Ichneumonopsis Hardy 1973
Creators: name: Freidberg, Amnon
name: Kovac, Damir
name: Shiao, Shiuh-Feng
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tephritidae
Ichneumonopsis

description: Genus Ichneumonopsis Hardy, 1973
Ichneumonopsis Hardy, 1973: 132;
type species Ichneumonopsis burmensis Hardy, 1973: 133 (by original designation and monotypy).
Ichneumonopsis – Hardy 1986: 54, 56 (key to Adramini genera). — Drew & Hancock 1994: 829 (redescription). — Drew & Romig 2013: 403 (South-East Asian fruit flies). — Norrbom et al. 1999b: 161. — Radhakrishnan 2000: 203 (first record for India). — Kovac et al. 2006: 170 (key to Gastrozonini genera), 184. — Kovac et al. 2013: 201 (biology and immature stages).
Diagnosis
Species of this genus are large, slender and somewhat atypical Gastrozonini that cannot be readily associated with any of the other included genera due to some apomorphic characters that obscure their true relationships. The three included species bear some superficial resemblance to Enicoptera gigantea Enderlein, 1911, which is even larger, but Enicoptera Macquart, 1848 clearly differs from all other Gastrozonini genera, including Ichneumonopsis, in the peculiar and unique wing venation, e.g., it is characterized by veins R 1 and R 2+3 joining each other for a short distance just before meeting the costa.
Having several conspicuous autapomorphies, Ichneumonopsis is so distinctive that in Hardy’s (1973: 76) key to Trypetinae genera (including 50 genera), it keys out in just four steps (couplets 1, 2, 46 and 47). The original description itself is rather brief, dealing almost entirely with key characters that have weak relevance here since they refer to adramine genera. In any case, Hardy’s (1973: 132) assignment of Ichneumonopsis to the Adramini is clearly incorrect.
Kovac et al. (2006: 170) included Ichneumonopsis in their key to Gastrozonini, which treats 27 genera, but Ichneumonopsis keyed out in couplet 1. The characters used in this key, although based only on the type species, can be viewed as the minimum information for a diagnosis of Ichneumonopsis within the Gastrozonini. They are: “Extremely wasp-like species, with petiolate abdomen, spinose forefemur and dimidiate wing pattern; chaetotaxy reduced: one (but updated to 0–2 in the Redescription below) setulalike frontal seta, one small orbital seta and one scutellar seta present; ocellar, dorsocentral, acrostichal, intra-alar, postpronotal and pleural setae, except one anepisternal seta, lacking.” The following generic description, based on the type species plus the two newly described species, incorporates all characters available from the literature plus additional characters that we think are useful in separating this genus from other Gastrozonini.
Redescription
Extremely ichneumonid-like species, with elongate body and antennae, petiolate abdomen (Figs 20–21), contrasting dark (brown or black) and yellow or white markings on all body parts, and usually dimidiate wing pattern (anterior 0.4 of wing yellow, remaining part hyaline (Fig. 18), although in I. taiwanensis sp. nov. (Fig. 19) there are additional dark areas on posterior half of wing); sexes not conspicuously dimorphic. Chaetotaxy reduced, with many major setae lacking or small, setula-like; one pair of (apical) scutellar setae present; entire body with pale (mostly yellow, sometimes brown or blackish) setulae not strongly contrasted with background. Microtrichia indistinct.
Head (Figs 5–6)
STRUCTURE. Distinctly higher than long, with high and transversely convex face and narrow and shallow antennal fovea (groove), frons sloping, frontofacial angle about 100 o- 120 o; gena high, about 0.33 times as high as eye; occiput rather flat dorsally, swollen ventrally; antenna longer than face, with all three segments at least somewhat elongate, including scape which is distinctly porrect, with1 st flagellomere about 4–5 times as long as high, rounded apically; arista short plumose, plumosity about as wide as 1 st flagellomere height.
COLOURATION. Primarily yellow, with black or blackish parts as follows: orbital plate, ocellar triangle, both sometimes united, irregular spot on anterior part of frons, genal spot, small spot laterally on face at mid-height, small spot around and ventral to base of lateral vertical seta, and long vertical spot extending over most of ventral part of occiput to genal margin, latter sometimes indistinct. In addition, face almost entirely black or with elaborate pattern of numerous small spots; these spots variable in number and expression, often asymmetrical, sometimes lacking.
