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

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