Information about parasitoids of neotropical vespids is scarce. Parasitoids collected from 43 colonies of Polistes myersi Bequaert, 1934 and one ofPolistes erythrocephalus Latreille, 1813 are reported from an Andean region of Colombia. Colony parasitism rates in P. myersi ranged from 35 % to 57 %, being higher in colonies with more cells; however, the number of parasitized colonies did not differ when considering the mean number of adult wasps (8.2 vs. 8.1 respectively). Parasitoidism ranged from one up to four species per colony. P. myersi parasitoids were: Seminotalaeviceps (Cresson, 1879) (Trigonalidae); Signiphora polistomyiella Richards, 1935 (Signiphoridae); Elasmuspolistis Burks, 1971 (Eulophidae, Elasminae); and a new species of Xenos(Strepsiptera, Xenidae). The latter three are first records for Colombia. P. myersi and P. erythrocephalus are the first host reports for the trigonalid S.laeviceps. We also report an unknown Tachinid fly species of the tribe Blondeliini attacking P. myersi.
Acetic acid bacteria (family
Acetobacteraceae
) are found in the gut of most insects. Two clades are currently recognized: Commensalibacter–Entomobacter and
Bombell
a–
Oecophyllibacter
. The latter group is only found in hymenopteran insects and the described species have been isolated from bees and ants. In this study, two new strains DDB2-T1T (=KACC 21507T=LMG 31759T) and DM15PD (=CCM 9165=DSM 112731=KACC 22353=LMG 32454) were isolated from wasps collected in the Republic of Korea and Germany, respectively. Molecular and phenotypic analysis revealed that the strains are closely related, with 16S rRNA gene sequences showing 100 % identity and genomic average nucleotide identity (ANI) values ≥99 %. The closest related species based on type strain 16S rRNA gene sequences are
Swingsia samuiensis
,
Acetobacter peroxydans
,
Bombella favorum
and
Bombella intestini
(94.8–94.7% identity), whereas the closest related species based on type strain genome analysis are
Saccharibacter floricola
and
Bombella intestini
(ANI values of 68.8 and 68.2 %, respectively). The reconstruction of a phylogenomic tree based on 107 core proteins revealed that the branch leading to DDB2-T1T and DM15PD is localized between
Oecophyllibacter
and Saccharibacter–Bombella. Further genomic distance metrics such as ANI, percentage of conserved proteins and alignment fraction values were consistent with these strains belonging to a new genus. The key phenotypic characteristics were one MALDI-TOF-MS peak (m/z=4601.9±2.0) and the ability to produce acid from d-arabinose. Based on this polyphasic approach, including phylogenetics, phylogenomics, genome distance calculations, ecology and phenotypic characteristics, we propose to name the novel strains Aristophania vespae gen. nov., sp. nov., with the type strain DDB2-T1T (=KACC 21507T=LMG 31759T).
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