Bothriothorax Ratzeburg 1844
Creators: name: Zuparko, Robert L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Encyrtidae
Bothriothorax

description: Bothriothorax Ratzeburg 1844
Hosts. Diptera: Syrphidae
californicus Howard 1895a: 609
Type. USNM
Distribution. C (Alameda, Alpine, Contra Costa, Fresno, Humboldt, Lassen, Marin, Mendocino, Merced, Mono/Tuolumne border, Monterey, Nevada, Riverside, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, coastal southern California)
Host/habitat. Eupeodes nitens, Scaeva pyrastri, Syrphus opinator
Remarks. Howard described B. californicus from three specimens, noting the “ types ” were in the U.S. National Museum, but I found only two specimens there. The Nearctic Bothriothorax species are badly in need of revision—the only generic treatment was by Howard (1895a) and there are discrepancies between the specimens and the descriptions therein. This species may prove to be a senior synonym of B. faridi and B. rotundiformis (q. v.).
faridi Kamal 1926: 283
Type. USNM
Distribution. C (Santa Clara)
Host/habitat. Syrphus opinator
Remarks. In the original description, Kamal did not provide a diagnosis for this species. It is very close to B. californicus, and the only difference I could discern between the types of the two species is a pair of medial longitudinal carina on the propodeum of B. faridi (missing in B. californicus). However, this is not a reliable defining characteristic, as an examination of a series of specimens from Merced County show it is present in some specimens and absent from others, so I suspect B. faridi will prove to be a junior synonym of B. californicus.
nigripes Howard 1895a: 610
Type. USNM
Distribution. N (Colusa, Contra Costa, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Marin, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Trinity, Tulare)
Host/habitat. Eupeodes lapponicus, E. volucris
Remarks. In the original description, Howard erroneously reported the first funicle segment was as long as the pedicel. There is a series of specimens of this species from Los Angeles County that were apparently reared from the pupa of a Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera) (EMEC). Interestingly, this is not the first record of a Bothriothorax associated with Lepidoptera— B. altensteinii Ratzeburg 1844 has been reported as a hyperparasitoid of Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) via Exorista larvarum (Linnaeus) (Diptera: Tachinidae) (Erdös 1957), and B. paradoxus (Dalman 1820) has been reported from L. dispar, as well as Phalera bucephala (Linnaeus) (Notodontidae), and as a hyperparasitoid of Gastropacha quercifolia (Linnaeus) (Lasiocampidae), via the tachinids Compsilura concinnata (Meigen), E. larvarum and Sturmia scutellata (Robineau-Desvoidy) (Gyorfi 1942). Although Noyes (2001) considers the P. bucephala record erroneous based on the discontinuity in the generic host range (predatory syrphids vs. parasitic tachinids), a similar dichotomy is present in the genus Syrphophagus, which are known as primary parasitoids of syrphids and hyperparasitoids of aphids.
rotundiformis Howard 1895a: 610
Type. USNM
Distribution. N (Placer)
Host/habitat. Unknown
Remarks. This species is known from only the single type specimen, which is very close to B. californicus. I am treating it as a good species, but further research may prove these two species to be synonymous.
spp.
Remarks. Specimens that appear to represent three additional species were collected in Alameda, Marin, Nevada, San Mateo and Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties (CAS, EMEC, LACM, RLZC).
description: Published as part of Zuparko, Robert L., 2015, Annotated Checklist of California Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera), pp. 1-126 in Zootaxa 4017 (1) on page 16, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4017.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/245475