Chelonus spinigaster: A new species of Braconid Wasp from Uttar Pradesh.

Moths of the Family Gracillariidae are found throughout the world except on Antarctica and some remote islands. Their larvae are leaf-miners, worm-like caterpillars that live in tunnels inside leaves. This makes these Moths significant agricultural pests, and considerable amounts of research have been dedicated to finding ways to control them. One of the most successful methods of reducing Mining Moth populations is the deliberate introduction of parasitoid predators, Insects (usually Wasps) which lay their eggs on or in the leaf-mining caterpillar, which the parasitoid larvae then consume. Since most parasitoids target only a single prey species, which is an advantage when introducing a biological control, as it makes them highly unlikely to target unintended species. However, before this can be done, suitable parasitoids need to be identified, something which has not been done in every part of the world.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 12 February 2018, Zubair Ahmad of the Department of Biology at King Khalid University, and Hamed Ghramh, also of the Department of Biology, and of the Research Centre for Advance materials Science, at King Khalid University, describe a new species of Braconid Wasp targetting Acrocercops lysibathra, a Mining Moth which feeds on a number of fruiting trees in India, a country where parasitoid-prey relationships have been little studied.

Braconid Wasps are small parasitoid wasps (Wasps whose larvae grow inside the bodies of a living animal host) targeting a variety of Insect and Spider species. They are unusual in that they will lay multiple eggs within the same host (most parasitoid Wasps lay a single egg on each host), thereby allowing multiple larvae to mature within a large host, which is not necessarily killed in the process. Braconid Wasps are often fearsome in appearance, but are harmless, other than to targeted host species, as they lack stings.

The new species is placed in the genus Chelonus and given the specific name spinigaster, meaning 'spiney tail'. The species is described from eight female and fourteen females collected from Acrocercops lysibathra caterpillars living on Cordia latifolia (Sebesten Fruit) trees at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. These are small Wasps, reaching about 2.4 mm, black in colour with yellow and brown markings, with a rugose (corrugated) epidermis.

Chelonus spinigaster, female specimen. Ahmed & Ghramh (2018).

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A new species of Braconid Wasp from Madagascar.

Braconid Wasps are small parasitic Wasps which can typically lay several eggs on a large host species (typically another Insect or Spider). The larval Wasps grow inside the host, before emerging to pupate on its surface; unusually for parasitic Wasps the host is not usually killed. Braconid Wasps of the Afro-tropical region are very poorly understood, with little taxonomic sampling in many areas, and no overall phylogenetic analysis of relationships between different groups having been carried out to date.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 16 July 2014, Miles Zhang and Barbara Sharanowski of the Department of Entomology at the University of Manitoba, describe a new species of Braconid Wasp from the Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar.

The new species is placed in the genus Eudiospilus, which currently contains only a single species found in Cameroon and Angola, and is given the specific name rubrumbarus, meaning ‘Red Baron’ in honour of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, due to the resemblance of the head colouration to a leather aviator helmet. Eudiospilus rubrumbarus is described from two female specimens. These are 6.5 mm in length and bright yellow in colour except for the head which is black.

Eudiospilus rubrumbarus in lateral view. Zhang & Sharanowski (2014).

See also…

 Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Andean forests of Ecuador.

Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (i.e. Wasps whose larvae mature inside the living bodies of other insects, which generally die as a result) related to the more familiar Ichneumon Wasps, but much smaller. They have a formidable appearance, but are in fact stingless, making them harmless to non-host species. There are about...

 Four new species of Braconid Wasp from China.

Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (i.e. Wasps whose larvae mature inside the living bodies of other insects, which generally die as a result) related to the more familiar Ichneumon Wasps, but much smaller. They have a formidable appearance, but are in fact stingless, making them harmless to non-host species. There are about 150 000 known species found across the globe.

 Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East.

Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (Wasp's whose larvae grow inside the bodies of other insects) related to Ichneumon Wasps, but...


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A new species of Drydinid Wasp from South Korea.

Drydinid Wasps (Dryinidae) are small (under 10 mm) solitary Wasps found across the globe. Their larvae are parasitoids (i.e. the develop inside the body of a living host), typically of Leafhoppers and other True Bugs (Hemiptera). Drydinid larvae are unusual in that they often outgrow their hosts, protruding from the host body in a sac-like case. Male adult Drydinids are typical Wasps, but the females often lack wings and resemble Ants.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 15 March 2013, Chang-Jun Kim and Jong-Wook Lee of the Department of Life-Sciences at Yeungnam University describe a new species of Drydinid Wasp from South Korea, as part of a wider study into Drydinid Wasps of the genus Anteon in South Korea.

