The genera of Aphelinidae (Hymenoptera) of The world

Abstract

A key is given to the world genera of the chalcidoid family Aphelinidae. Forty-four genera are accepted as valid, including three described as new, Encarsiella (type-species E.noyesi sp.n.), Hirtaphelinus (type-species H.smetanai sp.n.) and Samariola (type-species Xcamerounensis sp.n.). The key is followed by a synopsis of the world genera, which includes: (1) citations of valid genera and their synonyms in chronological order; ( 2 ) total or approximate number of described species; (3) distribution in the six zoogeographical regions; (4) references mainly to major works and revisions; and (5) comments, especially on the new synonymies introduced in the present paper. The following new synonymies are proposed (the senior synonyms (valid names) are noted in paren-

Preliminary Phylogeny of Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) Based on Morphology and 28S rDNA

“…The synonymy of Aspidiotiphagus, a morphologically discrete group of armored scale parasites, was disputed and a new genus erected, Aleurodiphilus DeBach and Rose 1981, for similar species attacking whiteflies which shared a narrow fore wing with a distinct asetose patch (DeBach and Rose, 1981). Hayat (1983) treated all four genera as Encarsia, which has been the recognized convention to date.…”

Systematics and Biology of Encarsia

“…DeBach and Rose (1981) argued that a set of morphologically distinct species with a narrowed fore wing having an asetose patch that were parasitic on scales should remain as the distinct genus Aspidiotiphagus, and they erected Aleurodiphilus to contain species having a similar fore wing and parasitizing whiteflies. Hayat (1983) treated all these genera as Encarsia and we follow that convention here.…”

Mandibular teeth in Chalcidoidea: function and phylogeny

“…The lack of characters that indicate relationships between and among the higher taxa of Aphelinidae has been reflected in considerable taxonomic changes occurring over the last 30 years (table 1). Aphelininae (Aphelinini, Aphytini and Eutrichosomellini) and Coccophaginae (Coccophagini and Pteroptricini) are usually placed together as Aphelinidae (Howard, 1895(Howard, , 1907Ashmead, 1904;Yasnosh, 1976Yasnosh, , 1983Hayat, 1983;Goulet and Huber, 1993), but have been placed as subfamilies of Encyrtidae . Azotinae was placed as an independent subfamily of Aphelinidae (Yasnosh, 1976), as a possible sister group to the Signiphoridae (Woolley, 1988), or more recently as a tribe within Coccophaginae (Hayat, 1985).…”

“…Eriaporinae can be included within Aphelinidae (Ferrirre, 1965;Hayat and Verma, 1980;Hayat, 1985) or excluded with uncertain placement (Yasnosh, 1976). Calesinae was placed in Aphelinidae (De Santis, 1946;Yasnosh, 1976;Hayat, 1983) or excluded with uncertain placement (Ferrirre, 1965;Hayat, 1985). Bourek (1988) has proposed the inclusion of yet another subfamily, the Mongolocampinae (Tetracampidae).…”