A New Host Record for the Afrotropical Parasitic Wasp Genus Bathyaulax Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae) Confirmed using DNA Sequence Data

2005·3 MB·English

by  Donald L J Quicke

HYM. RES.
J.
Vol. 14(1), 2005, pp. 96-101
A New Host Record for the Afrotropical Parasitic Wasp Genus
Bathyaulax Szepligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae)
DNA
Confirmed using Sequence Data
Donald L. Quicke, Nina M. Laurenne and Max Barclay
J.
(DLJQ) Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus,
Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK;
(NML) Finnish Museum of Natural History, Zoological Museum, Entomological Division,
P.O. Box 17 (P. Rautatiekatu 13), FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland;
(DLJQ, MB) Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
—
Abstract. An apparently undescribed species of the braconid wasp genus BathyaulaxSzepligeti
from Kibale National Park, Uganda, is recorded as a parasitoid of the callichromine cerambycid
beetle, Chromalizusfragrans (Dalman) subspeciescranchi (White), a borerof'forest mahogony' tree,
Trichilia dregeana Sond. (Meliaceae). The association was confirmed using DNA sequencing of a
parasitoid pupa recovered from the pupal chamber of the beetle. A gabuniine cryptine ichneu-
monid wasp, Gabunia aff. togoensis Krieger, was also confirmed as a parasitoid ofthe samebeetle.
These rearings are discussed in the light of previous host records.
—
Key words. Parasitoid, DNA, Gabunia, Ichneumonidae, Chromalizus, Cerambycidae, Trichilia, Me-
liaceae, mahogony.
Of the approximately 40 genera of Bra- DNA sequencing provides a powerful
coninae that are believed to be endemic to tool to confirm host parasitoid associa-
the Afrotropical region (Quicke 1987), host tions where cryptic hosts are involved be-
records are available for fewer than five, cause it enables identification of other-
and some of those records that have been wise, at least currently, unidentifiablehost
published may well be erroneous. Com- and parasitoid immature stages (Quicke et
mon problems with records of host-para- al. 2003; Laurenne & Quicke 2004). This
sitoid associations include misidentifica- can be likened to a bar-coding approach
tions of the parasitoid, or of the host or (Hebert et al. 2003a,b), and in principle
misidentification of both, or wrong asso- food-webs can be constructed and ana-
ciations, especially when substrate rear- lysed largely based on taxa whose actual
ings are involved (Noyes 1994; Shaw 1994, ide—ntities are only known approximate-
DNA
2003; Quicke 2003). Whilst the majority of ly appropriate sequences will usu-
braconines are parasitoids of concealed ally allow placement to genus or species
hosts, usually larvae of wood-boring bee- group. For tropical studies, this actually
tles for larger species and groups such as may not be very different from current
stem-borers, leaf-rollers and leaf-miners morpho-taxonomic studies, as many ofthe
for smaller ones, the lack of reliable host taxa are likely unidentifiable to anything
data for the great majority of species is more precise than morpho-species, and
hampering our understanding of the fac- even generic placement can sometimes be
tors that permit coexistence of so many problematic for many less well-known in-
species of parasitoids with essentially sim- sect groups.
ilar life histories. Here we use DNA sequencing to con-
Volume 14, Number 1, 2005 97
firm a host-parasitoid relationship for FIELD SITE
Baihyaulax Szepligeti, a poorly known Af- Observations were made near Makerere
rsnoietdcroownpadiscpaplsar,agseainntudosida,dodfaitlmiaorengmeabllpeyarraroseifvteitachlebtrcharacytop--a Uydana,iwvaiernrasa,intKyiabraBeilaoelooNfgaitmcioaonlntaaFlinePeladrrkaS,itnWatefiosortne,sUtgKtaahnna--t
bTtiahnueemoeibrcs,henrievsautmaiolosnnoisdianlgvseoonlupvrseodvGiaidnbeutnahieanesKwyrsitehecomhs.-t wStarsuhlsiagkhetrly19l9o7g).ged in 1960 (Area 14 in
tree record for the longhorn beetle in- OBSERVATIONS, RESULTS AND
volved. Because the tree, 'forest mahoga- DISCUSSION
ny', is noted for its high qualitywood, this
may be of some economic significance. A large black and red female parasitic
wasp was noticed 'drilling' into a dead
MOLECULAR MATERIALS AND trunk (6cm diameter) of a young 'forest
METHODS mahogany' tree, Trichilia dregeana Sond.
