Eight new Palaearctic wasps species of Apsilocera Bouček 1956, female and 2 species for the first time described

NEWS - The researchers reviewed 12 Palaearctic species of Apsilocera Bouček 1956 with 8 new species described, the female Apsilocera verticillata Bouček 1956 was described for the first time, Apsilocera dupla Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013 and A. elongata Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013 were recorded from the Palaearctic for the first time.

The pteromalid genus Apsilocera Bouček 1956 with the type species A. verticillata Bouček 1956 belongs to the family Pteromalidae, subfamily Pteromalinae and is distributed in the Nearctic, Palaearctic, Oriental and Australian regions. It currently includes 19 species with only A. bramleyi Graham 1966 and A. verticillata Bouček 1956 found in the Palaearctic region.

Another species A. breviscapus Bouček 1993 is distributed in the Nearctic region. Three species, A. australis Bouček 1988, A. bidens (Bouček, 1988) and A. brevis (Bouček, 1988) are distributed in the Australian region.

Thirteen other species are distributed in the Eastern region: A. acuticristata Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. bicristata Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. brevivena Xiao & Huang 2001, A. cornuta Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. dentata Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. dupla Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. elongata Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. fulvipennis Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. longicornis Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013, A. pallikava Mitroiu & Achterberg, 2013 and A. tuberculata Mitroiu & Achterberg 2013.

Unfortunately, the biology of most Apsilocera species is unknown, but most were collected near dead trees in forests. Only A. bramleyi is known to parasitize small diptera of the family Cecidomyiidae: Cecidomyia sp. and Mycocecis ovalis Edwards 1922.

The eight new species are Ray Douglas Bradbury wasp (Apsilocera bradburyi) Tselikh, Lee & Ku (Republic of Korea), Buddha wasp (A. budai) Tselikh, Lee & Ku (Republic of Korea), elegant wasp (A. eleganta) Tselikh, Haas & Ku (Republic of Korea, Sweden), wide stigma wasp (A. grandistigma) Tselikh, Lee & Ku (Republic of Korea).

Jeju Island wasp (A. jejuensis) Tselikh, Lee & Ku (Republic of Korea), Marina Kopylova wasp (A. marina) Tselikh, Lee & Ku (Republic of Korea), Totoro wasp (A. totoroi) Tselikh, Haas & Ku (Germany, Japan, Sweden) and Vladimir Trjapitzin wasp (A. triapitzini) Tselikh, Haas & Ku (Russia, Republic of Korea, Sweden).

Original research

Tselikh EV, Lee J, Haas M, Mitroiu M-D, Ku D-S (2024). Review of the Palaearctic species of Apsilocera Bouček, 1956 (Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae), with descriptions of the eight new species. ZooKeys 1215: 259-288, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1215.128603

Dlium theDlium

Crested blue ear (Cyanotis cristata)

Crested blue ear ( Cyanotis cristata ) is a species of plant in the Commelinaceae, a fleshy and strong herb, growing as a vine. Leaves 8 cm long, 2.5 cm wide, oblong, rounded or heart-shaped base, blunt or pointed tip, sparsely ciliated at the edge; sheath loose, up to 8 mm long, scaly. C. cristata has flowers 6-7 mm in diameter. Calyx tube 2 mm long, lobes 2-2.5 mm long, hairy. Corolla pale blue to purple, 6 mm long. Stamen filaments bearded, purple. Ovary rounded, hairy at the apex. Capsules 2-3 mm long, ovate. Seeds about 1 mm long, trigonous, 2 large holes on either side. This species grows in grasslands, degraded forest areas, wastelands, waterways and roadsides. C. cristata is found in wet rocky areas, moist soils, grasslands, ravines and riverbanks. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Liliopsida Order: Commelinales Family: Commelinaceae Subfamily: Commelinoideae Tribe: Tradescantieae Genus: Cyanotis Species: Cyanotis cristata

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius

Durian (Durio zibethinus)

Durian ( Durio zibethinus ) is a species of tropical plant in Malvaceae, an annual tree, everlasting green but there are certain times to grow new leaves after the fruiting period is over, popularly called "king of fruit" and considered a controversial fruit where many people like, but some others are even fed up with the scent. D. zibethinus grows to 25-50 m, reddish brown bark and irregular peeling, leafy and stretched canopy. The leaves are oval shaped to lanceolate, 10-15x3-4.5 cm, sitting alternately, stemmed, taper or blunt base and taper-pointed sloping, bright green upper side, the lower side covered with silver or golden scales. Flowers and fruit Flowers appear directly on the trunk or old branches at the proximal, clustered in panicles containing 3-10 florets or flat-shaped florets. Rounded flower buds, 2 cm in diameter and long stem. Tubular petals, 3 cm long, additional petals split into 2-3 round lobes. Crown shaped spatula with a length of 2 times the ...

Dlium