Research Article |
Corresponding author: Ekaterina V. Tselikh ( tselikhk@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Petr Janšta
© 2024 Ekaterina V. Tselikh, Jean-Yves Rasplus, Jaehyeon Lee, Natalie Dale-Skey, Ankita Gupta, Deok-Seo Ku.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Tselikh EV, Rasplus J-Y, Lee J, Dale-Skey N, Gupta A, Ku D-S (2024) A new species of Merismomorpha Girault, 1913 (Chalcidoidea, Pteromalidae) from the Palaearctic region. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 97: 937-944. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.97.135648
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A new species of Merismomorpha Girault, 1913, M. ulleungensis Tselikh, Rasplus & Ku, sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the Palaearctic region (Russian Far East and South Korea). An updated diagnosis of the genus is given, as well as a comparison to the closely related genus Pterosemopsis Girault, 1917.
New records, new species, Pteromalinae, taxonomy
The pteromalid genus Merismomorpha Girault, 1913 (type species Merismomorpha acutiventris Girault, 1913) belongs to the family Pteromalidae, subfamily Pteromalinae, tribe Pteromalini (
Until now, the genus comprised fourteen species and appears widely distributed in the Old World. Indeed, five species (Merismomorpha elongata Sureshan, 2000; M. minuta Sureshan, 2000; M. tamilnadensis Sureshan, Manickavasagam & Dhanya, 2013; M. truncata Sureshan, 2000; M. yousufi Ahmad & Agarwal, 1994) occur in the Oriental region (
The biology of species of Merismomorpha is poorly known.
During our study of Pteromalidae of the Eastern Palaearctic region, several specimens of a new species of Merismomorpha were collected in forested areas of Eastern Part of Russia and South Korea. These samples represent the first confirmed occurrence of the genus in the Palaearctic region. Hereafter, we describe this new Palaearctic species of Merismomorpha. A comparative diagnosis of Merismomorpha Girault is also given.
The material used in this study is deposited in the Hymenoptera collections of the Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom (NHMUK), National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon, Republic of Korea (NIBR), Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (ZISP) and Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghats Field Research Station, Kerala, India (ZSIK).
Morphological terminology, including sculpture and wing venation nomenclature, follows
Epipolycystus
Girault, 1915: 336. Type species: Epipolycystus asilus Girault, 1915, by original designation. Synonymy by
Giorgionia
Girault, 1933. Type species: Giorgionia flavipetiole Girault, 1933, by monotypy. Synonymy by
Neopolycystella
Girault, 1915: 336. Type species: Neopolycystella sicarius Girault, 1915, by original designation. Synonymy by
Merismomorpha acutiventris Girault, 1913, by original designation
Head without occipital carina (Fig.
Merismomorpha Girault belongs to a small group of pteromaline genera with elongated petiole (
Accurate circumscription and diagnoses of these genera have not been published yet and only the key to Australasian genera of Pteromalidae (
Female. Body length 1.50–1.90 mm. Fore wing length 1.20–1.40 mm.
Head black; antenna with scape yellowish-brown, pedicel and flagellum brown. Mesosoma and all coxae black; all femora brown; all tibiae and tarsi yellowish-brown. Fore wing hyaline, venation brown. Metasoma dark metallic bluish-green with diffuse violet iridescence; ovipositor sheath dark brown.
Head reticulate; clypeus and area above clypeus shallowly alutaceous. Mesosoma reticulate; lateral part of propodeum finely reticulate, nucha shallowly alutaceous. Petiole and gaster smooth and shiny.
Head in dorsal view 2.24–2.30 times as broad as long and 1.28–1.32 times as broad as mesoscutum; in frontal view 1.21–1.23 times as broad as high. Lower margin of clypeus angulate. POL 0.96–1.05 times OOL. Eye height 1.30 times eye length and 1.70–1.76 times as long as malar space. Distance between antennal toruli and lower margin of clypeus 1.45–1.57 times distance between antennal toruli and median ocellus. Antenna with scape 0.73–0.80 times as long as eye height and 0.95–1.07 times as long as eye length; pedicel 1.62–1.70 times as long as broad and 1.63–1.65 times as long as fu1; combined length of pedicel and flagellum 0.82–0.84 times breadth of head; fu1–fu5 wider than long; clava 2.20–2.40 times as long as broad.
Mesosoma 1.45–1.55 times as long as broad. Mesoscutellum 0.88–0.90 times as long as broad. Propodeum 0.87–0.93 times as long as mesoscutellum. Fore wing 2.15–2.20 times as long as maximum width; basal cell partly pilose; basal vein pilose; speculum closed; mv 1.32–1.40 times as long as pmv and 2.09–2.22 times as long as stv.
Gaster 1.65–2.20 times as long as broad, 0.95–0.96 times as long as mesosoma and 0.72–0.74 times as long as mesosoma and head. Petiole fusiform, 2.55–2.63 times as long as broad and longer than hind coxa. Mt2 and Mt3 posteriorly not emarginate. Ovipositor sheath projecting beyond apex of metasoma.
The new species shares similarities with Merismomorpha minuta Sureshan, 2000: clypeus with angulate lower margin (Figs
The species is named in honour of the type locality, Ulleung-do Island (adjective).
Holotype : South Korea • ♀; Ulleung-do, Ulleung-gun, Seo-myeon, Hakpo-ri, Malaise Trap, 37.5021918734491, 130.804925476545, 01–15.VIII.2017, coll. D.S Ku; deposited in NIBR. Paratype: Russia • 1 ♀; Amur Prov., Chingan Reserve, 24 km W Archara Vill., Kleshinskoe Lake, 10–11.VIII.2022, coll. O. Kosheleva; deposited in ZISP.
Male. Unknown.
Russian Far East, South Korea.
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR), funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of the Republic of Korea (NIBR201801201, NIBR202402202). And it was partially funded by Russian State Research (project No. 122031100272-3). AG is grateful to Director ICAR-NBAIR for research support and to Dr P. M. Sureshan, ex Officer-Incharge, WGRC, ZSI, Kozhikode for sharing the images of Merismomorpha minuta.