Monday 2 February 2015

A new species of Ichneumon Wasp from Qinghai Province, China.


Ichneumon Wasps of the genus Campoplex are parasitiods of Beetles and Moths (i.e. their larvae live inside Beetles and Moths, eating their living host as they mature) found predominantly in Europe and Western Asia, with species also recorded from East and Southeast Asia, North America and Africa. Eleven species have previously been recorded from China.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 18 December 2014, Yu-Xiang Zhao of the The Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation at Beijing Forestry University and the General Station of Forest Pest Management of the State Forestry Administration and Mao-Ling Sheng also of the General Station of Forest Pest Management of the State Forestry Administration, describe a new species of Campoplex from Qinghai Province in China.

The new species is named Campoplex bazariae, in reference to its host species the Moth Bazaria turensis. Females of the Wasp are 7.5-8.0 mm in length, males 8.0-8.2 mm. Both are predominantly black with some brown areas.

Female Campoplex bazariae inlateral view. Zhao & Sheng (2014).

The species was discovered while investigating an outbreak of Bazaria turensis (a form of Snout Moth) in a forest in Qinghai. The Wasps emerged from the cocoons of the Moths, both within clusters of leaves in the tree canopy and buried in soil on the forest floor.

See also…

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/two-new-species-of-ichneumon-wasps-from.htmlTwo new species of Ichneumon Wasps from Fennoscandia and Hungary.                                    Ichneumon Wasps are parasitoids whose larvae develop on or in the bodies of other Arthropods, typically Insects or Spiders. Since Insect species are always described from adult specimens, species of parasitoid Wasps are generally named from specimens taken from the wild as adults, and the larval host of often unknown. However some scientists have developed an alternative method...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/two-new-species-of-ichneumon-wasps-from.htmlTwo new species of Ichneumon Wasps from Africa.                                                             Ichneumon Wasps are large parasitoid Wasps (the largest species can exceed 5 cm) closely related to Braconids. They are noted for their reproductive behaviour, in which the females sting another Insect or...
Ichneumon Wasps are a group of highly specialized...


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