The new species is given the name Anteon magnatum, meaning large and wide. Anteon magnatum is a 6.38 mm black and dark brown Drydinid Wasp. As with all members of the genus Anteon, the females are winged and Wasp-like rather than wingless and Ant-like. The species is described from eight specimens, all female, collected from across South Korea.

Anteon magnatum, female in lateral view. Scale bar is 1 mm. Kim & Lee (2013).

See also An invasive American Paper Wasp in northern Spain, A new species of Platygastrid Wasp from South Dakota, A Chalcid Wasp from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, Four new species of Wasp from Cretaceous amber and Two new species of Potter Wasps from Yunnan Province, China.

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A new species of Platygastrid Wasp from South Dakota.

Platygastrid Wasps (Platygastridae) are small (1-2 mm), exclusively parasitic black Wasps that target Gall Midges, Beetles, True Bugs or occasionally Spider. They are widespread around the world, with over 4200 described species, which probably only represents a fraction of their diversity, since they are typically only noticed when they target species considered agricultural pests.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 19 March 2013, Paul Johnson of the Insect Biodiversity Lab at South Dakota State University, Peter Buhl of Ølsted in Denmark and Veronica Calles Torrez, also of the Insect Biodiversity Lab at South Dakota State University, describe a new species of Platygastrid Wasp, discovered during a study of the Gall Midge Chilophaga virgati growing on Dakota Switch Grass.

The new species is placwed in the genus Platygaster and given the specific name  Platygaster chilophagae, a reference to its host. It is a 1-1.25 mm black Wasp, found parasitizing a serious pest of Dakota Switch Grass, both for the damage it causes itself and for a fungal infection that it spreads. However it cannot be determined that the Wasp is a potential biological control of the Gall Midge, since while the Midge are typically specific to their host plants, Platygastrid Wasps will often target a range of species.

Platygaster chilophagae, female, body in dorsal view. Scale bar is 100 μm. Johnson et al. (2013).

See also A Chalcid Wasp from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, Four new species of Wasp from Cretaceous amber, Two new species of Potter Wasps from Yunnan Province, China, An early Woodwasp from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil and A new species of Chalcid Wasp from the Western Ghats of Kerala State, India.

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Two new species of Potter Wasps from Yunnan Province, China.

Potter Wasps are a group of solitary Wasps that get their name from their construction of mud or clay 'pots', which often resemble Greek urns, in which they place their eggs, along with paralyzed prey animals, usually Caterpillars or Spiders, for their young to consume as they grow. Potter Wasps are often large Insects, closely related to Social Wasps, and can be fairly formidable looking, though in fact they are fairly harmless to humans and will usually only sting if severely provoked. In many ecosystems they are considered to be an important control on the populations of plant pests, particularly Caterpillars.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 21 May 2013, Ju You, Bin Chen and Ting-jing Li of the Institute of Entomology & Molecular Biology at the College of Life Sciences at Chongqing Normal University, describe two new species of Potter Wasps from Diqing Prefecture in Yunnan Province in southwest China.

Both new species are placed in the genus Ancistrocerus; the so-called 'hook-horned' Potter Wasps, due to the hooks on the ends of their antennae.  The first new species is named Ancistrocerus transpunctatus, in reference to a row of pits on one of the segments of its abdomen. The species is described from four specimens from two different locations in Weixi County, all male. It is a 7.5-8.0 mm black Wasp with yellow and red markings on parts of its body. 

Ancistrocerus transpunctatus, male specimen. You et al. (2013).

The second species is named Ancistrocerus deqinensis, where deqinensis derives from Dequin County, where the species was discovered. The species is described on the basis of five male specimens from a single location. It is a 7.0-7.8 mm black Wasp, with yellow markings and yellow stripes on its abdomen.

Ancistrocerus deqinensis, male specimen. You et al. (2013).

See also An early Woodwasp from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, A new species of Chalcid Wasp from the Western Ghats of Kerala State, India, A new species of Encyrtid Wasp from the Western Ghats of India, New species of Ichneumon Wasp from Columbia and New species of Ichneumon Wasp from Jalisco State in central Mexico.

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An early Woodwasp from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil.

