Record of Two new Species of Apanteles Foerster (Braconidae: Microgastrinae) from Central India

2009·2.2 MB·English

by  Puja Ray

Journal ofthe Bombay Natural HistorySociety, 106(3), Sept-Dec 2009 335-338
NEW DESCRIPTIONS
RECORD OF TWO NEW SPECIES OFAPANTELES FOERSTER
(BRACONIDAE: MICROGASTRINAE) FROM CENTRAL INDIA
Puja Ray1-2andMohd. Yousuf1-3
'ForestEntomologyDivision,TropicalForestResearchInstitute,Jabalpur482021, MadhyaPradesh, India.
2Email: [email protected]
3Email: [email protected]
A
TwonewspeciesApantelesneohyblaeaeand lakhaensisaredescribedandillustrated. SpecimensofA. neohyblaeae
emerged from unidentified lepidopterous larvae on Tcimarindus indica. Specimens ofA. lakhaensis emerged from
Margaronia sp., infesting Casearia graveolens. Further their affinities with the closely related species A. hyblaeae
Wilkinson have also been discussed.
Key words: Apanteles lakhaensis,Apanteles neohyblaeae, Braconidae, Hymenoptera, Microgastrinae
INTRODUCTION parasitoids were collected from dense canopy ofthe forests.
Theywerebroughttothelaboratoryandattemptsweremade
The microgastrinebraconid wasps ofgenusApanteles torearthecollectedlarvaeontheirhostplantleaves. Froma
Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) include species which few larvae, adult braconids emerged. These braconids were
areeconomicallyveryimportantsincetheyparasitizevarious collected and identified. Morphological terminology
lepidopterous pests. Several Apanteles species have been especially that of wing vein nomenclature follows that of
reared from a large number of native lepidoptera and are modifiedComstock-Needhamsystem(Wilkinson 1928;Eady
undoubtedlyimportantinregulatingpopulationsofmanypest 1968) Figures were drawn with the help of camera lucida,
species (Varadarasan 1985; Mohan et al. 1992; Geetha Bai attached to a stereoscopic trinocular microscope and
and Marimadaiah 2000; Pandey etal. 2004). In India, three measurements were taken by using an ocularmicrometer.
Apanteles species, namely A. hyblaeae A. malevolus, Abbreviations used: OOL - Ocello-ocular line
,
A. subandinus have been imported as biocontrol agents of (distance from the outer edge of a lateral ocellus to the
,
some major lepidopterous pests in agriculture and forestry compound eye); POL - post-ocellar line (distance between
(Singh 2004). Several workers including Wilkinson (1928), the inner edges of the two lateral ocelli); AOL - anterior-
Bhatnagar (1948), Rao (1961), Nixon (1967), Sharma and ocellarline (distancebetween the inneredge ofanteriorand
Chatterjee (1970a, b), Sharma (1972, 1973a, b), Sumodan lateral ocellus); 0OD-diameterofan ocellus.
and Sevichan (1989) Kurhade and Nikam (1997), Sathe and
Inamdar (1989), Sathe and Ingawale (1995), and Sumodan Apanteles neohyblaeae sp. nov.
andNarendran(1990)havepublishedresearchpapersonthe (Fig. la-f)
systematicsofIndianspeciesofApanteles.Inspiteofrelatively
mm
goodknowledgeofbraconidfaunafromIndia,notmuchwork Female: Body length 2.51 (excluding ovipositor
hasbeencarriedoutfromCentral India. Inthepresentpaper, andantenna);forewinglength2.4mm;antennalength3 mm.
two new species Apanteles neohyblaeae and A. lakhaensis Colour: Ground colour of the body largely reddish
arebeingrecordedaslarvalparasitoidsoflepidopterousinsect black;except legslargely reddish yellow; antenna, apicaltip
pests,infestingforesttreespecies.Thenewspeciesarebeing ofhind femur, hind tibia at apical one third and hind tarsal
illustrated and described in detail. segments largely, all coxae and ovipositor sheath reddish
brown.Thewingveinsarelightbrown.Themandibles,palpi
MATERIALAND METHODS andtibialspurpale. Firsttergitedarkbrownwhilesucceeding
tergites are tumescent and reddish yellow.
