Revision of the asychis species group of Aphelinus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)

Abstract

Aphelinus (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) is a genus of parasitoid wasps that has a long history of use in biological control programs against aphids. Past research shows that species delimitation within Aphelinus is greatly complicated by lack of comprehensive literature and the existence of cryptic species complexes. One of these complexes is the Aphelinus asychis species group. Through the development of a morphological character set, a revision of the Aphelinus asychis species group was conducted. Two new species, Aphelinus sinensis sp. n., and Aphelinus kazakhstanensis sp. n., are described, and the two existing valid species within the asychis group, Aphelinus asychis and Aphelinus semiflavus are redescribed and lectotypes are designated for Aphelinus semiflavus and Aphelinus brevipennis (a junior synonym of A. semiflavus). We also provide a key for identifying species in the asychis group.

Contribution to the knowledge of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) of Biskra, Algeria

“…Oriental: Nepal, Pakistan. Palaeartic: Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom (Shirley et al, 2017).…”

“…This species is reported by Shirley et al (2017) General distribution Neartic: Mexico, USA. Neotropical: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mangolia, Puerto Rico, Peru.…”

“…The samples were preserved in 70 % ethanol until their transfer to the laboratory. They were identified using available keys and the original descriptions (Graham, 1969;Gibson, 1986;Noyes and Valentine, 1989;Dawah and Rothfritz, 1996;Baquero and Jordana, 1999;Doğanlar and Mendel, 2007;Guerrieri and Viggiani, 2005;Yefremova et al, 2007;Dzhanokmen, 2009;Gómez et al, 2013;Bayegan et al, 2014;Shirley et al, 2017). The specimens are housed at the collection of the insectarium at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, El Harrach, Alger (hereafter ENSA coll.).…”

“…The specimens are housed at the collection of the insectarium at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, El Harrach, Alger (hereafter ENSA coll.). Nomenclature is taken from Burks (1979), Ferrière and Delucchi (1957), Triapitsyn and Berezovskiy (2001), Delvare (2005), Japoshvili and Noyes (2006), Zimmermann and Schöller (2008), Dzhanokmen (2009), Dale-Skey et al (2016), Ghahari and Doğanlar (2017), Shirley et al (2017), Noyes (2018).…”

Host specificity of Aphelinus species considered for introduction to control Diuraphis noxia

“…The genus Aphelinus comprises >90 species (Hopper et al, 2012;Noyes, 2015;Shirley et al, 2016) that are all koinobiont endoparasitoids of aphids. They are small (~1 mm long) and weak fliers, searching for hosts and mates primarily while walking (Fauvergue and Hopper, Hopper et al Host specificity of Diuraphis noxia parasitoids 2009; Fauvergue et al, 1995).…”