The Hymenoptera are one of the largest groups of insects, comprising Sawflies, Wasps, Ants and Bees. The earliest members of the group were Sawflies, which appeared around the beginning of the Late Triassic. Sawflies have caterpillar-like larvae that consume plant material, gaining their name from their saw-like ovipositor (egg-laying organ), which is adapted to cutting into plants, where eggs are laid. Woodwasps are considered to be the oldest group of Wasps, descended from Sawflies and ancestral to all other Wasps, and therefore Ants and Bees. They have a needle-like ovipositor, that is used to inject eggs into either a plant or animal host. Wasps, and later Ants and Bees, underwent dramatic evolutionary radiations during the Cretaceous, coinciding with the rise of the flowering plants.

In a paper published in the journal Systematic Entomology on 8 November 2011, Lars Krogmann of the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart and  and André Nel of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris describe a new species of Woodwasp from the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of northeastern Brazil.

The new species is named Cratoenigma articulata, where Cratoenigma means 'enigma from Crato' and articulata refers to an artculation on the upper surface of the thorax. Cratoenigma articulata is an 11 mm Insect preserved in limestone. It is clearly a Woodwasp, but does not appear to belong to any known group of Woodwasps, having a mixture of features from a variety of groups. Krogmann and Nel suggest that this may imply that Cratoenigma articulata is the sister group to all other Woodwasps, and therefore all other Wasps, Ants and Bees.

Cratoenigma articulata. Scale bar is 2 mm. 

See also A Hatchet Wasp preserved in Tertiary amber from Mexico, Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East, A new Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil and Evidence of fungal parasites modifying the behavior of ants from the Eocene Messel Shale.

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A new species of Encyrtid Wasp from the Western Ghats of India.

Entrycid Wasps are a family of highly specialized parasitoid Wasps, primarily targeting members of the Order Hemiptera (True Bugs), but with members of the group adapted to target other parasitoid Wasps (hyperparasitism) and Ticks. Some species exhibit a trait called polyembryony, in which one egg develops into a number of genetically identical individuals, which are (surprisingly) not all physically identical, with some members of the batch growing more rapidly to form a 'soldier cast' that defend the others against rival Wasp larvae, but which never mature and become adults.

In a paper published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 26 August 2012, Sudhir Singh of the Forest Entomology Division at the Forest Research Institute in Uttarakhand and Y.B. Srinivasa of the Institute of Wood Science and Technology in Karnataka describe a new species of Entrycid Wasp from the Western Ghats of India.

The new species is named from a single female, collected by fogging (spraying with insecticide, then collecting everything that falls out an Indian Copal Tree at an altitude of 128 m, near Virajpet in Karnataka State, India. The tree was about 40 m high, with its lowest branch 22 m above the ground; it was fruiting at the time of the study.

The species is placed in the wide-ranging genus Neastymachus, which is known from Asia, Africa, Australia and Central America, and given the specific name punctatiscutellum, due to the punctate reticulate sculpture of the scutellum (network of spots on its back). Neastymachus punctatiscutellum is a   1.65 mm yellowish-white wasp.

(Top) Neastymachus punctatiscutellum in dorsal (above) and lateral (bellow) views. (Bottom) Detail of the scutellum, from which the species takes its name. Singh & Srinivasa (2012).

See also New species of Ichneumon Wasp from Columbia, New species of Ichneumon Wasp from Jalisco State in central Mexico, A Hatchet Wasp preserved in Tertiary amber from Mexico, Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East and Three new species of Braconid Wasp from Peru.

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New species of Ichneumon Wasp from Columbia.

Ichneumon Wasps are a group of highly specialized solitary wasps that lay their eggs inside the bodies of other insects (or, more typically, the larvae of other insects). The Wasp larvae then hatches inside the host, whereupon it proceeds to eat the other insect from within, typically killing its host as it emerges. This is a highly successful, if rather gruesome, survival strategy, and their are over 60 000 described species of Ichneumon Wasps around the world.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 1 August 2012, Andrés Fabián Herrera Flórez of the Department of Entomology at the University of Manitoba describes a new species of Ichneumon Wasp based upon specimens in the insect collection of the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, which were re-examined as part of an undergraduate study on the subfamily Labeninae, which parasitize Beetle Grubs, Lacewings, Spiders, Solitary Bees and Gall Wasps.

