Anacharoides stygius Benoit
Creators: name: Buffington, Matthew
name: van Noort, Simon
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Figitidae
Anacharoides
Anacharoides stygius

description: <i>Anacharoides stygius</i> Benoit Figs 1F, 4B and 7 <i>Anacharoides stygius</i> Benoit, 1956: 197–198 <b>Diagnosis.</b> This species is immediately recognizable by the 5–7 well-developed strigae present on the mesoscutum (Fig. 1F); other species of <i>Anacharoides</i> have, at most, a rugose-striate mesoscutum, lacking any distinctive strigae. <b>Redescription.</b> Length = 2.80–3.00 mm, n=8; holotype length = 3.00 mm. F1 of female gradually expanded distally. F1 of male distinctly funicate, markedly kinked at midpoint, distinctly excavated. Length of F1 of female antenna 1.2–1.4 × F2. Ocellar groove present, simple ridge posterior to central ocellus. Lateral aspect of pronotum porcate antero-dorsally, antero-ventrally; gently carinate antero-medially; remainder of sclerite shagreened. Microsculpture of mesoscutum coriaceous over entire surface. Antero-admedial signum of mesoscutum present with 2–3 antero-admedial signum struts. Inter antero-admedial signum ridges present. Surface of mesoscutum strigate, with 5–7 distinct strigae radiating from mesoscutal keel. Shape of posterior mesoscutellar fovea rounded. Mesoscutal keel present along entire length of mesoscutum, punctate. Mesoscutellar fovea smooth with 6–7 carinae present. Mesoscutellum in lateral view with a distinct, strong hump. Length of posterior mesoscutellar fovea medium-long, reaching 1/4 to 1/3 length of mesoscutum. Lateral aspect of mesoscutum distal of notauli coriacous-rugose with strong carinae along entire length. Sculpture of notauli crenulate with transverse ridges posteriorly. Anterior margin of scutellar fovea rounded. Shape of notauli distinctly wider at posterior margin than anterior margin. <b>Distribution</b> (Fig. 7). <i>Sub-Saharan Africa</i>: Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar; from Quinlan (1979): Tanzania and Nigeria. <b>Material examined.</b> HOLOTYPE. Holotypus [first label, pink]; Cyn 1–36 [second label]; Musée de Congo, Kiniati-Zobe, fin December 1915, R. Mayné [Democratic Republic of Congo, end December 1915, third label]; <i>Anacharoides stygius</i> sp. n. 1955, holotype, female, det. P.L.G. Benoit [fourth label, handwritten]. The holotype is a female, card mounted, in good condition; deposited in MRAC. <b>Additional material.</b> ANGOLA: 7 mls. W Gabela, 16–18.III.1972, Southern African Exped. B.M. 1972-1 (1 female, BMNH). DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Massif Ruwenzori Kalonge, 1900 m, Kamusonge River, aff. Butahu, 8.I.1954, H. Synave 7026-31 (1 female, BMNH); Mont. Hoyo, 1280 m, sur plantes basses, 7–15.VII.1955, P. Vanschuytbroeck 13274-309 (1 female, BMNH). MADA- GASCAR: Berenty Reserve, 80km W Ft. Dauphin, 25°00’S 46°18’E, 3.III.1994, M. Wasbauer, MT (1 female, UCD); Province Fianarantsoa, near Isalo National Park, in dry wash East of Interpretive Center, 7–22.IX.2002, 22°37.60’S, 45°21.49’E, collector: R. Harin’Hala, California Acad of Sciences, malaise trap in open area, elev 885 m, MA-02-11B-39 (1 male, CASC); Province Fianarantsoa, Parc National Ranomafana, radio tower at forest edge, elev 1130 m, 17–30.V.2003, 21°15.05’S, 47°24.43’E, collector: R. Harin’Hala, California Acad. of Sciences, malaise, mixed tropical forest, MA- 02-09B-61 (1 female, CASC); Bekily [19°48’00”S 045° 03’00”E] Reg. Sud. D’Lile, A. Seyrig, various dates, all deposited in NMHN: 7 females, 3males: III.1937; 2 females: I.1937; 1 females: II.1937; 2 females: IV.1937; 3 females: X.1936; 1 female, 1 male: VII.1936; 2 females, 1 male: IX 1938; 3 females, 2 males: X.1938; 1 female: III.1939. <b>Biology.</b> Unknown. <b>Image collection:</b> 465418. <b>Comments.