Neotype ♀ (BMNH) here designated to avoid ambiguity about the identity of this species, whose type material is lost (Graham 1982). The neotype (Fig. 1) is card mounted and in good condition but faded to brown, with 4 labels: 1. “FRANCE Yvelines Behoust vi.1987”. 2. “D. Coutinot Vial 2. F3 lab. culture”. 3. “ex Lygus eggs. CIE A19211”. 4. “NEOTYPE ♀ Anaphes brevis Walker”.

Figure 1. 

Anaphes brevis, neotype, habitus. Scale bar: 500 μm.

France, Yvelines, Béhoust, which is about 100 km from Walker’s original collecting locality (Fontainbleau Forest). The neotype is designated from among specimens near the type locality rather than from among specimens reared in Spain (illustrated in Huber and Thuróczy 2018, figs 32–49), relatively far from the type locality. It is deposited in the institution (BMNH) where many of Walker’s primary types of Chalcidoidea are located. The slide mounted specimens illustrated (Figs 2–11) came from the same laboratory culture as the neotype.

Figures 2, 3. 

Anaphes brevis, head. 2 anterior 3 posterior. Scale bars: 100 μm.

In Europe, A. (Patasson) brevis belongs to a small group of species with occipital groove directed medially towards occipital foramen, thus forming an angle with supraorbital trabecula and strongly diverging away from posterior margin of eye (Fig. 3), and with fore wing hyaline (Fig. 7, top arrow), its posterior margin with a short hyaline section subapically separating distal dark margin from proximal slightly darker margin (Fig. 7, left arrow), and cubital line of seta distinctly separated by a gap from posterior margin of fore wing (Fig. 7, bottom arrow). It is distinguished from the most similar species, A. collinus Walker, 1846 (type locality: Northern Ireland, Belfast, Cavehill) and A. inexpectatus Huber & Prinsloo, 1990 (introduced from Australia into Portugal and established there) by the following combination of features: length/width of fl₂–fl₅ each at least 3.1 in most specimens (Fig. 5) and with 2 mps (Figs 1, 5), though sometimes fl₄ with 1 or 0 mps (Fig. 6), the segments without or with 1 mps usually shorter and slightly narrower than remaining funicle segments (rarely, the same specimen may have different numbers of mps on fl₄); fore wing relatively wide (length/width 3.66–4.61) cubital row of setae separated from posterior margin of fore wing by a noticeable gap (Figs 1, 7); ovipositor at most about 1.5 as long as metatibia, extending anteriorly under mesosoma at most to level of mesocoxa (Fig. 11).

Figures 4–6. 

Anaphes brevis. 4 head + base of antennae 5 antenna, outer surface 6 antenna, inner surface. Note difference in fl₄ and cross striations on inner surface of scape (striations very faint and more longitudinal on outer surface). Scale bars: 200 μm.

Figures 7–9. 

Anaphes brevis. 7 wings (see text for discussion) 8 body, dorsal 9 with frenum-gaster internal (more ventral) to show mesofurca and ovipositor through gaster; dashed line indicates anterior extension of ovipositor. Scale bars: 200 μm.

Figures 10, 11. 

Anaphes brevis, body, lateral. 10 outer surface 11 median view of gaster showing ovipositor. Scale bars: 200 μm.

Female (neotype). Body length 645 μm. Antenna brown, with apex of scape and pedicel except narrowly along their dorsal surfaces lighter brown; body and legs dark brown (presumably black if neotype were fresh) except trochantellus and apex of femora, base and apex of tibia, and tarsomeres 1–3 white. Antenna with length measurements as follows: scape (not measurable, its base hidden by collapsed face), pedicel 50, fl₁ 20, fl₂ 50, fl₃ 70, fl₄ 60, fl₅ 60, fl₆ 50, clava 110. Fore wing length/width 3.95 (790/200); ovipositor/metatibia length 1.49 (395/265), the ovipositor sac extending to base of mesocoxa. Metatarsomere 1 distinctly shorter than metatarsomere 2.

