Reproductive isolation and differentiation between five populations of Cotesia plutellae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), parasitoid of Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae)

Complementary sex determination in the parasitoid wasp Cotesia vestalis (C. plutellae)

“…We did not detect Wolbachia in any of the parents used to start inbred and outbred families (J.G. de Boer, unpublished data), confirming the results of Rincon et al. (2006) for the strain from Benin.…”

“…The somewhat male-biased sex ratio and high developmental mortality of outcrosses (Table 1) suggest that the two strains of C. vestalis we used may not be fully compatible, even though they were not infected with Wolbachia, and the majority of crosses yielded daughters. Crosses between Wolbachia-free strains indeed vary in reproductive compatibility measured as the number of offspring, proportion of crosses getting female offspring and sex ratio of compatible couples (Rincon et al, 2006). represents the mean ± 95 % confidence intervals for secondary sex ratio and estimated developmental mortality from the backcrosses (Table 1).…”

“…We tested both strains of C. vestalis for the presence of the cytoplasmic-incompatibility-inducing Wolbachia by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Zhou et al, 1998) because the presence of this bacterium is an important determinant of reproductive compatibility between C. vestalis populations (Rincon et al, 2006). We did not detect Wolbachia in any of the parents used to start inbred and outbred families (J.G.…”

Cotesia icipe sp. n., a new Microgastrinae wasp (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) of importance in the biological control of Lepidopteran pests in Africa

“…We do not include in that total Cotesia plutellae (Kurdjumov, 1912), which was recently removed from synonymy with Cotesia vestalis (Haliday, 1834) and considered as a valid species by Rousse and Gupta (2013). Rousse and Gupta based their decision on a paper from Rincon et al (2006) that found that "Cotesia plutellae" seemed to comprise two partially incompatible population aggregates. While we agree that specimens previously identified as "Cotesia plutellae" might comprise a complex of morphologically cryptic species -as is the case with many other species of Microgastrinae (e.g., Fernández-Triana 2010, Fernández-Triana et al 2014, Kaiser et al 2017, without further study, especially of the type specimens involved, there is no real basis for raising that name from synonymy.…”

An identification key to species in the mali complex of Aphelinus (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) with descriptions of three new species

“…Cryptic species are closely related species that differ little in the morphological features used for taxonomy, but differ critically in physiological, behavioral and ecological traits, such as climatic adaptation and host range (Darling and Werren 1990;DeBach 1969). Recent evidence from molecular studies suggests that cryptic species of hymenopteran parasitoids may be far more common than previously realized (Campbell et al 1993;Clarke and Walter 1995;Darling and Werren 1990;Kankare et al 2005a;Kankare et al 2005b;Kazmer et al 1996;Molbo et al 2003;Rincon et al 2006;Stouthamer et al 2000;Stouthamer et al 1999). The success of biological control programs depends on accurate species-level identifications of hosts and natural enemies, but choosing the best parasitoids for biological control programs is complicated by cryptic species (Rosen 1986;Wharton et al 1990).…”