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

Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Screw tree ( Helicteres isora ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae family. It is a shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters tall. It has gray bark and alternate leaves, up to 22 cm long and 17 cm wide, oval in shape, with serrated edges and hairs. The flowers are red or white and reach a total length of 5.5 cm. The fruit is green when unripe, brown or gray when dry, twisted, spiral-shaped, and pointed at the tip. The seeds are black or brown, shiny, and diagonal, triangular, or rectangular. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Subfamily: Helicteroideae Tribe: Helictereae Genus: Helicteres Pluk. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) Species: Helicteres isora L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Helicteres baruensis var. ovata DC. in Prodr. 1: 476 (1824) Helicteres chrysocalyx Miq. ex Mast. in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 365 (1874) Helicteres corylifolia Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn in Rev. Hortus Malab....

Breng (Coldenia breng)

Breng ( Coldenia breng ) is a species of plant in the Boraginaceae family. It is a herbaceous plant that grows along the ground, with radial, cylindrical stems, red, multi-branched, alternate, and white-haired. C. breng has alternate leaves along the stem, oval to nearly round, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 1.5 cm wide, and white-haired. This plant grows in floodplains, seasonally inundated riverbanks, and drying rice fields. It thrives in sandy or silty soils and is drought-tolerant. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Subfamily: Cordioideae Genus: Coldenia L. in Sp. Pl.: 125 (1753) Species: Coldenia breng Aryo Bandoro Dlium TheDlium YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Kunu buti (Mesosphaerum suaveolens)

Kunu buti ( Mesosphaerum suaveolens ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect, herbaceous annual, growing up to 1.5 meters tall. Its cylindrical, rough, brown or green stem is hairy and white. It grows on forest floors, bushes, agricultural fields, and roadsides. Its roots are fibrous and brownish-yellow. M. suaveolens has single, opposite leaves, stalks 2-5 cm long and hairy. The leaf blades are green, hairy, oval, with pointed tips, blunt bases, serrated edges, up to 6 cm long, up to 5 cm wide, and pinnate veins. The flowers are compound, axillary, in clusters, perfect, and bisexual. The petals are attached, forming a tube, each tip elongated like a spine, soft, 3-10 mm long, and green. The corolla is attached, asymmetrically detached, 1-2 cm long, and purple. The fruit is single, hard, capsule-shaped, hairy on the surface, and green or brown in color. The seeds are round, small and blackish brown in color. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphyl...

Dlium