CHINA. Hebei. Beijing, Mentougou, 1140-1250m, 19.v.2002, Zhu C.-d. (1 ♀ on slide, CNC). Shaanxi. Zhouzhi, 25.vi.1999, Zhu C.-d. (1 ♀, 1 ♂ on points, 1 ♀ on slide, CNC); Foping, 1750–2150m, 28.vi.1999, Zhu C.-d. (1 ♀ on slide, CNC). Tibet. Riwoqê, 3920 m, 17.viii.2001, Zhu C.-d. (1 ♂ on slide, CNC). FRANCE. Yvelines. Béhoust, 30.vii.1986, ex Lygus sp. in stems of Matricaria and in laboratory culture on Lygus, F1 and F3 generations, vi.1987, D. Coutinot, CIE A19211 (5 ♀, 3 ♂ on cards; 9 ♀, 4 ♂ on slides, CNC). MOROCCO. Marrakech. Ouirgane, 1000 m, 4–10.ix, 10-22.ix, 29.x–4.xi.1996, C. Kassebeer (2 ♀, 1 ♂, CNC). SPAIN. Gerona. Navata, emerged 21.ix.2000 ex. Lygus eggs on Chenopodium in cages, 14–21.ix.2000, D. Coutinot & J. Lopez (17 ♀, 6 ♂ on cards; 3 ♀, 2 ♂ on slides, CNC). UNITED KINGDOM. England. Berkshire, Ascot, Silwood Park, 11 & 12.vi.1994, J.S. Noyes (4 ♀ on cards, CNC). Wales. Wrexham, 10 km SW Llangollen, Llamon Dyffryn Ceiriog, 31.vii.1999, J.S Noyes (1♀, CNC).

Anaphes (Patasson) collinus Walker, described on the same page but before A. brevis, presents an interesting problem. It is very similar to A. brevis in wing colour and antennal features, but fl₄ almost always has no mps (Huber & Thuróczy 2018, figs 90b, c). Otherwise, A. collinus is smaller, with a longer, trombone-shaped ovipositor extending as far as base of procoxa.

In Europe, specimens of A. collinus were reared from stems of Cardraria draba containing eggs of Ceutorhynchus cardraria Korotyaev (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) from Romania, Valea Lupului, with various collecting/emergence dates in iv & v.2010, A. Diaconu (16 ♀ & 15 ♂ on cards, 2 ♀ on slides, CNC) and a similar, possibly undescribed species with generally longer funicle segments has been reared from Rhinocyllus conicus (Frölich) (Curculionidae) on Carduus nutans and Silybum marianum from France, Bouches-du-Rhône, St. Martin de Crau, 10.v.1988, J.-P. Aeschlimann (2 ♀, CNC) and Hérault, La Vacquerie-et-Saint-Martin-de-Castries, 19.vii.1985, J.-P. Aeschlimann (1 ♀, CNC). Whether these specimens actually represent A. brevis (or are indeed A. collinus, if priority of position on page is accepted) or yet another species, with the variation due to rearing from a different host order or different species is unknown. Since both named species parasitize hosts that are economically important or potentially so it might be worth determining their species status and host range.

In North America, A. conotracheli (Girault, 1905) is also extremely similar to A. brevis. Huber (2006) compared and contrasted A. conotracheli with A. pallipes (Ashmead, 1887) that Huber and Thuróczy (2018) placed in synonymy under A. collinus. The neotype fits very well Walker’s (1846) short description of brevis quoted above but depending on the specimen it also more or less fits his equally short description of collinus: “Fem. Antennarum articulis a 4° inde alternis minoribus” and could also fit specimens of A. conotracheli. Because the relative size of fl₄ may vary, even between the antennae of the same specimen, and all three species have very similar fore wings, the neotype designation for A. brevis is even more important. Body length and, possibly, relative length of ovipositor (compared to metatibia length) may also vary depending on host though this needs to be verified. Breeding experiments among individuals and their progeny reared on different hosts (Lygus spp. versus various Curculionidae) and rearing F1 progeny on the alternate host to their parents, as was done with Anaphes iole Girault, 1911 (Huber and Rajakulendran 1988) or several species of Anaphes reared from carrot weevil, Listronotus oregonensis (LeConte) (Curculionidae) (Huber et al. 1997), might elucidate whether only one or several biological species are involved.