CHAETOTAXY AND VESTITURE. Frontal setae 0–2, if present then small (anterior frontal) or setula-like, barely distinguishable from adjacent setulae; anterior orbital seta small but distinct; posterior orbital seta present or lacking, if present, then small, setula-like and barely distinguishable from adjacent setulae; medial and lateral vertical setae present; ocellar seta lacking; postocellar seta indistinguishable from adjacent setulae; genal seta present; postocular setae tiny, inconspicuous. Setulae mostly fine and rather sparse, more spine-like and blackish around occipital foramen.
Thorax (Figs 7–9)
STRUCTURE. Scutum narrow, length to width ratio 1.33–1.40; scutellum small, about 0.22–0.27 times as long as scutum (n = 7 for both ratios); clear overlap between the three species, moderately convex.
COLOURATION. Mostly yellow, with complex dark (brown to black) pattern. Scutum generally with five longitudinal brown to black vittae, including (single) median, (pair) dorsocentral and (pair) notopleural vittae, the latter vitta not extending along entire scutum, the former two vittae often entire, connected across posterior margin, hence scutum without distinct yellow or white prescutellar markings; postpronotal lobe mostly yellow, sometimes slightly dark (brown to black anteriorly); scutellum entirely yellow; pleural pattern complex; see description of I. burmensis for details. Subscutellum and mediotergite mostly yellow to brownish, laterally and dorsally brown.
CHAETOTAXY AND VESTITURE. Notopleural setae 2, postsutural supra-alar, postalar, anepisternal and one pair (apical) scutellar setae present; scapular, postsutural dorsocentral and katepisternal setae present or absent, scapular setae entirely lacking in the two specimens of I. hancocki sp. nov., but present in the two other species, although median pair lacking in all specimens of I. taiwanensis sp. nov. and sometimes also in I. burmensis. Lateral pair variable in size but usually distinct in the two latter species. Presutural dorsocentral, postpronotal, acrostichal and intra-alar setae lacking, median part of scutum with 10–16, but usually not less than 12 rows of setulae, although in I. sp. nov. scutum presuturally appears to have sparser setulae.
Legs (Figs 13–17)
STRUCTURE AND CHAEOTAXY. Elongate, without overt features except spinose femora in both sexes. In two species (I. burmensis and I. taiwanensis sp. nov.) only forefemur spinose, with single row of 2–5 blackish spines ventrally on distal half, and other femora without any spines or setae, only setulae, whereas in I. hancocki sp. nov. all femora spinose, in two rows and much more extensively; midtibia with one apicoventral spine.
COLOURATION. Pattern complex and variable, with legs comprising whitish, yellowish, brownish and blackish parts. In I. taiwanensis sp. nov. legs more uniformly yellow probably due to immersion in alcohol. In extremely dark specimens of I. burmensis dark pattern is as follows: coxae entirely or partly blackish; trochanters entirely blackish; forefemur with incomplete narrow blackish ring at base and another preapically, both slightly interrupted ventrally; foretibia blackish; foretarsus blackish except basitarsus mostly whitish, blackish only apically; midfemur with incomplete blackish ring at apical 0.4; midtibia as foretibia, and midtarsus as foretarsus; hindfemur as in forefemur, but rings broader, each about 0.33 times as long as femur; hindtibia brownish-yellow; hindtarsus as in foretarsus.
Wing (Figs 18–19)
VENATION. Longitudinal veins generally straight, not sinuous; pterostigma about 6–8 times as long as
wide; posterodistal lobe of cell bcu slightly shorter than, equal to, or about 1.5 times as long as distal
section of vein A 1 +Cu 2; stump crossvein present in cell r 1, either indicated as fold or developed as vein, more or less aligned half way between crossveins R-M and DM-Cu; crossvein R-M aligned with,
or slightly basal to, middle of cell dm; crossvein DM-Cu slightly oblique anterodistally; costal spine
lacking; vein R 4+5 dorsally with sparse small fine setulae to about level of crossvein DM-Cu.
PATTERN. Either dimidiate (in I. burmensis and I. hancocki sp. nov.), with anterior 0.4 of wing yellowish to brownish, with posterior margin of coloured area often brown, particularly over vein R 4+5, extending posteriorly only to vein R 4+5 or slightly beyond, and without spots or bands, or pattern type extended dimidiate (in I. taiwanensis sp. nov.), with additional dark spots on posterior 0.6 of wing, especially over crossvein DM-Cu and distalmost section of vein M; cell bcu yellowish in all species.
Abdomen (Figs 20–21)
STRUCTURE. Strongly elongate, petiolate; syntergite 1+2 about as long as remaining preabdomen, broadened posteriorly, with distal 0.2 narrowed in dorsal view; tergite 6 of female 0.2–0.3 times as long as tergite 5; oviscape about as long as, or longer than, preabdomen, conical at basal 0.2, remaining part cylindrical.
