Wednesday 10 August 2016

Indothrix brevicornis: A new species of Cuckoo Wasp from Zhejiang Province, China.

Cuckoo Wasps, Chrysididae, are a widespread and diverse group of Wasps, noted for their kleptoparasitic habits; that is to say that, like many Wasps they lay their eggs inside the paralized bodies of other Insects and Arachnids stored in nests, but unlike these Wasps they do not catch their own prey, but rather lay their eggs inside the victims of other parasitic Wasps, the Cuckoo Wasp larvae then eating both the prey and the larvae of the original Wasp. 

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 2 August 2016, Shuang-Shuang Li and Zai-Fu Xu of the Department of Entomology at the South China Agricultural University describe a new species of Cuckoo Wasp from Zhejiang Province in eastern China.

The new species is placed in the genus Indothrix, which has previously only been recorded in southern India and Sri Lanka, and given the specific name brevicornis, 'short-horned'. in reference to the short antenae of the species. Indothrix brevicornis is described from a single male specimen collected in Hangzhou (the capitol of the province). The species is a dull brownish-black in colour (which is unusual, most Cuckoo Wasps are metalic green in colour) and 3.4 mm in length.

Indothrix brevicornis, male specimen in ventral view. Li & Fu (2016).

See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/holopsenella-primotica-new-species-of.htmlHolopsenella primotica: A new species of Bethylid Wasp from Early Cretaceous Lebanese Amber.                                      Bethylid Wasps are a diverse group of...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/trieces-etuokensis-new-species-of.htmlTrieces etuokensis: A new species of Ichneumon Wasp from Qinghai Province, China.                                                   Ichneumon Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (Wasps whose parasitic larvae grow within the body of a living host) that target a wide range of hosts, including Spiders, Beetles, Butterflies and Moths, and even other Wasps. Most species target the larvae of other...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/philoctetes-longiflagellis-philoctetes.htmlPhiloctetes longiflagellis & Philoctetes simulator, two new species of Cuckoo Wasps from China.                                                                    Cuckoo Wasps, Chrysididae, are brightly coloured and usually metallic Wasps found around the world, but most abundant in desert areas. They...
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