# First record of the subfamily Epitraninae
(Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) in the European Continent

Evangelos Koutsoukos, Gérard Delvare

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Evangelos Koutsoukos, Gérard Delvare. First record of the subfamily Epitraninae (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) in the European Continent. Travaux du Museum d'Histoire Naturelle Grigore Antipa, 2021, 64 (1), pp.61-65. 10.3897/travaux.64.e66165. hal-05183023

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# First record of the subfamily Epitraninae (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) in the European Continent

Evangelos Koutsoukos¹,², Gerard Delvare³

1 Section of Ecology and Systematics, Department of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece

2 Museum of Zoology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece

3 Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Montpellier SupAgro, INRA, IRD, Univ. Montpellier, Montpellier, France

Corresponding author: Evangelos Koutsoukos (vag18000@gmail.com)

Received 19 March 2021 | Accepted 25 May 2021 | Published 30 June 2021

**Citation:** Koutsoukos E, Delvare G (2021) First record of the subfamily Epitraninae (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) in the European Continent. Travaux du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle "Grigore Antipa" 64(1): 61-65. https://doi.org/10.3897/travaux.64.e66165

## Abstract

Epitraninae Burks (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) is a subfamily with a single recognised genus, *Epitranus* Walker, known to be distributed throughout the tropical areas of the Old World. Whilst recent studies have reported the presence of Epitraninae in countries of the Middle East, there are no published records from the European continent. A female specimen belonging to the *Epitranus hamoni* species complex was collected in Salamis island, Attica, Greece, and deposited at the Museum of Zoology (Athens). This record constitutes an important addition to the Greek and European Chalcidoidea fauna.

## Keywords

Chalcidoidea, Chalcididae, new record, *Epitranus*, Greece.

## Introduction

Chalcidid wasps (Chalcidoidea: Chalcididae) are a moderate sized family regarding species number (Aguiar et al. 2013) represented on the European continent by the subfamilies Brachymeriinae, Chalcidinae, Dirhininae and Haltichellinae (Noyes 2019;
Cruaud et al. 2021). Epitraninae Burks were recognized as a subfamily by nearly all authors (e.g., Steffan 1957; Bouček 1982, 1988, 1992; Narendran 1989; Narendran and van Achterberg 2006). The sole exception was Heraty et al. (2013) who downgraded them to a tribe of Dirhininae. Cruaud et al. (2021) based on morphological and molecular data raised them again to subfamily status.

The subfamily is monotypic, including only *Epitranus* Walker (Bouček 1982; Noyes 2019). The genus contains 68 valid species (Noyes 2019), but after examination of the available type species most likely there are only 64 (GD unpublished data). The Epitraninae are mostly encountered in the tropical regions of the Old World such as the Afrotropical (Schmitz 1946; Steffan 1957) and Indopacific realms (Habu 1960; Bouček 1982 and 1988; Narendran 1989; Narendran and van Achterberg 2016) where they are generally collected in tropical forests (Robert Copeland and Claire Villemant, pers. comm.). *Epitranus* was quoted several times from the New World (Cresson 1865; Bouček 1992; Grissell and Smith 2003; Tavares and De Araujo 2007); however this is obviously the result of introductions of *Epitranus clavatus* (Fabricius) [including its junior synonym, *E. fulvescens* Walker, the type species of the genus] which were described from Guyana and the island of St. Vincent, respectively. *Epitranus clavatus* is associated with stored products and probably originated from south-east India (Bouček 1982). Recently *Epitranus* was nevertheless quoted from arid areas such as Egypt (Abdul-Sood and Gadallah 2018), UAE (Delvare 2017) and Iran (Moravvej et al. 2018).

## Methods

During October 2019, a single specimen (Fig. 1) was collected by hand on a hill near the town of Salamis, where phrygana and pine trees prevail. The specimen

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 1.** Female specimen from the *Epitranus hamoni* species complex, collected in Greece.</figcaption></figure>
was deposited at the Museum of Zoology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Greece (ZMUA).

**Material examined:** Greece, 1 ♀, Attiki, Salamina, Patris hill, 37°97.0′N; 23°48.9′E, alt. 40 m, 15.XI.2019, coll. E. Koutsoukos (Voucher code: ZMUA HYM 000223).

## Results

The initial identification was made following Gadallah et al. (2020), and confirmed through comparison with the type specimen of *E. hamoni* (Risbec) by GD. As explained by Gadallah et al. (2020) at least two species occur in the Arabian Peninsula according to the distinct morphology of the male scape, belonging to the *Epitranus hamoni* species complex. Unfortunately, no distinctive character was found so far to distinguish the females. They can thus solely be identified as belonging to the *E. hamoni* species complex. Nevertheless, this constitutes an important record, since it is the first of the subfamily Epitraninae for Europe. Additionally, during October 2017, a photographic record of an individual was taken in Salamis Island. As the specimen was not collected, the identification was limited to genus level. Both records, could indicate, but not confirm that the genus *Epitranus* has established populations in some areas of Greece. The presence of subfamily Epitraninae in Greece doesn't come as a great surprise, since species belonging to the genus *Epitranus* have been reported from many countries of the Middle East (Fig. 2). Further field research is due for a more holistic approach concerning the presence of this genus in Greece, as well as neighboring countries.

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>**Figure 2.** Presence of subfamily Epitraninae in the Middle East.</figcaption></figure>
## Acknowledgements

We are greatly thankful to Bruno Cancian De Araujo (SNSB - Zoologische Staatssammlung München), Lucian Fusu (Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza) and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments during the reviewing process of our manuscript.

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