Five new species of Phaenocarpa Foerster 1863 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Alysiinae) from South Korea

NEWS - Sharp teeth parasitoid wasp (Phaenocarpa acutidentata sp. nov.), false tacita parasitoid wasp (Phaenocarpa tacitoides sp. nov.), erect seta parasitoid wasp (Phaenocarpa setosa sp. nov.), tail stretched out parasitoid wasp (Phaenocarpa tanycauda sp. nov.) and narrow head parasitoid wasp (Phaenocarpa angusticeps sp. nov.), Sohn & van Achterberg, are new to science.

Alysiinae is a large taxon in the family Braconidae encompassing 2,440+ valid species worldwide. Alysiinae is divided into Alysiini and Dacnusini with 76 and 31 genera respectively. In South Korea, 270 species in 21 genera have been recorded, 132 in Alysiini and 138 in Dacnusini.

Phaenocarpa Foerster 1863 includes 231 species in 9 subgenera. Phaenocarpa species are known as Coinobiont endoparasitoids, mainly parasitizing the larvae of various dipteran families, such as Anthomyiidae, Chloropidae, Clusiidae, Drosophilidae, Muscidae, Scathophagidae, Sciomyzidae, Syrphidae and Muscidae.

A total of 586 bp of the COI fragments were sequenced from P. tacita Stelfox 1941, P. acutidentata, P. tacitoides, P. setosa, P. tanycauda, and P. angusticeps. Pairwise distances were estimated by using the P-distance model with the option for pairwise deletion. Interspecific distance ranged from 0.053 to 0.268 (average 0.131).

Phaenocarpa has the third antennal segment shorter than the fourth segment; forewing vein 2–SR shorter than vein 3–SR, vein CU1b longer than vein 3–CU1; vein 1-M of hindwing relatively long. Koinobiont endoparasitoid of larvae of Diptera species.

Sharp teeth parasitoid wasp (P. acutidentata) is similar to P. telengai Belokobylskij 1998, but the third tooth is clearly recognizable and sharply protrudes like the first tooth (vs. only the second tooth is narrow and sharp in P. telengai), the first flagelomere is 4.2 × longer than wide (vs., 2.8–3.0 ×) and the hind femur is 4.2 × longer than wide (vs. 4.7–5.0 ×).

Holotype ♀, body 2.8 mm in lateral view, forewings 2.6 mm, ovipositor sheath 1.4 mm in lateral view, antennae 3.4 mm (apical part of antenna missing). The specific name acutidentata refers to 'sharp teeth' in Latin.

The false tacita parasitoid wasp (P. tacitoides) differs from other Phaenocarpa species in that the forewing veins are much more distal (1.4 × longer than they are wide).

This species is similar to P. tacita Stelfox 1941, but differs in that the apical antennal segment is paler than the subbasal segment, and the first tooth is mandibularly lobed, dorsally broad, 1.7 × as long as the third tooth (vs. the first mandibular tooth is acute and as long as the third tooth in P. tacita).

Holotype ♀, body 1.7 mm in lateral view, forewings 2.0 mm, ovipositor sheath 0.5 mm, antennae 1.5 mm. The specific name tacitoides is based on P. tacita and the suffix -oides added because of its similarity to this species (“oides” in Latin means “resembling”).

The erect seta of the parasitoid wasp (P. setosa) is close to that of P. micula Belokobylskij 1998, as it has the same width of the first flagelomere (3.0–3.5 × in P. micula), deep and fine notauli, and wide first tergite.

However, the new species has a metanotum that is not prominent (vs. prominent like teeth in P. micula), upper mandibular teeth separated from middle teeth (vs. not separated), lower mandibular teeth angular (vs. rounded), hind tibiae partially erect and setose, head width 1.7 × greater than its median length (vs. 2.0–2.2 ×), second flagelomere 2.0 × longer than first flagelomere (vs. 1.5–1.6 ×).

Holotype ♀, body 2.8 mm in lateral view, fore wing 2.7 mm, ovipositor sheath 1.3 mm, antenna 3.8 mm (but apical parts missing). Specific name “setos” based on erect seta on hind tibia.

Tail stretched out parasitoid wasp (P. tanycauda) is close to P. chasanica Belokobylskij 1998 in having a second flagelomere that is 1.4–1.5 × longer than the first flagelomere (vs. the same length in P. chasanica). Head width is 1.8 × its median length in dorsal view (vs. 1.8–2.0 ×). In mandibles, first and second teeth are not clearly separated.

Hind femur is 5.0–5.5 × as long as it is wide. Head and mesosoma are black (vs. head and mesosoma are yellowish brown) and tarsal claws are thick and short (vs. tarsal claws are thin and relatively long). Relatively long ovipositor sheath (1.2 × longer than mesosoma and 1.4 × longer than hind tibia) and median part of face is rugose.

Holotype ♀, body 2.5 mm in lateral view, fore wing 2.5 mm, ovipositor sheath 1.0 mm, antenna 3.9 mm. The specific name tanycauda is based on the long ovipositor sheath; tanyo in Greek means outstretched, cauda in Latin means tail.

The narrow-headed parasitoid wasp (P. angusticeps) differs from all Phaenocarpa species in having a narrow surface, 0.9 × from the ventral edge of the antennal socket to the upper edge of the cliseus (1.2–1.6 × in other species). The second flagelomere is 1.1 × longer than the first flagelomere (1.2–2.0 × in other species).

Holotype ♀, body 2.4 mm in lateral view, fore wing 2.7 mm, ovipositor sheath 0.8 mm, antenna 3.5 mm. The specific name of angusticeps is angustus in Latin means narrow, ceps in Latin means head.

Phaenocarpa in Korea is a large group with 231 species in 9 subgenera, but only 9 species have been recorded so far. With the addition of 5 new species and one European species, there are now 15 species of Phaenocarpa in Korea. Unfortunately, all species in this study are females and records of males have not been confirmed.

Original research

Sohn J-H, van Achterberg C, Kim S, Kim H (2024). Five new species and one new record of the genus Phaenocarpa Foerster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Alysiinae) from South Korea. ZooKeys 1217: 173-193, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1217.129916

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