neWeet alf.o(l2l0o0w0e)dttohoebtparionce2d8uSreDs2-iDn3LaruDreNnA- yf(eeMlaelrle.idaTcdehuaere)iw,nagstphp,aattihdaepncptleieafairreiedndgasteoaarlhisaepvreeciinebsetehonef
sequence data from the adult Baihyaulax Bathyaulax, was collected and the point of
and two of the immature parasitoids noted and marked.
ovipositor drilling
found in the host's pupation chambers. Two days later a length of the dead tree
The sequences for the adult Bathi/aulax sp. was cut and taken to a more convenient
and the presumed conspecific pupa have site for dissection. This approximately 2m
GenBank/EMBL accessions numbers long stretch of the wood was found to be
AY604326 and AY604327 The
respectively. heavily bored by larvae of the longhorn
sequence of the ichneumonid larva was beetle Chromalizus fragrans (Dalman) sub-
virtually identical to ones obtained fortwo species cranchi (White) (Cerambycidae:
Afrotropical Gabunia species that will be Cerambycinae: Callichromini); sometimes
reported elsewhere as part of a molecular this subspecies is treated as a full species.
phylogeny of the Cryptinae (GenBank/ The beetle is recorded by Duffy (1957) as
EMBL accessions numbers AY527195 and being widely distributed in central and
AY527196; Laurenne, Broad & Quicke, western equatorial Africa, viz. Angola,
submitted). Additional braconine 28S Democratic Republic of Congo (as Belgian
rDNA sequences used (EMBL accessions Congo), Cameroons, Ghana (as Gold
numbers given in parentheses) for com- Coast) and Rio Muni. Its host plants are
parison are: Baihyaulax sp., Kenya reported to include Coffea canephora Pierre
(AJ231501), Baihyaulax cyanogaster Szepli- ex Froehner (as robusta Linden) and Teclea
geti, Nigeria (AY527194), Monilobracon sp., viridis Verdoorn, but it has not previously
Sierra Leone, Lumley (AJ296046), Iphiaulax been reported from any Trichilia species
sp., Africa (AJ296052), Merinotus sp., (Duffy 1957). Most Callichromini attack
Uganda, Kibale (AY296649), Plaxopsis sp., their host trees while they are still alive,
Africa (AJ231533), Latana keijua Laurenne & supporting our assumption that the tree
Quicke, Uganda, Kibale (AY296638), Odon- involved had been alive until fairly re-
toscapus sp., Kenya (AJ231503), Ipobracon cently before we discovered it.
sp. 1, Uganda, Kibale (AY296642), Ipobracon In total the borings included three with
sp. 2, Uganda, Kibale (AY296641),Arc!'libra- beetle pupae, two ofwhich were extracted
con deliberatorSzepligeti, Benin (AY529702), alive and reared for identification. In ad-
Sororarchibracon sp. Africa (AY296645), Syl- dition to these beetle pupae, three of the
vibracon sp., Africa (AY296643). beetle pupation chambers contained par-
98 Journalof Hymenoptera Research
Fig. 1. Photographs of parasitoid cocoons found in Chromalizus fragrans pupation chambers: Gabunia sp.
(Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae) on left, removed from cocoon; Bathyaulax sp. (Braconidae: Braconinae) pupa in
cocoon on
right.
asitoids. One contained a large parasitoid tional sounding to locate hosts (Quicke et
pupa at an advanced stage of develop- al. 2003). The host remains associated with
ment judging from its pigmentation with- it show that it had attacked its host in the
in its reddish-brown silk cocoon, the sec- larval or pre-pupal stage.
DNA
ond contained a large whitish larva within sequencing of the cocooned par-
a reddish-brown cocoon within which asitoid larva in the reddish-brown cocoon
there was also a reddish meconial pellet and of the yellow parasitoid pupa re-
(Fig. 1 left), and the third contained a more vealed these to be a Gabunia species and a
slender, pale yellow parasitoid pupa with- Bathyaulax species respectively. Some of
in a pale yellow brown cocoon (Fig. 1 the molecular data supporting the latter
right). The beetle pupae and the parasitoid identification are shown in Fig. 2; the oth-
cocoons were all found in cells behind a er sequence was identical to that obtained
hard, concave, white, rather crystalline de- from the Gabunia aff. togoensis specimen
posit (probably a meconial material from whose behaviour was reported by Quicke
the beetle larva) that sealed the chamber et al. (2003). To date three Bathyaulax spe-
off from the rest of the boring. cies, collectively from different parts ofthe
The well-developed parasitoid from the Afrotropical Region, have been se-
red-brown cocoon emerged (though rath- quenced, and all share a very similar in-
er deformed) after approximately 2 weeks sert region (Fig. 2). Apart from that, the
and was identified as Gnbmiin aff. togoensis three sequences, which include the very
Krieger (Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae), a morphologically aberrant B. cyanogaster
species that is quitecommon in Kibale and Szepligeti, are virtually identical, though
which probably relies largely on vibra- interspecific differences are also apparent.
