Gonatocerus Nees ab Esenbeck
Creators: name: Triapitsyn, Serguei V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Mymaridae
Gonatocerus

description: Subgenus Gonatocerus (Cosmocomoidea Howard, 1908)   
 Cosmocomoidea Howard 1908: 68.   
 Type species: Cosmocomoidea morrilli Howard, by monotypy.   
 Ooctonus Haliday: Girault 1929: 20.   
 Lymaenon (Cosmocomoidea Howard): Ogloblin 1959: 50 –56; Annecke & Doutt 1961: 4.   
 Gonatocerus (Gonatocerus Nees): De Santis 1967: 103 –105 (in part).   
 Gonatocerus (Cosmocomoidea Howard): De Santis 1967: 106; Triapitsyn et al. 2010: 94–99 (reinstated as a valid subgenus, diagnosis, diagnoses of species groups and subgroups of the ater group, key to species groups, subgroups, and species in the Neotropical region).   
 Lymaenon Walker (longicauda species group): Viggiani 1969: 39 (except Oophilus longicauda Enock [as Lymaenon longicauda (Enock), a synonym of G. (Lymaenon) acuminatus], G. (Lymaenon) thyrides, and also G. (Gastrogonatocerus) membraciphagus Ogloblin).   
 Gonatocerus Nees (ater species group): Matthews 1986: 216 (key), 220; Huber 1988: 30, 48–51 (key to Nearctic species); Yoshimoto 1990: 38 (list of Western Hemisphere species); Zeya & Hayat 1995: 62 –63 (diagnosis, key to Indian species); Donev 2005: 383 (key to species in Balkan Peninsula); Pricop 2010b: 111 –112 (diagnosis, tentative key to European species), 117 (intuitive scheme of phylogenetic relationships); Zeya & Khan 2012: 54 –56 (key to Indian species).   
 Diagnosis. Back of head without sutures; female funicle 8-segmented; pronotum longitudinally divided into two lobes that abut medially; dorsellum triangular to rhomboidal; propodeum almost always with 2 well developed submedian carinae and lateral to submedian carinae without transverse wrinkles, carinae, or punctures; fore wing usually relatively broad and setae behind venation absent or, if present behind marginal and stigmal veins, not as dense or as uniformly distributed as beyond venation.   
 All the Palaearctic species of G. (Cosmocomoidea) belong to the ater subgroup of the ater species group as defined by Triapitsyn et al. (2010) and above. The subgenus is much more diverse and morphologically varied in the Western Hemisphere, where several groups and subgroups within G. (Cosmocomoidea) occur.   
 Distribution. Almost cosmopolitan (absent in the Australian region but introduced, either accidentally or purposely, into various oceanic islands, e.g., Hawaiian Islands, French Polynesia, and Easter Island).   
 Hosts. Cicadellidae (mostly), Membracidae, and possibly Flatidae (Triapitsyn et al. 2010).   
 Comments. Identification of G. (Cosmocomoidea) species in the Palaearctic region is challenging, particularly the cryptic forms within the G. (Cosmocomoidea) ater Foerster and G. (Cosmocomoidea) latipennis Girault complexes. There, variability of morphological characters traditionally used for species separation, e.g., funicle segment proportions and presence or absence of mps on them, fore wing length:width, relative length of ovipositor to length of mesotibia, makes it almost impossible to define these forms unequivocally. In some cases they may be separated by the shape of the submedian carinae on the propodeum, although the carinae may be subject to intraspecific variability but perhaps to a lesser extent than other features. Therefore, new species are not described unless they can be defined confidently. A combination of morphological (including morphometric analyses based on statistically significant number of specimens), molecular, and biological studies would be necessary to resolve more difficult problems as fresh, well-prepared specimens, particularly from the type localities of the nominal taxa, become available.    Key to females of Palaearctic species of Gonatocerus (Cosmocomoidea)   
 1 Ovipositor markedly exserted beyond apex of gaster (Figs 286, 289, 295).......... G. (Cosmocomoidea) oxypygus Foerster   
– Ovipositor not or slightly exserted beyond apex of gaster...................................................... 2  
 2(1) Fore wing relatively narrow, at least about 4.1× as long as wide (Fig. 307)......... G. (Cosmocomoidea) rogersi Matthews   
– Fore wing relatively broad, at most 3.5× as long as wide...................................................... 3  
 3(2) Fore wing disc mostly setose behind stigmal vein and apex of marginal vein (Fig. 321).............................................................................................. G. (Cosmocomoidea) woohoo Triapitsyn sp. n.   
– Fore wing disc at most with a few setae behind apex of marginal vein and stigmal vein.............................. 4  
4(3) F2 with at least 1 mps on both antennae................................................................... 5  
– F2 normally without mps, but at most with 1 mps on only one antenna........................................... 6  
 5(4) Antennal funicle segments relatively longer and narrower (Fig. 261); fore wing at least 3.0× as long as wide......................................................................... G. (Cosmocomoidea)? kodaianus (Mani & Saraswat)   
 – Antennal funicle segments relatively shorter and broader (Fig. 257); fore wing at most 2.7× as long as wide............................................................................. G. (Cosmocomoidea) kikimora Triapitsyn sp. n.   
 6(4) Ovipositor occupying entire length of gaster (Figs 312, 314), often projecting forward beneath petiole, at least 2.0× as long as mesotibia........................................................ G. (Cosmocomoidea) tremulae (Bakkendorf)   
– Ovipositor occupying less than entire length of gaster, not projecting forward beneath petiole, at most 1.9× as long as mesotibia (usually significantly less)...................................................................... 7  
 7(6) Propodeum with submedian carinae complete (extending to anterior margin of propodeum), curving anteriorly and posteriorly (Figs 265, 269)........................................................ G. (Cosmocomoidea) latipennis Girault   
– Propodeum with submedian carinae of different shape, either complete or incomplete............................... 8  
 8(7) Mps (1 or 2) present on F3–F8 on both antennae.......................... G. (Cosmocomoidea) crassicornis (Viggiani)   
 – Mps absent on at least one funicle segment among F3–F8....................... G. (Cosmocomoidea) ater Foerster s. l.   
 [Propodeal submedian carinae fine, narrowing from propodeal posterior margin (their widest point) and either complete and joining together at propodeal anterior margin (Fig. 208) or incomplete (at least partially fading anteriorly, Fig. 219) in G. (Cosmocomoidea) ater Foerster s. str.]
description: Published as part of Triapitsyn, Serguei V., 2013, Review of Gonatocerus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) in the Palaearctic region, with notes on extralimital distributions, pp. 1-178 in Zootaxa 3644 (1) on pages 117-119, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3644.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/246888