Abstract
The braconid subfamily Microgastrinae are ecologically important parasitoids of larval lepidopterans, but are poorly studied in many regions of the world. In this study, we focus on describing new species of microgastrine wasps, in part from specimens collected on six different ‘Bush Blitz’ surveys of regional reserves in South Australia and Tasmania. Ten species of Microgastrinae are described as new and DNA barcodes of the genes COI and wingless are provided: three species in the genus Choeras Mason: C. bushblitz Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov., C. parvoculus Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov., and C. zygon Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov.; six species in the genus Dolichogenidea Viereck: D. bonbonensis Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov., D. brabyi Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov., D. forrestae Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov., D. garytaylori Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov., D. kelleri Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov., and D. lobesiae Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov.; and one species from the genus Sathon Mason: S. oreo Fagan-Jeffries & Austin sp. nov. These new species represent just a small fraction of the potential of ‘Bush Blitz’ surveys in regional Australia, which provide DNA-quality material allowing an integrative taxonomic approach and offer a window into the biodiversity of some of the least studied areas of the continent.
References
ABRS (2017) Australian Faunal Directory: Insecta. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Available from: https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/INSECTA (accessed 7 August 2018)
ABRS (2018) Lake Torrens South Australia 2016: A Bush Blitz Survey Report. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. Available from: http://bushblitz.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Report-2016-Lake-Torrens.pdf (accessed 7 August 2018)
van Achterberg, C. (2002) Western Palaearctic genera of the subfamily Microgastrinae: a re-appraisal of the generic and tribal division (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). In: Melika G. & Thuróczy G. (Eds.), Parasitic wasps: evolution, systematics, biodiversity and biological control. Agroinform, Budapest, pp. 19–35.
Ashmead, W.H. (1904) A list of the Hymenoptera of the Philippine Islands, with descriptions of new species. Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 12, 1–22.
Austin, A.D. & Allen, G.R. (1989) Parasitoids of Uraba lugens Walker (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in South Australia, with description of two new species of Braconidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 113, 169–184.
Austin, A.D. & Dangerfield, P.C. (1993) Systematics of Australian and New Guinean Microplitis Foerster and Snellenius Westwood (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae), with a review of their biology and host relationships. Invertebrate Systematics, 7, 1097–166.
https://doi.org/10.1071/IT9931097
Austin, A.D. & Dangerfield, P.C. (1992) Synopsis of Australasian Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), with a key to genera and description of new taxa. Invertebrate Systematics, 6, 1–76.
https://doi.org/10.1071/IT9920001
Cameron, P. (1912) On a collection of parasitic Hymenoptera (chiefly bred), made by Mr. Walter W. Froggatt, F.L.S., in New South Wales, with descriptions of new genera and species. Part iii. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 37, 172–216.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.22341
Eady, R.D. (1968) Some illustrations of microsculpture in the Hymenoptera. Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London. Series A, General Entomology, 43, 66–72.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3032.1968.tb01029.x
Fagan-Jeffries, E.P. & Austin, A.D. (2018) Synopsis of the parasitoid wasp genus Choeras Mason (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) from Australasia, with the description of two new species. Austral Entomology, 57, 349–358.
https://doi.org/10.1111/aen.12283
Fagan-Jeffries, E.P., Cooper, S.J.B. & Austin, A.D. (2018a) Three new species of Dolichogenidea Viereck (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Australia with exceptionally long ovipositors. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 64, 177–190.
https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.64.25219
Fagan-Jeffries, E.P., Cooper, S.J.B., Bertozzi, T., Bradford, T.M. & Austin, A.D. (2018b) DNA barcoding of microgastrine parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) using high-throughput methods more than doubles the number of species known for Australia. Molecular Ecology Resources, 18, 1132–1143.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12904
Fernández-Triana, J.L. (2018) Ten unique and charismatic new species of microgastrinae wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from North America. ZooKeys, 2018, 123–150.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.730.22869
Fernández-Triana, J.L. (2010) Eight new species and an annotated checklist of microgastrinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from Canada and Alaska. ZooKeys, 63, 1–53.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.63.565
Fernández-Triana, J.L. & Boudreault, C. (2018) Seventeen new genera of microgastrine parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from tropical areas of the world. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 64, 25–140.
