Description of a new species and revised key to species of the Enicospilus antefurcalis species-group from Japan (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ophioninae)

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>A new species of the genus <jats:italic>Enicospilus</jats:italic> Stephens, 1835, <jats:italic>E. kikuchii</jats:italic> sp. nov., which belongs to the ichneumonid subfamily Ophioninae, is described based on two specimens that were collected in Saitama Prefecture of Honshû and Kagoshima Prefecture of Kyûshû in Japan. <jats:italic>Enicospilus kikuchii</jats:italic> sp. nov. belongs to the <jats:italic>E. antefurcalis</jats:italic> species-group. A key to species of the group and additional couplets for the key to Indo-Papuan <jats:italic>Enicospilus</jats:italic> species are provided.</jats:p>

Integrative taxonomy and analysis of species richness patterns of nocturnal Darwin wasps of the genus Enicospilus Stephens (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ophioninae) in Japan

“…This suite of characteristics is sometimes referred to as an "ophionoid facies" (Gauld and Huddleston 1976). Not only ophionines but also other nocturnal ichneumonoids (e.g., the genera Netelia Gray (Tryphoninae), Cidaphus Förster (Mesochorinae), and the subfamily Xiphozelinae van Achterberg (Braconidae)) often convergently share these features (e.g., Shimizu 2017), although a few species of some ophionine genera (e.g., the genera Dictyonotus Kriechbaumer, Heinrichiella Hedwig, Hellwigiella Szépligeti, and Hellwigia Gravenhorst) have morphology typical of diurnal species (i.e., smaller ocelli, shorter antennae, darker body colour, etc. ), like other diurnal ichneumonids.…”

“…The cosmopolitan genus Enicospilus Stephens is the largest genus within the Ophioninae, with more than 700 valid species (e.g., Broad and Shaw 2016;Yu et al 2016;Shimizu 2017;Gadallah et al 2017;Johansson 2018;Shimizu 2020) and an estimate of more than 1,000 species (Townes 1971), suggesting that this is the most speciesrich genus in not only the subfamily but also Ichneumonidae as a whole. Enicospilus is a predominantly tropical genus, with more than 75% of the species occurring in the tropics (Gauld and Mitchell 1981).…”

“…Therefore, the true species diversity of the temperate fauna is largely unknown. Although a total of 39 species of Enicospilus have been recognised in Japan (Shimizu 2017; Table 1), the Enicospilus fauna of Japan and the far east of Asia has been particularly poorly known, with many taxonomic problems persisting. No identification keys to the Japanese species of Enicospilus have been published after Uchida (1928), while the keys provided by and Gauld and Mitchell (1981) include few Japanese species.…”

“…Many lepidopteran families, such as Noctuidae, Notodontidae and Saturniidae, are recorded as hosts (e.g., Mitchell 1978, 1981;Gauld 1988;Broad and Shaw 2016). They are frequently collected at light and usually considered to be nocturnal or crepuscular (e.g., Gauld and Mitchell 1981;Gauld 1988;Shimizu and Maeto 2016;Shimizu 2017). Some Enicospilus are parasitoids of economically important Lepidoptera pests (e.g., Nagatomi et al 1972;Kusigemati 1976).…”

The Nepalese species of the genus Enicospilus Stephens, 1835 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ophioninae): a preliminary revision and identification key to species

“…Netelia Gray, 1860 (Ichneumonidae, Tryphoninae) and Xiphozelinae van Achterberg, 1979 (Braconidae)) (e.g. Shimizu 2017). Low latitudinal tropics are considered to be the general centre of species diversity in most groups of Ophioninae (e.g.…”