</b> The sculpture of the mesoscutum is a striking feature of this species, exemplified by Fig. 4B and Quinlan (1979: fig 64). <b>Conclusion</b> The distribution of <i>Anacharoides striaticeps</i> and <i>A. pallida</i> are by far the broadest of any species within the genus. Consistent with other species of <i>Anacharoides</i>, <i>A. striaticeps</i> and <i>A. pallida</i> have been collected throughout sub-Saharan Africa; these species differ from their congeners, however, by their presence in Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen (<i>A. striaticeps</i>) and the Canary Islands (<i>A. pallida</i>). This distribution data is consistent with that of other figitids: the pycnostigmines <i>Tylosema</i> Kieffer and <i>Trjapitziniola</i> Kovalev were both recorded from beyond sub-Saharan Africa (<i>Tylosema</i> recorded from Algeria, <i>Trjapitziniola</i> from the United Arab Emirates and Armenia (Buffington and van Noort 2007; Kovalev 1995), and the eucoilines <i>Gronotoma nitida</i> Quinlan, <i>G. lana</i> Quinlan and <i>Nordlanderia plowa</i> Quinlan occur in Africa as well as the Arabian Peninsula, India and southeast Asia (Buffington, pers. obsv.). Thus, the distribution of both <i>A. striaticeps</i> and <i>A. pallida</i> reinforces the notion that at least some African lineages of Cynipoidea are derived from Western Palearctic lineages. This hypothesis is further underscored by the relationship of <i>Anacharoides</i> with the aspicerines <i>Omalaspis</i> and <i>Callaspidia</i> as reported in Buffington et al. (2007): ((<i>Aspicera</i> + <i>Paraspicera</i>) <i>Anacharoides</i> (<i>Omalaspis</i> + <i>Callaspidia</i>)). <i>Omalaspis</i> is known from India and Bangladesh (Buffington, pers. obsv.) and the western Palearctic (Weld 1952); <i>Callaspidia</i> is known throughout the western Palearctic and Nearctic (Weld 1952). Thus, from a cladistic biogeography standpoint, a western Palearctic origin of <i>Anacharoides</i> is likely. The few host records reported here that are substantiated by host remains suggest species of <i>Anacharoides</i> are parasitoids of syrphids. This biological attribute is consistent with other species of Aspicerinae such as <i>Callaspidia</i> that similarly have been recorded as parasitoids of Syrphidae (Weld 1952; Ros-Farré 2007). In fact, insects with aphidophagous larvae have been considered a loose host association for the entire Aspicerinae, Anacharitinae and Charipinae (Ronquist 1999), though Buffington et al. (2007) found that this biological attribute likely evolved several times. For agroecosystems, species such as those in <i>Anacharoides</i> may provide a degree of antagonism towards primary predators and parasitoids of pestiferous aphids. Further research into this group of parasitic wasps will hopefully yield more data on the nature of this interaction.
description: Published as part of <i>Buffington, Matthew &amp; van Noort, Simon, 2009, A revision of Anacharoides Cameron, 1904 (Hymenoptera, Figitidae) with a description of a new species, pp. 245-274 in ZooKeys 20 (20)</i> on pages 271-272, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.20.124, http://zenodo.org/record/576516
description: {"references": ["Benoit PLG (1956) Figitidae - Aspicerinae nouveaux du Congo Belge. Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines 53: 195 - 204.", "Quinlan J (1979) A revisionary classification of the Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera) of the Ethiopian zoologeographical region. Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History 39: 85 - 133.", "Buffington ML, van Noort S (2007) A world revision of the Pycnostigminae (Cynipoidea: Figitidae) with descriptions of seven new species. Zootaxa 1392: 1 - 30.", "Kovalev O (1995) Paleontogical history, phylogeny, and the system of brachycleistograstromorphs and cynipomorphs (Hymenoptera: Brachycleistograstromorpha infraorder n., Cynipomorpha infraorder n.) with description of new fossil and recent families, subfamilies and genera. Entomological Review 74: 105 - 147. (Originally published in Russian in Entomologicheskoe Obozrenie 73: 385 - 426).", "Weld L (1952) Cynipoidea (Hym.) 1905 - 1950. Privately Printed, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. 351 pp.", "Ros-Farre P (2007) Pujadella Ros-Farre, a new genus from the Oriental Region, with a description of two new species (Hymenoptera: Figitidae: Aspicerinae). Zoological Studies 46: 1 - 5.", "Ronquist F (1999) Phylogeny, classification and evolution of the Cynipoidea. Zoologica Scripta 28: 139 - 164."]}