Volume 14, Number 1, 2005 99
Wasp Gene fragment
Bathyaulaxsp., Kibale TATGGGTTACT ACTACAG-TTAC---T GTA-GT GT GTATTGCC
Bathyaulaxsp., Kenya TATGGGTTACT--CTGCTACAA-TTAC---T GTA-GTAC-GT GTATTGCC
Bathyaulaxcyanogaster TATGGGTTACT--CTACTACAA-TTAC---T GTA-GTACTGT GTATTGCC
Monilobracon sp. TATGGGTTACT TTTACAC--CTTGTGTGTATT AT GTATTGCC
—
Latana TATGGGTTACTATATGCATATATGCAC---TTGT GTATGTA-TGT TTAGTATTGCT
keijita
Odontoscapussp. TATGGGTTACTATTCTTTAATCGG-TC---TT A GTATTGCC
TATGGGTTACT- AC---TT GTA GTATTGCC
Iphiaulaxsp.
Merinotus sp. TATGGGTTACT- AC---TT GTA GTATTGCC
TATGGGTTACT- AC---TT GTA GTATTGCC
Pla.xopsis
TATGGGTTACT- AC---TTA-T-GTA GTATTGCC
Ipobraconsp.1
Ipobraconsp.2 TATGGGTTACT- AC---TT GTA GTATTGCC
Archibracondeliberator TATGGGTTACT- AC---TT GTA GTATTGCC
Sororarchibracon TATGGGTTACT- AC---TT GTA GTATTGCC
sp.
TATGGGTTACT- AC---TT GTA GTATTGCC
Sylvibracon sp.
Fig. 2. By eye arrangement of part* of28S D2 rDNA sequence from the Kibale specimens (adultand pupa)
of Bathyaulax, plus two other congeners and various taxa of large braconines representing genera found at
Kibale. Features unique to Bathyaulax are highlighted in bold face.
*, corresponding to part starting at position 23 in the alignment shown in Fig. 1 of Belshaw et al. (1998) and
running into firstbox.
Previously Bathyaulax species have been forests where Acacia is effectively absent,
reared on only three occasions (Quicke though other pod-bearing trees are of
1989). On two of these, they were reared course present. The present observations
from Acacia pods in Namibia (recorded as show that Bathyaulax species are not re-
South West Africa) and in one of these stricted to attacking hosts in pods though
two cases the host was reported as being an exclusive association with Cerambyci-
a larval cerambycid. In the third known dae is still possible. It seems unlikely that
rearing, made in Kenya, the host was the arched telotarsi would be of any spe-
identified as the cerambycid beetle Enar- cial use in the species involved here as the
ett'a castelnaudi Thomson (Cerambycidae: hosts were inside a normal piece ofwood,
Lamiinae: Tetraopini) also on Acacia. En- albeit one of a relatively hard type.
aretta castelnaudi iswidespread throughout No meaningful key to species of Bathy-
the Afrotropical region and its larvae feed aulax exists and therefore it is not possible
on the seeds of several Acacia species in- to identify the species involved here. Al-
DC
cluding A. albida Rojas, A. hebeclada though Fahringer (1928) provided keys,
and A. stolonifera Burch. (Duffy 1957). based very largely on the original litera-
Thus Bathyaulax species appeared to be as- ture sources rather than examination oi
sociated with hosts in Acacia seed pods, specimens, he split members of the genus
and the large arched terminal tarsal arti- mostly between Bathyaulax, Megagonia
cles and slender claws of BatIn/aulax spe- Szepligeti and Goniobracon Szepligeti, and
cies (Quicke 1981) could reasonably be in- included within each of these members of
terpreted as being adaptations to gripping other braconine genera with large antero-
these hard and smooth host substrates. lateral areas on the 3rd metasomal tergite
However, no data are available for Bathy- such as Zaglyptogastra Ashmead species,
aulax species dwelling in moist tropical though these appear to bebut distantly re-
100 Journalof Hymenoptera Research
lated to Bathyaulax. The list of species in ereUniversity)whokindlyidentifiedthehosttreefor
Shenefelt's (1978) catalogue is thereforeef- us. We would also like to extend sincere thanks to
The RosieTrevelyanand theTropicalBiologyAssociation
fectively meaningless. type specimens for their support during our visits to Kibale.
of virtually all described species of tropi-
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