The new species is placed in the genus Apechoneura, the only genus of the Labeninae found in the Americas, all other genera being Australian or Australasian in distribution. It is based upon three female specimens collected in the Parque Nacional Natural Amacayacu Caño Mata Matá in 1989, and given the specific name seminigra, meaning 'half-black', due to its colouration. A possibly male specimen is also described, but this is damaged and not included in the formal description of the species. Apechoneura seminigra is a 25 mm orange and black wasp.

Apechoneura seminigra. (Top left) Line drawing of female specimen. (Top right) Line drawing of possible male specimen. (Middle) Photograph of female specimen. (Bottom) Line Drawing of possible male specimen. Herrera Flórez (2012).

See also New species of Ichneumon Wasp from Jalisco State in central Mexico, New species of Leafcutter Bee from Saudi Arabia, A Hatchet Wasp preserved in Tertiary amber from Mexico, Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East and Three new species of Braconid Wasp from Peru. 

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New species of Ichneumon Wasp from Jalisco State in central Mexico.

Ichneumon Wasps are specialist parasites of other insects; typically they lay their eggs in the larvae of other insects, and their larvae then consume their hosts from the inside as they grow, eventually killing the host as they emerge. They are sometimes called Scorpion Wasps due to their elongated abdomens and formidable-looking ovipositors (egg laying organs), which resemble the stings of Scorpions, although they do not actually poses stings. This lifestyle, while gruesome to human observers, is clearly highly successful, with the Ichneumon Wasps being one of the most numerous and widespread groups of insects, with over 60 000 described species. 

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 11 July 2012, Andrey Khalaim of the División de Estudios de Postgrado e Investigación at the Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias at the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas and the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Enrique Ruíz-Cancino and Juana Coronado-Blanco, also of the División de Estudios de Postgrado e Investigación at the Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias at the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas describe a new species of Ichneumon Wasp from Jalisco Province in central Mexico.

The new species is named from a single female Wasp, black, and 12.6 mm in length. It is placed within the subfamily Metopiinae, which are specialist parasites of Caterpillars, in a new genus, Ojuelos, after the municipality of Ojuelos de Jalisco, the capitol of Jalisco State, where the Wasp was discovered, and given the specific name juachicus, after the city of Juachí, where it was found.

Ojuelos juachicus, a new species of Ichneumon Wasp named from a single female specimen found in Jalisco State, Mexico. Khalaim et al. (2012).

See also New species of Leafcutter Bee from Saudi Arabia, A Hatchet Wasp preserved in Tertiary amber from Mexico, Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East, Three new species of Braconid Wasp from Peru and Evidence of fungal parasites modifying the behavior of ants from the Eocene Messel Shale.

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A Hatchet Wasp preserved in Tertiary amber from Mexico.

Hatchet Wasps (Evaniidae) are solitary parasitic Wasps targeting the eggs of Cockroaches. Cockroaches lay their eggs in cases called oothecae which can contain upwards of 40 eggs, Hatchet Wasps lay their eggs inside these cases and the larvae emerge and consume the eggs (strictly speaking this is carnivorey, since the Wasp larvae are external to the eggs, but Hatchet Wasps are closely related to true parasitic Wasps, are presumed to have evolved from such, so they are generally referred to as part of the wider group 'Parasitic Wasps').

The group have a good fossil record, with many excellent specimens preserved in amber. The oldest known specimens are from the Late Jurassic, and the group appears to have undergone a significant evolutionary radiation in the Cretaceous. However the Tertiary fossil record is not so good, making the precise origin of modern genera unclear.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 18 June 2012, John Jennings of the Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Adelaide, Lars Krogmann of the Entomology Department of the Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History and Steven Mew of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The University of Adelaide describe Hatchet Wasp preserved in amber from a mine near Simojovel in  Chiapas State, Mexico.

The precise age of the specimen is unclear, since the sediments that produced it are marine and the ambers there thought to be reworked, but it is thought to be Late Oligocene or Early Miocene in age, or possibly a little older.

The specimen is placed in the extant genus Hyptia, and given the specific name deansi, in honor of Andy Deans of North Carolina State University, an expert on the Evaniidae. The only known specimen of Hyptia deansi is a 5.55 mm female wasp, though Jennings et al. note that there are a considerable number of undescribed insects in Mexican amber in collections around the world.

Hypatia deansi. (1) Left lateral view. (2) Right lateral view. Scale bars are 1 mm. Jennings et al. (2012).

See also Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East, Three new species of Braconid Wasp from Peru, An Eocene False Scorpion from Baltic amber and Evidence of fungal parasites modifying the behavior of ants from the Eocene Messel Shale.