https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.64.25453
Fernández-Triana, J.L., Boudreault, C., Dapkey, T., Smith, M.A., Rodriguez, J., Hallwachs, W. & Janzen, D.H. (2016) Revision of the genus Promicrogaster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, with a key to all species previously described from Mesoamerica. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 50, 25–79.
https://doi.org/10.3897/JHR.50.8220
Fernández-Triana, J.L., van Achterberg, C. & Whitfield, J.B. (2014a) Australasian endemic no more: four new species of Miropotes Nixon (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with the first record from the Oriental region. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 157, 59–77.
https://doi.org/10.1163/22119434-00002034
Fernández-Triana, J.L., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W., Whitfield, J.B., Alex Smith, M. & Kula, R. (2014b) Revision of the genus Pseudapanteles (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with emphasis on the species in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica. ZooKeys, 82, 1–82.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.446.8195
Fernández-Triana, J.L., Whitfield, J.B., Rodriguez, J.J., Smith, M.A., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W.D., Hajibabaei, M., Burns, J.M., Solis, M.A., Brown, J., Cardinal, S., Goulet, H. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2014c) Review of Apanteles sensu stricto (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, with keys to all described species from Mesoamerica. ZooKeys, 383, 1–565.
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.383.6418
Fernández-Triana, J., Whitfield, J., Smith, M.A., Braet, Y., Hallwachs, W. & Janzen, D. (2014d) Review of the Neotropical genus Prasmodon (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with emphasis on species from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 37, 1–52.
https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.37.6748
Fullaway, D.T. (1941) A check list of the parasitic Hymenoptera of the Samoan Islands with descriptions of new species appeneded. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society, 11, 41–49.
Gupta, A. & Fernández-Triana, J.L. (2015) Four new species of the genus Diolcogaster Ashmead, 1900 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) from South East Asia with a key to the Indian species. Systematic Parasitology, 90, 285–300.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-014-9546-8
Moghaddam, M.G., Rakhshani, E., van Achterberg, C. & Mokhtari, A. (2018) Review of the Iranian species of Choeras Mason (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae), with the description of a new species. Zootaxa, 4446 (4), 455–476.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4446.4.3
Kittel, R.N. & Austin, A.D. (2016) New species of Australian arid zone chelonine wasps from the genera Phanerotoma and Ascogaster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) informed by the “Bush Blitz” surveys of national reserves. Journal of Natural History, 50, 211–262.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2015.1074747
Liu, Z., He, J. & Chen, X. (2018) The laevigata-group of the genus Dolichogenidea Mason, 1981 from China, with descriptions of 26 new species. Zootaxa, 4436 (1), 1–74.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4436.1.1
Mason, W.R.M. (1981) The polyphyletic nature of Apanteles Foerster (Hymenopera: Braconidae): A phylogeny and reclassification of Microgastrinae. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 113, 1–147.
https://doi.org/10.4039/entm113115fv
Nixon, G.E.J. (1965) A reclassification of the tribe Microgasterini (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology, Supplement 2 (2), 1–284.
Nixon, G.E.J. (1967) The Indo-Australian species of the ultor-group of Apanteles Forster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), 21, 1–34.
de Queiroz, K. (1998) The General Lineage Concept of Species, Species Criteria, and the Process of Speciation. In: Howard, D.J. & Berlocher, S.H. (Eds.), Endless Forms: Species and Speciation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 57–75.
Rambaut, A., Drummond, A.J., Xie, D., Baele, G. & Suchard, M.A. (2018) Tracer. Version 1.7. Available from: http://beast.community/tracer (accessed 29 January 2019)
Rodriguez, J.J., Fernández-Triana, J.L., Smith, M.A., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W., Erwin, T.L. & Whitfield, J.B. (2013) Extrapolations from field studies and known faunas converge on dramatically increased estimates of global microgastrine parasitoid wasp species richness (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Insect Conservation and Diversity, 6, 530–536.
https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12003
Ronquist, F., Teslenko, M., Van der Mark, P., Ayres, D.L., Darling, A., Hohna, S., Larget, B., Liu, L., Suchard, M.A. & Huelsenbeck, J.P. (2012) MrBayes 3.2: Efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model choice across a large model space. Systematic Biology, 61, 539–542.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029
Saeed, A., Austin, A.D. & Dangerfield, P.C. (1999) Systematics and host relationships of Australasian Diolcogaster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae). Invertebrate Taxonomy, 13, 117–178.
https://doi.org/10.1071/IT97033
Shenefelt, R.D. (1972) Braconiade 4: Apanteles. In: van der Vecht, J. & Shenefelt, R.D. (Eds.), Hymenopteroeum Catalogus Vol. 7. Uitgeverij Dr. W. Junk N.V., Gravenhage, pp. 429–668.
