A species-level taxonomic review and host associations of Glyptapanteles (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) with an emphasis on 136 new reared species from Costa Rica and Ecuador

Abstract

The descriptive taxonomic study reported here is focused on Glyptapanteles, a species-rich genus of hymenopteran parasitoid wasps. The species were found within the framework of two independent long-term Neotropical caterpillar rearing projects: northwestern Costa Rica (Área de Conservación Guanacaste, ACG) and eastern Andes, Ecuador (centered on Yanayacu Biological Station, YBS). One hundred thirty-six new species of Glyptapanteles Ashmead are described and all of them are authored by Arias-Penna. None of them was recorded in both countries; thus, 78 are from Costa Rica and the remaining 58 from Ecuador. Before this revision, the number of Neotropical described Glyptapanteles did not reach double digits. Reasonable boundaries among species were generated by integrating three datasets: Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene sequencing data, natural history (host records), and external morphological characters. Each species description is accompanied by images and known geographical distribution. Characteristics such as shape, ornamentation, and location of spun Glyptapanteles cocoons were imaged as well. Host-parasitoid associations and food plants are also here published for the first time. A total of 88 species within 84 genera in 15 Lepidoptera families was encountered as hosts in the field. With respect to food plants, these wild-caught parasitized caterpillars were reared on leaves of 147 species within 118 genera in 60 families. The majority of Glyptapanteles species appeared to be relatively specialized on one family of Lepidoptera or even on some much lower level of taxonomic refinement. Those herbivores in turn are highly food-plant specialized, and once caterpillars were collected, early instars (1–3) yielded more parasitoids than later instars. Glyptapanteles jimmilleri Arias-Penna, sp. nov. is the first egg-larval parasitoid recorded within the genus, though there may be many more since such natural history requires a more focused collection of eggs. The rate of hyperparasitoidism within the genus was approximately 4% and was represented by Mesochorus spp. (Ichneumonidae). A single case of multiparasitoidism was reported, Copidosoma floridanum Ashmead (Encyrtidae) and Glyptapanteles ilarisaaksjarvi Arias-Penna, sp. nov. both parasitoid species emerged from the caterpillar of Noctuidae: Condica cupienta (Cramer). Bodyguard behavior was observed in two Glyptapanteles species: G. howelldalyi Arias-Penna, sp. nov. and G. paulhansoni Arias-Penna, sp. nov. A dichotomous key for all the new species is provided. The numerous species described here, and an equal number already reared but not formally described, signal a far greater Glyptapanteles species richness in the Neotropics than suggested by the few described previously.

Systematic revision of the parasitoid wasp genus Glyptapanteles Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) for Australia results in a ten-fold increase in species

“…Of the other genera mentioned above, Distatrix has the median area on T2 less well-defined than in Glyptapanteles and has not been recorded from the Australasian region; Lathrapanteles is not a natural grouping and is not yet recorded from Australia and we see no reason to place more species here until a better classification of the subfamily is established; and Protapanteles is not yet recorded from Australia FAGAN-JEFFRIES E.P. et al, Systematic revision of Australian Glyptapanteles and has the first metasomal tergite parallel-sided except for a strongly rounded apex (Arias-Penna et al 2019). Whilst Sathon in other parts of the world has the fore wing areolet absent (like in Glyptapanteles), in Australia all species currently placed in Sathon have a large closed areolet and are most likely unrelated to the northern hemisphere species (Austin & Dangerfield 1992;Fagan-Jeffries et al 2019).…”

“…A recent revision of Glyptapanteles from Costa Rica and Ecuador (Arias-Penna et al 2019) described an impressive 136 species in a single study and provided a morphological key to species. Many of the characters used to separate species in Arias-Penna et al (2019) are variable for the Australian species examined here and therefore not useful as diagnostic characters for all regions. We do not provide the answers to this dilemma here, but simply note that our approach, whilst limiting the application of morphological diagnoses, has not gone far enough to make the needed impact on increasing the rate at which new species of microgastrines are described.…”

“…Worldwide, there are 307 species described of an estimated 3000+, with the genus being found in all biogeographical regions (Fernández-Triana et al 2020). The limits of the genus are controversial, with close morphological similarities to Cotesia Cameron, 1891, Distatrix Mason, 1981, Lathrapanteles Williams, 1985, Protapanteles Ashmead, 1898and Sathon Mason, 1981(Arias-Penna et al 2019. In Australia, the genus, as currently recognised, is clearly paraphyletic with respect to Cotesia based on sequence data from cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) and wingless genes (Fagan-Jeffries et al 2018;Fagan-Jeffries & Austin 2020).…”

Importance of interaction rewiring in determining spatial and temporal turnover of tritrophic (Piper‐caterpillar‐parasitoid) metanetworks in the Yucatán Península, México

“…There are more than 1300 species of Piper in the Neotropics (Quijano-Abril et al, 2006), and there is a wealth of natural history of these plants yet to be discovered. Existing natural history studies on a handful of Piper species indicate that the genus shows a great phytochemical diversity (Dyer & Palmer, 2004) and supports complex communities of arthropods (Marquis, 1991;Tepe et al, 2014;Vanin et al, 2008), including hundreds of species of caterpillars mostly in the families Geometridae, Erebidae, Hesperiidae, and Nymphalidae (Beccaloni et al, 2008;Dyer & Gentry, 2019;Janzen & Hallwachs, 2012), which are parasitized principally by flies in the family Tachinidae and wasps in the families Braconidae, Ichneumonidae, and Eulophidae (Arias-Penna et al, 2019;Cosmo et al, 2019;Glassmire et al, 2016;Whitfield et al, 2009). There is also substantive geographic and seasonal variation in ecological communities associated with Piper (Connahs et al, 2009(Connahs et al, , 2011Cosmo et al, 2019;Glassmire et al, 2016).…”

Taxonomic identification accuracy from BOLD and GenBank databases using over a thousand insect barcodes from Colombia

“…A closer example in the Neotropics is Costa Rica which has been leading the Bioalfa project and within the last 15 years has generated 45,000 insect species barcodes recorded [11]. Added to this initiative are other countries across the globe such as Canada, Ecuador, Sweden, and Singapore [9,[12][13][14][15][16]. Moreover, the development and implementation of effective methods for species monitoring are important for assessing biodiversity, and overall health of ecosystems [8].…”