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Three new species of Braconid Wasps from the Late Cretaceous of Magadan Province in the Russian Far East.

Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (Wasp's whose larvae grow inside the bodies of other insects) related to Ichneumon Wasps, but somewhat smaller. They have a fossil record dating back to the Early Cretaceous, though this is somewhat patchy.

In a paper published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica on 17 June 2012, Sergey Belokobylskij of the Museum and Institute of Zoology at the Polish Academy of Sciences describes three new species of Braconid Wasps from mudstones from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian, 99.6-93.5 million years old) Ola Formation of Obeshchayushchiy Spring in Magadan Province in the Russian Far East. 

All three new species are tentatively placed within the Subfamily Protorhyssalinae, previously erected to describe a single species from Late Cretaceous Amber. The new fossils are less complete, and preserved in a rather different way, which prevents confident assignment.

Two of the new species are placed in the new genus Magadanobracon, from Magadan Province and Bracon, the modern genus from which the group gets its name. These are Magadanobracon rasnitsyni, named after Alexandr Pavlovich Rasnitsyn, a noted Russian palaeoentomologist, and Magadanobracon zherikhini, named after Vladimir Vasilievich Zherikhin, another Russian palaeoentomologist and the discoverer of the fossils. The third species is placed in a second new genus, Cretorhyssalus, from Cretaceous and Rhyssalus, another modern genus of Braconids. This is named Cretorhyssalus brevis, 'brevis' meaning 'short' in Latin.

Magadanobracon rasnitsyni. Belokobylskij (2012).

Magadanobracon rasnitsyni is a 3.5 mm Wasp, preserved with a black body and brown limbs and wings. The single known specimen is female.

 Magadanobracon zherikhini. Belokobylskij (2012).

Magadanobracon zherikhini is a 6.4 mm Wasp, very similar to M. rasnitsyni, described from a single male specimen. It is preserved as black with brown thorax and wings.

Cretorhyssalus brevis. Belokobylskij (2012).

Cretorhyssalus brevis is a 2.2 mm wasp described from a single, poorly preserved, male, specimen. It is preserved as a brown Wasp with a black head.

See also Three new species of Braconid Wasp from Peru.

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Three new species of Braconid Wasp from Peru.

Braconid Wasps are parasitoid Wasps (i.e. Wasps whose larvae mature inside the living bodies of other insects, which generally die as a result) related to the more familiar Ichneumon Wasps, but much smaller. They have a formidable appearance, but are in fact stingless, making them harmless to non-host species. There are about 150 000 known species found across the globe.

In a paper published in the journal Zookeys on 21 May 2012, Lidia Sulca of the Natural History Museum at the University of San Marcos and Michael Sharkey of the Department of Entomology at the University of Kentucky describe three new species of Braconid Wasp from Peru.

The first of these species is Sesioctonus huggerti, Huggert's Wasp, named in honor of the late Swedish entomologist Lars Huggert, who collected the single known specimen from Puerto Maldonado in southern Peru in 1984. It is a 5 mm black wasp with yellow markings on the thorax and abdomen.

Sesioctonus huggerti. (1a) Dorsal view. (1b) Lateral view. (1c) Wings. (1d) Detail of (1a). Sulca & Sharkey (2012).

The second new species is named Sesioctonus wayquecha, the Wayquecha Wasp, after the locality where it was discovered (Presumably the Wayqecha Cloud Forest Biological Station, though this isn't specified). It is a 4.3-5.5 mm black wasp with yellowish mouthparts, limbs and mid-body.

Sesioctonus wayquecha. (2a) Lateral view. (2b) Wings. (2c) Detail of abdomen. (2d) Head. (2e) Dorsal view. Sulca & Sharkey (2012).

The third new species is Sesioctonus bina, 'bina' meaning 'wasp' in Shipibo, a language of the Peruvian Amazon. This is described from a single, female, specimen from San Pedro in the Cusco Region. It is a 3.35 mm black and orange wasp.

Sesioctonus bina. (3a) Head and forebody in lateral view. (3b) Lateral view. (3c) Wings. (3d) Midquaters. Sulca & Sharkey (2012).

See also Two new species of Soldier Fly from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of northwest China, Two new species of True Bug from the Mesozoic of China, New species of Leaf-Mining Moth from northern Chile, An Assassin Bug from the Palaeocene of Spitsbergen Island and New species of moth from Yunnan Province.

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