Systematic survey of various forests and agro-forest Head: Head nearly as long as wide. Face finely
areasofChhattisgarhandMaharashtra, India,wasconducted punctate: OOL is halfof POL. POLequal to OOD, AOL is
foracollectionofbraconidparasitoids, and theirhost larvae 1.2x POL. Malar space 1.7x base of mandible; antennae
of insect pests infesting forest tree species. Several larvae (Fig. 1a,b)filiform,with 16flagellarsegmentsand 1.2xlonger
that were expected to be the common hosts of braconid than body.
NEW DESCRIPTIONS
Male: Same as female; except antenna (2.75 mm) is
shorter than body (2.9 mm), the upper portion of the basal
vein (0.05 mm) is shorterthan pigmented portion ofsecond
abscissa ofthe cubital (0.06 mm), and the second tergite is
nottumescentandbrightasin femalebutisevenlypunctate.
Holotype $ india: Maharashtra, Ahmednagar
(Kolhari), 19.ix.2007, emerged from unidentified
lepidopterous larvae on Tamarindus indica\ collected by
Mohd. Yousuf;Paratype 3 2,5 c?,samedataasforholotype.
Holotype ? and 1d paratype have been deposited at
National Forest Insect Collection, Entomology Division,
ForestResearchInstitute,Dehradun,India(Acc.No. 21895);
RemainingparatypeshavebeendepositedattheInsect
Collection Museum, Forest Entomology Division, Tropical
ForestResearch Institute, Jabalpur, India (Acc. No. 666).
Etymology;Thenewspecies,A. neohyblaeaeisnamed
sodue to its close affinities withA. hyblaeae.
The new species, A. neohyblaeae is very close to
A. hyblaeaeWilkinson,largelyinhavingforewingswithfirst
abscissaofradial fairly straight, successively thickerbelow,
well-marked from the transverse cubital, upper portion of
basal vein shorter than apical portion of first abscissa of
cubital, recurrent longer than transverse cubital, length of
stigmashorterthan metacarp. Firstmetasomal tergite length
1.5xitsapicalwidthandslightlywideningtowardstheapical
Fig. 1: a-f: Apantelesneohyblaeae sp. nov.: a.Antenna ?, end.
b. Antenna (enlarged) 9, c. Hind leg 9, d. Forewing 9, However,A. neohyblaeaediffersfromtheA. hyblaeae
e. Hind wing 9, f. Metasoma 9
in having transverse cubital equal to apical portion of first
abscissaofcubital inA. neohyblaeae while inA. hyblaeae it
Mesosoma: Mesonotum 1.1 mm long, rugose with is longer; upper portion of the basal vein equal to the
mm
regular punctations; forewings (Fig. Id), 2.4 long, pigmentedportionofthesecondabscissaofthecubitalwhile
mm mm mm
0.9 broad, stigma 0.48 long and 0.18 wide, inA. hyblaeae the upper portion ofthe basal vein is longer
metacarp 0.51 mm, the 1st abscissa of the radial 0.19 mm, than the pigmented portion of the second abscissa of the
transversecubital0.10mm,theapicalportionoffirstabscissa cubital. Hindlegswithlongerhindtibial spurthree-fifthand
of cubital 0.10 mm, recurrent vein 0.14 mm, pigmented shortertibial spurabout halfthe length ofhind basitarsus in
portion of the 2nd abscissa of the cubital 0.09 mm, upper A. neohyblaeae whilelongerhindtibialspurhalfandshorter
,
portion of basal vein 0.09 mm; hind wings (Fig. le) about tibial spurmore than one third the length ofhind basitarsus
mm mm
2.0 long,and0.6 wide,vannal lobeofthehindwings in A. hyblaeae. Further the two species differ in the first
sub-apically flattened with a few setae; hind legs (Fig. Ic), metasomal tergite in males. In A. hyblaeae, the first tergite
coxafinely,evenly punctateexceptouterfacewhichismore narrowingtowardstheapexwhileinthenewproposedspecies
or less bare, hind femur0.63 mm long, 0.18 mm wide; tibia the tergite broadens at its apical end. The ovipositor sheath
mm mm
0.75 long, 0.13 wide, basal joint of hind tarsus in thefemaleofA. hyblaeaeisaslongasthebasaljointofthe
0.38 mm long, longertibial spur0.24mmlong, shortertibial hindtarsuswhileinthenewspeciesovipositorsheathisabout
spur0.20 mm. one-fourth as long as basaljoint ofthe hind tarsus.