Shenefelt, R.D. (1973) Braconidae 5: Microgastrinae. In: van der Vecht, J. & Shenefelt, R.D. (Eds.), Hymenopteroeum Catalogus, Vol. 9. Uitgeverij Dr. W. Junk N.V., Gravenhage, pp. 669–812.
Smith, M.A., Fernández-Triana, J.L., Eveleigh, E., Gómez, J., Guclu, C., Hallwachs, W., Hebert, P.D.N., Hrcek, J., Huber, J.T., Janzen, D., Mason, P.G., Miller, S., Quicke, D.L.J., Rodriguez, J.J., Rougerie, R., Shaw, M.R., Várkonyi, G., Ward, D.F., Whitfield, J.B. & Zaldívar-Riverón, A. (2013) DNA barcoding and the taxonomy of Microgastrinae wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae): impacts after 8 years and nearly 20 000 sequences. Molecular Ecology Resources, 13, 168–76.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12038
Song, S., He, J. & Chen, X. (2014) The subgenus Choeras Mason, 1981 of genus Apanteles Foerster, 1862 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from China, with descriptions of eighteen new species. Zootaxa, 3754 (5), 501–554.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3754.5.1
Szepligeti, V.V. (1905) Exotische Braconiden: Aus den Aethiopischen, Orientalischen und Australishen regionen. Annales Museui Nationalis Hungarici, 3, 25–55.
Turner, R.E. (1918) Australian Braconidae in the British Museum. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 1918, 91–114.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1918.tb02587.x
Viereck, H.L. (1911) Descriptions of six new genera and thirty-one new species of ichneumon flies. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 40, 173–96.
https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.1812.173
Walker, A.K. (1996) A new species of Choeras (Braconidae: Microgastrinae) widespread in New Zealand. New Zealand Entomologist, 19, 43–48.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00779962.1996.9722020
Walker, F. (1854) List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Printed by order of the Trustees, London. Available from: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/58221 (accessed 7 August 2018)
Whitfield, J.B., Austin, A.D. & Fernández-Triana, J.L. (2018) Systematics, biology, and evolution of microgastrine parasitoid wasps. Annual Review of Entomology, 63, 389–405.
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043405
Wilkinson, D.S. (1928) A revision of the Indo-Australian species of the genus Apanteles (Hym. Bracon.). Parts I & II. Bulletin of Entomological Research London, 19, 79–146.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485300028856
Wilkinson, D.S. (1929) A revision of the Indo-Australian and Ethiopian species of the genus Microgaster (Hym. Bracon.). Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 1929, 99–123.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2311.1929.tb00681.x
Wilkinson, D.S. (1936) Microgasterinae: notes and new species (Hym. Brac.). Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 5, 81–88.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.1936.tb01320.x
Wilkinson, D.S. (1938) A new species of Apanteles (Hym. Brac.) bred from Carposina adreptella attacking raspberry in New Zealand. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 29, 247–249.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007485300035586
Williams, D.J.M. (1988) Classification, phylogeny and zoogeographic studies of species of Sathon Mason (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Quaestiones Entomologicae, 24, 529–639.
Yeates, D.K., Harvey, M.S. & Austin, A.D. (2003) New estimates for terrestrial arthropod species-richness in Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum Monograph Series, 7, 231–241.
Yoder, M.J., Mikó, I., Seltmann, K.C., Bertone, M.A. & Deans, A.R. (2010) A Gross Anatomy Ontology for Hymenoptera. PLoS ONE, 5, e15991.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015991
Yu, D., van Achterberg, C. & Horstmann, K. (2016) World Ichneumonoidea 2015. Taxonomy, Biology, Morphology and Distribution. Taxapad, Vancouver. [CD-Rom]