen. nov. is characterized by a large mesosoma, a non-convex first gastral tergite, an evenly acute calcar, a 5-segmented antennal funicle, a head lacking occipital carina and facial grooves and a long fore wing with distinctly delimited speculum, a bare admarginal area with a distinct admarginal row of setae on the underside and with 3 setal tracks (hair rows) radiating from the apex of the stigmal vein. The combination of these characters suggests a special status of the new genus within the subfamily Tetracampinae. Moreover, Afrocampe gen. nov. bears some resemblance to the Australian tetracampine genus Niticampe Bouček, 1988. The position of the latter in Tetracampinae, as well as habitus features of the former, are discussed.

References

Bouček Z. 1958. Revision der europäischen Tetracampidae (Hym. Chalcidoidea) mit einem Katalog der Arten der Welt. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 32: 41–90.

Bouček Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). A Biosystematic Revision of Genera of fourteen Families, with a Reclassification of Species. CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK and Cambrian News Ltd, Aberystwyth, Wales, UK.

Cowling R.M. & Holmes P.M. 1992. Endemism and speciation in a lowland flora from the Cape Floristic Region. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 47: 367–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1992.tb00675.x

Cowling R.M., MacDonald I.A.W. & Simmons M.T. 1996. The Cape Peninsula, South Africa: physiographical, biological and historical background to an extraordinary hot-spot of biodiversity. Biodiversity and Conservation 5: 527–550. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00137608

Gibson G. 1997. Morphology and terminology. In: Gibson G.A.P, Huber J.T. & Woolley J.B. (eds) Annotated Keys to the Genera of Nearctic Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera): 16–44. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Gumovsky A. 2016. A review of genera and described Afrotropical species of Tetracampinae (Hymenoptera: Tetracampidae), with description of a new genus from East Central Africa. Zootaxa 4111 (4): 393–420. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4111.4.4

Heraty J.M., Burks R.A., Cruaud A., Gibson G.A.P., Liljeblad J., Munro J., Rasplus J.-Y., Delvare G., Jansta P., Gumovsky A., Huber J., Woolley J.B., Krogmann L., Heydon S., Polaszek A., Schmidt S., Darling D.C., Gates M.E., Mottern J., Murray E., DalMolin A., Triapitsyn S., Baur H., Pinto J.D., van Noort S., George J. & Yoder M.A. 2013. A phylogenetic analysis of the megadiverse Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). Cladistics 29: 466–542. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12006

Munro J.B., Heraty J.M., Burks R.A., Hawks D., Mottern J., Cruaud A., Rasplus J.-Y. & Jansta P. 2011. A molecular phylogeny of the Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). PLoS ONE 6 (11): e27023. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0027023

Noyes J.S. 2018. Universal Chalcidoidea Database. WWW publication, the Natural History Museum, London. Available from http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/chalcidoids/index.html [accessed 10 Jan. 2018].

Olson D.M., Dinerstein E., Wikramanayake E.D., Burgess N.D., Powell G.V.N., Underwood E.C., D’amico J.A., Itoua I., Strand H.E., Morrison J.C., Loucks C.J., Allnutt T.F., Ricketts T.H., Kura Y., Lamoreux J.F., Wettengel W.W., Hedao P. & Kassem K.R. 2001. Terrestrial ecoregions of the World: a New Map of Life on Earth: a new global map of terrestrial ecoregions provides an innovative tool for conserving biodiversity. BioScience 51 (11): 933–938. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2

Sugonjaev E.S. & Voinovich N.D. 2003. On the geographic distribution and host linkages of phytophagous chalcids of the subfamily Mongolocampinae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Tetracampidae) living on Nitraria spp. (Nitrariaceae), with descriptions of their immature stages. Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 82 (2): 310–320, 529.

Yoshimoto C.M. 1975. Cretaceous chalcidoid fossils from Canadian amber. The Canadian Entomologist 107: 499–528. https://doi.org/10.4039/Ent107499-5

Published
2018-06-26
How to Cite
Gumovsky, A. (2018). A new genus of Tetracampidae (Hymenoptera) from South Africa. European Journal of Taxonomy, (447). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2018.447