Metasoma: Metasoma (Fig. If) length 1.05 mm; first
mm
metasomaltergitemorerugoseinitsapicalhalf,0.4 long, Apanteles lakhaensis sp. nov.
0.3 mmapical width,0.2mmbasal width.Thesecondtergite (Fig. 2a-f)
istumescentand brightandisbead-likesculpturedalongthe
central line. The ovipositorsheath 0.1 1 mm long, ovipositor Female: Bodylength2.8mm(excludingovipositorand
0.12 mm long. antenna); forewing length 2.8 mm; antenna length 2.1 mm.
336 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 106 (3), Sept-Dec 2009
. , ,
NEW DESCRIPTIONS
mm mm
broad, stigma 0.58 long and 0.19 wide; metacarp
0.64mm; the 1stabscissaoftheradial0.22mm,successively
thicker below, fairly well-marked from transverse cubital,
transverse cubital 0.13 mm, the apical portion of the first
abscissa of cubital 0.14 mm, recurrent vein 0.19 mm,
pigmented portion of second abscissa of cubital 0.10 mm,
upper portion of the basal vein 0.10 mm; hind wings
mm mm
(Fig. 2e) 2.20 long,0.60 wide, vannal lobesofhind
wings are sub-apically flattened with a few setae; hind legs
(Fig. 2c) coxa is sparsely and evenly punctate, hind femur
mm mm mm
0.61 long and 0.17 broad; hind tibia0.78 long
mm mm
and 0.12 broad, hind basal tarsus 0.38 long, longer
mm mm
tibial spur0.17 long, shortertibial spur0.1 1 long.
Metasoma: Metasoma (Fig. 2f) 1.20 mm long; first
mm mm
metasomal tergite 0.46 long, 0.30 apical width,
mm
0.23basalwidth;ovipositorsheath0.80 long,uniformly
mm
hairy; ovipositor 1.2 long.
Male: Similarto female.
Holotype 2 india: Chhattisgarh, Raigarh (Lakha),
27.xii.2007,emergedfromMargaroniasp,infestingCasearia
graveolens collected by Mohd. Yousuf; Paratype 2 2,2 d,
,
data same as holotype.
Holotype 2 and 1d paratype have been deposited at
theNational ForestInsectCollection,Entomology Division,
ForestResearchInstitute,Dehradun, India(Acc. No. 21896).
Remaining paratypes have been deposited at the Insect
Fig2: a-f: Apanteleslakhaensis sp. nov.: a . Antenna $ Collection Museum, Forest Entomology Division, Tropical
b. Antenna (enlarged) $, c. Hind leg $, d. Forewing 9 Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur, India (Acc. No. 665).
e. Hind wing $, f. Metasoma 9 Etymology: The new species is named afterthe place
Colour: Groundcolourofthebodyblack;excepthead ofits collection, Lakhain Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh.
reddish black; legs brownish yellow; mandibles, antennae, The new species, A. lakhaensis is also very close to
coxa, apex of hind tibia and hind tarsi, stigma, metacarp, A. hyblaeae Wilkinson largely in body characters. In the
Is' abscissa ofradial, transverse cubital, pigmented portion forewings first abscissa ofradial isjust longer than breadth
ofthefirstabscissaofcubitallightbrown. Ovipositorsheath ofthestigma,fairlystraight,successivelythickerbelow,well-
andstigmaatthemarginsarebrown;costal veinbasallypale marked from the transverse cubital which is nearly equal to
orapically light brown. Restofthe areaofthe forewing and orjust longer than the apical portion ofthe first abscissa of
hind wing hyaline; tibial spur pale. the cubital, as inA. hyblaeae.
