Three new species of Achrysocharoides Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) parasitoids of Phyllonorycter spp. (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) on Acer platanoides and Robinia pseudoacacia

Abstract

Three new species of Achrysocharoides are described, one from northern Europe, A. platanoidae sp. nov., one from central Europe and the U.S.A., A. robiniae sp. nov., and one from the U.S.A., A. robinicolus sp. nov. The descriptions are based on material reared from microlepidopterans of the genus Phyllonorycter Hübner (Gracillariidae): A. platanoidae from P. platanoidella (Joannis) on Acer platanoides, and A. robiniae and A. robinicolus from P. robiniella (Clemens) on Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust). The new species are very similar to previously described species, A. platanoidae to A. acerianus (Askew), and A. robiniae and A. robinicolus to A. gahani (Miller), but they are shown here to differ from their sibling species both in biology and in external morphology. The host of A. robiniae and A. robinicolus, P. robiniella, is a serious pest on the black locust tree in Europe, and the descriptions with diagnoses of these two species, and their scientific names, introduced here will aid the biological control efforts of this pest.

Species recognition through wing interference patterns (WIPs) in Achrysocharoides Girault (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) including two new species

“…The paper by Hansson and Shevtsova (2010) included two cryptic Achrysocharoides species from Acer , Achrysocharoides platanoidae Hansson & Shevtsova from Acer platanoides and Achrysocharoides acerianus (Askew) from Achrysocharoides pseudoplatanus , and two cryptic speciesfrom Robinia pseudoacacia , Achrysocharoides robiniae and Achrysocharoides robinicolus , both described in that paper. The transparent wings in these four species are very similar and identical between males and females ( Figs 1–4 ).…”

“…The clarification of the two cryptic species on Acer spp. ( Hansson and Shevtsova 2010 , Shevtsova et al 2011 ) requires a correction of the molecular information deposited in Genbank. At the time of the publication of Lopez-Vaamonde et al (2005) the identity of the Achrysocharoides species associated with Acer spp.…”

“…The application of WIPs as a species character was first used in a study including two cases of cryptic species in Achrysocharoides (Hansson and Shevtsova 2010), where the initial species separation was based solely on male WIPs. However, data showing the usefulness of WIPs were withheld pending the publication of Shevtsova et al (2011) where a general background to these patterns was outlined.…”

“…WIPs as a morphological character are so new that very little is known about the significance of these patterns for their bearers or for entomologists studying them, although they have already proven useful for generic-level classification in Eulophidae ( Hansson 2011 ). The application of WIPs as a species character was first used in a study including two cases of cryptic species in Achrysocharoides ( Hansson and Shevtsova 2010 ), where the initial species separation was based solely on male WIPs. However, data showing the usefulness of WIPs were withheld pending the publication of Shevtsova et al (2011) where a general background to these patterns was outlined.…”

“…The latest comprehensive treatment of North American Achrysocharoides is by Kamijo (1991) , who treated 18 species, including four new species and one new synonym, separated into five species groups, two of which were newly created. Hansson and Shevtsova (2010) added two new species to the North American fauna, increasing the total to 20 species. With the two new species described here this total is now 22, equal to the number of species in Europe.…”