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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308143
Title: The redescription and phylogenetic position of Steleucoela Kieffer, 1908, a remarkable genus of Neotropical Ganaspini (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Eucoilinae)

Author
item Buffington, Matthew
item ACEVEDO, C. - Universidade Federal Do Espirito Santo (UFES)

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2015
Publication Date: 6/5/2015
Publication URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.4289/0013-8797.117.2.95
Citation: Buffington, M.L., Acevedo, C.O. 2015. The redescription and phylogenetic position of Steleucoela Kieffer, 1908, a remarkable genus of Neotropical Ganaspini (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Eucoilinae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 117:95-115.

Interpretive Summary: Microscopic figitid wasps are parasites of fly maggots in a variety of habitats, including agroecosystems, around the world. The wasp larva consumes the maggot from the inside out, ultimately killing the host when the wasp molts to an adult. Because they are small and inconspicuous, little attention has been paid to their taxonomy and the impact they have on the flies they parasitize. This is a study of figitid wasps new to science, requiring the description of a new genus. Knowledge of these species, and how to identify them, will be of use to scientists, agroecosystem managers, and farmers, in understanding and preserving the natural enemy fauna that provides control of pest insect species.

Technical Abstract: The eucoiline genus Steleucoela is redescribed and illustrated, as well as the two species S. braziliensis and S. piriformis. Updated distribution data is provided, and include the new country records of Columbia and Costa Rica for S. piriformis. DNA sequence data is here combined with a morphological phylogenetic matrix to examine the phylogenetic placement of Stelecuoela. While morphologically rather apomorphic, Stelecuoela was recovered nested within Ganaspini. This study is a product of the NESH Project of Espírito Santo, and we discuss the future of Hymenoptera taxonomy within the state.