Head: Face finely punctate, occiput with coarse However, itdiffersfrom the latterin having forewings
indefinitepunctation;OOL3.3xPOL,POL0.75xshorterthan withthelengthoftheupperportionofthebasal veinequal to
AOL; OOL 2x 0OD; malar space 2.5x base of mandibles; the pigmented portion ofthe second abscissa ofthe cubital
antennae (2.1 mm) filiform (Fig. 2a,b), with 16 flagellar while in A. hyblaeae the upper portion of the basal vein is
segments and is shorterthan the body (2.8 mm). longer than the pigmented portion ofthe second abscissaof
Mesosoma: Mesonotum anteriorly with sparse and the cubital. Ovipositor sheath is two times longer than the
strong punctation and posteriorly having punctures, more basal joint of the hind tarsus in A. lakhaensis while in
widely separated and stronger; interspaces entirely smooth A. hyblaeae, the ovipositor sheath is equal to the length of
andhighlypolishedand shiny; discofthescutellumentirely the basaljoint ofthe hind tarsus.
smooth, highly polished and shining; propodeum basally Thetwonewspeciesarealsolargelyclosetoeachother.
largelyrugose,apically virtuallyunsculptured,theareolanot Yet theydifferfromeachotherinhavingantennalongerthan
entirely devoid ofindefinite punctures; carina ofareola and body inA. neohyblaeae, while inA. lakhaensis lengthofthe
mm mm
costae strong. Fore wings (Fig. 2d) 2.8 long, 1.0 antennaisshorterthanbodylength. InA. neohyblaeaebreadth
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 106 (3), Sept-Dec 2009 337
NEW DESCRIPTIONS
of stigma is more than the length of the recurrent while in basitarsus Apanteleshyblaeae Wilkinson
A. lakhaensis width of stigma is equal to recurrent. The 2. Antennae longer than body; fore wings with transverse
metasoma is shorter than mesosoma in A. neohyblaeae but cubital vein equal to the apical portion of first abscissa of
longerinA. lakhaensis.Theovipositorandovipositorsheath cubitalvein;breadthofstigmamorethantherecurrentvein;
are very short in A. neohyblaeae but very long in ovipositorsheath aboutone-fourthaslongashindbasitarsus
,
A. lakhaensis. Apantelesneohyblaeae sp. nov.
—
ApanteleshyblaeaeWilkinson,Apantelesneohyblaeae Antennae shorter than body; fore wings with transverse
sp.nov.andApanteleslakhaensis sp. nov. arecloselyrelated cubital vein shortertothe apical portionoffirst abscissaof
species; but these three species can easily be distinguished cubital vein; breadth ofstigma equal to the recurrent vein;
by the following key characters: ovipositorsheathtwotimesaslongaslongashindbasitarsus
1. Fore wings with transverse cubital vein equal or shorterto Apanteles lakhaensis sp. nov.
apicalportionoffirstabscissaofcubital vein;upperportion
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
of basal vein is equal to pigmented portion of the second
abscissaofthecubitalvein; hindlegswithlongertibialspur
nothalfofbasitarsus;lengthofovipositorsheathnotasabove WeareextremelythankfultoDr.A.K.Mandal,Director,
2 TFRI, Jabalpur, and Dr. K.C. Joshi, Group Coordinator
—
Fore wings with transverse cubital vein longerthan apical Research and Head, Forest Entomology Division, TFRI,
portionoffirstabscissaofcubitalvein;upperportionofbasal Jabalpur, for providing necessary facilities and
vein is longer than the pigmented portion of the second encouragement. Financial support from the Council of
abscissaofthecubitalvein;hindlegswithlongertibialspur ScientificandIndustrial Research,NewDelhi(CSIRProject
EMR
half of basitarsus; ovipositor sheath about as long as hind No. 37(1296)/07/ II) is also acknowledged.
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338 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 106 (3), Sept-Dec 2009