COLOURATION. Abdomen generally banded, with H-shaped or Y-shaped dark pattern on syntergite 1+2, with dark bifurcation always on T1, sometimes also on T2, posterior margin broadly yellow; remaining tergites with more or less discrete, alternating dark (usually brownish or blackish) and yellow posterior transverse bands.
CHAETOTAXY AND VESTITURE. Without obvious setae or with one or few at posterolateral corner of last tergite (both male and female), or with few setae posterolaterally on some sternites (females); syntergite 1+2 posterolaterally with large patches of short, dense and erect minute setulae in both males and females, arranged in numerous (ca 30) rows and sometimes with longer coarse dark setulae near these (stridulatory organ?).
Terminalia (based on two species)
Male (Figs 22–26)
Epandrium triangular in lateral view, with elongate surstylus, about 10 times as long as wide, and forming 140 o– 160 o with anterior margin of epandrium; surstylus distally with digitiform prolongation more or less aligned with surstylus, about as long as surstylus width at prensisetae level; proctiger (cerci) slightly to distinctly larger than epandrium, with long and thin hair-like setae, longer, denser and darker (brownish) in one species, shorter and sparser in the other; two small prensisetae; hypandrium and ejaculatory apodeme without overt features, the latter narrow, about 3–4 times as long as wide (at widest place, near apex). Phallus about 1.1–1.2 times as long as abdomen; glans with at least four separate sclerotized plates or structures (from base to tip): first sclerite brown, rather flat dome-like at base; second sclerite opposite first sclerite but slightly more distally, yellow, flat, longer than first sclerite, comprising basal lobe; third structure at middle of glans, cochleate, the most complex and conspicuous sclerotization in the glans; finally small curved brown plate at tip of glans.
Female (Figs 27–30)
Aculeus flat, about 10 times as long as wide; cercal unit unusually wide, distinctly rounded apically, with or without constriction, with 4 preapical marginal setulae and system of straight or curved longitudinal “canals” crowded toward tip (tip of aculeus illustrated by Hardy 1973: fig. 58e) or extending more proximally; eversible membrane: with 30–40 dense rows of small yellow denticles; denticles rhomboidal, length equal to width, 209–251 µm, average 230 µm, n = 10; denticles occupying basal 0.25–0.30 of length of eversible membrane, which in most of its length lacks denticles and is translucent grey. Spermathecae – 2, spherical or almost spherical (illustrated by Hardy 1973: fig. 58c).
Comments
This genus has been poorly collected and documented except, perhaps, I. burmensis (Kovac et al. 2013). This situation, as well as the relative wide distribution (Fig. 1), attests to the possibility that additional species await discovery in the Oriental Region.
Key to species of Ichneumonopsis
1. Dark dorsocentral and median scutal vittae connected via two transverse bands: one at level of supraalar seta and one along scutoscutellar suture; submedian yellow vitta divided into isolated anterior vitta and posterior oval spot; all femora with rows of spines anteroventrally and posteroventrally; scapular setae absent, dorsocentral and katepisternal setae present …………… hancocki sp. nov.
– Dark dorsocentral and median scutal vittae connected only via transverse band along scutoscutellar suture; submedian yellow vitta complete from anterior margin of scutum to dark transverse band along scutoscutellar suture; forefemur with about 2–5, usually 3–4, spines posteroventrally, other femora devoid of spines; scapular setae present, dorsocentral and katepisternal setae absent or dorsocentral setula-like ……………………………………………………………………………2
2. Wing pattern more extensive than dimidiate (although containing elements of the dimidiate pattern of the other species), including posteriorly: blackish bands over distalmost section of vein M and over crossvein DM-Cu, blackish vein Cu 1 and its immediate vicinity and less discrete blackish spot over distal half of posterodistal lobe of cell bcu; remaining posterior half of wing appearing greyish or hyaline, depending on the light; spur vein (across cell r 1) brownish and in greyish-black spot …………………………………………………………… taiwanensis sp. nov.
– Wing pattern dimidiate, with dark pattern restricted to anterior half of wing, extending slightly into cells br and r 4+5; no discrete pattern in posterior half of wing, although posterior margin of wing broadly greyish; stump vein usually colourless and not in greyish-black spot ………… burmensis Hardy, 1973
description: Published as part of Freidberg, Amnon, Kovac, Damir & Shiao, Shiuh-Feng, 2017, A revision of Ichneumonopsis Hardy, 1973 (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae: Gastrozonini), Oriental bamboo-shoot fruit flies, pp. 1-23 in European Journal of Taxonomy 317 on pages 3-7, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2017.317, http://zenodo.org/record/3827417