Aleiodes
Creators: name: Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio
name: Shaw, Scott Richard
name: Almeida, Luis Felipe Ventura De
name: Penteado-Dias, Angélica Maria
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Aleiodes

description: Genus Aleiodes (Subgenus Athacryvac) stat. nov.
Athacryvac Braet & van Achterberg 2011: 284
Type species: Athacryvac alternatus Braet & van Achterberg 2011
Included species. Aleiodes (Athacryvac) achterbergi Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov. (Brazil); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) alternatus Braet & van Achterberg comb. nov. (Brazil, French Guiana); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) amazoniensis Shimbori & Almeida sp. nov. (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) braeti Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov. (Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) choco Shimbori sp. nov. (Colombia); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) donaldquickei Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov. (Colombia); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) fuscatus Braet & van Achterberg comb. nov. (Brazil, Costa Rica, French Guiana); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) gonzalezi Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov. (Colombia); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) paradoxus Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov. (Brazil); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) soaresi Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov. (Brazil); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) tico Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov.; Aleiodes (Athacryvac) torresi Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov. (Colombia); Aleiodes (Athacryvac) zaldivari Shimbori & Almeida sp. nov. (Colombia).
Diagnosis. Antenna length varying from 1.4–2.7 times the fore wing length, and 1.0–2.1 times the body length, scapus with strongly oblique margin (Figs 3, 4), in most species the flagellum is pale yellow to white apically (Figs 33, 38, 42); ocelli small, ocell-ocular distance 1.3–2.3 times longer than diameter of lateral ocellus in females; in most species (except two) the occipital carina ventrally does not meet the hypostomal carina (Figs 3, 20); vein mcu of hind wing absent (Figs 70, 71) or present (Fig. 72); fore wing vein 1-CU1 length variable, about as long as cu-a or shorter in one group of species, but about 2–3 times longer in the other group of species (see groups diagnosis in next section), at most 0.5 times length of vein 2-CU1; marginal cell of hind wing gradually widened toward apex, vein RS mostly straight or nearly so to weakly bent down at middle; precoxal sulcus at least weakly indicated anteriorly and crenulate or rugose (Fig. 6); ventral mid line of mesopleuron set within more or less deep and crenulate sulcus (Fig. 6); presence of a comb of flattened setae on apex of hind tibia (Fig. 7); petiole relatively long and narrowed at base; metasoma finely areolate in some species. Area formed by dorsal carina on first tergum varying from basal semi-circular to triangular and slightly extending dorsally; longitudinal carina on first tergite varying from almost absent to complete; second tergum sculpturing varying from rugose-costate, with or without reticulation between rugae, to finely areolate-rugulose; third tergum sculpturing varying from rugose basally to completely smooth with scattered punctation; apex of ovipositor sheaths with short acute projection (Fig. 8), the projection is sometimes very thin, soft, and translucent, making it virtually impossible to see in some specimens when shrunk or folded.
Discussion. Athacryvac species can be divided into two morphologically distinct species-groups. The first one comprises formerly described Aleiodes alternatus comb. nov. and Aleiodes fuscatus comb. n., plus the new species A. achterbergi sp. nov., A. paradoxus sp. nov., A. soaresi sp. nov. and A. torresi sp. nov., and is characterized by all the original synapomorphies first used in defining Athacryvac (see Braet & van Achterberg 2011). Their diagnostic characters are the occipital carina complete dorsally, but incomplete and not meeting hypostomal carina ventrally (Figs 3, 4), the fore wing vein 2-RS vertical (Fig. 71), or apically open second submarginal cell (Fig. 70), very long antenna with the first two or three flagellomeres fused in various degrees (Fig. 4), hind wing vein m-cu absent (Figs 70, 71), and hind coxa transversely costate dorsally (Fig. 5). The second group comprises A. amazoniensis sp. nov., A. braeti sp. nov., A. choco sp. nov., A. donaldquickei sp. nov., A. gonzalezi sp. nov., A. tico sp. nov., A. zaldivari sp. nov. The diagnostic characters for this group include the compact flagellomeres and short antenna, at most 1.5 times longer than fore wing (Fig. 23), a dorsally receding occiput (Figs 14, 22) with the occipital carina variable (meeting the hypostomal carina in one species, separated in others; and sometimes weak or widely absent dorsally), notauli deeply impressed and crenulate anteriorly, a shorter vein 1CU-1, about as long as cu-a or shorter, the presence of hind wing vein m-cu (Fig. 72), and hind coxa mostly granulate.
The only synapomorphies proposed by Braet & van Achterberg (2011) retained by all Athacryvac species, after discovery of these additional new species from the Neotropical region, are the long and basally narrowed petiole and the strongly oblique margin of the scapus. Additionally, we found a thin, acute and mostly translucent projection apex of ovipositor sheaths (visible at Fig. 20 in Braet & van Achterberg 2011; Fig. 8), which we propose as a new putative synapomorphic character for this group. Other diagnostic characters are: the presence of a precoxal sulcus, varying from well defined and crenulate to shallow and weakly crenulate (also present in Heterogamus Wesmael 1838 = Aleiodes dispar species-group); the ventral midline of mesopleuron set within more or less deep and crenulate sulcus (Figs 6, 15, 18, 57, 61), the sulcus extending until epicnemial carina, which recedes medially; the occipital carina frequently not touching the hypostomal carina ventrally, except for A. gonzalezi sp. nov. and A. tico sp. nov.; hind wing vein RS not sinuate, with the marginal cell gradually widening toward apex; vannal cell very short; fore wing vein 1-CU1 distinctly shorter than 2-CU1; and the presence of comb of flattened setae on apex of hind tibia (also present in all species of Aleiodes in the seriatus species-group). The semicircular area formed by dorsal carina of first tergite and the long antenna are not present in all species, while also being present in other Aleiodes species, thus are not useful diagnostic characters at the subgenus level.
One of the reasons pointed out by Braet & van Achterberg (2011) to consider Athacryvac species as a new genus was the relation between veins 1M and M+CU, which in the key to New World genera of the subfamily Rogadinae (Shaw 1997) leads to the tribe Stiropini when “1M longer than M+CU”, as presented by Athacryvac species (Figs 70–72), while other characters resemble the tribe Aleiodini. In our ongoing revision of the Neotropical Aleiodes, we found several undescribed species with this character, and the same is true for most of the subgenus Heterogamus species from Neotropical Region. Issues like this in identification keys are quite common since studies frequently do not cover all morphological variation in such diverse groups.
The evidence discussed supports our opinion in keep the name Athacryvac as a subgenus within Aleiodes — Aleiodes (Athacryvac) (Braet & van Achterberg 2011) stat. nov. Molecular data (Quicke, personal communication; Butcher et al. 2014) also suggest placement of Athacryvac as a basal group within Aleiodes, but not a separate genus, despite their peculiar morphology. Based on the greater morphological variation found, we conclude that most synapomorphies hypothesized for Athacryvac are extreme character states, particular to the first described species, or are not actual synapomorphies as they are found in other species outside this group. The necessity for including Athacryvac within Aleiodes brings up the issue of the placement within the already existing groups, or alternatively, to erect a new species-group. The presence of the comb of modified setae on the hind tibia apex is the defining character of the seriatus species-group, and all Athacryvac species will run to this group in the key to species-groups by Shaw (1997). There are some species in the seriatus species-group that share several important diagnostic characters with Athacryvac, as the short vannal cell on hind wing, the mid-longitudinal carina on metanotum and the relatively small and weakly indented eyes, however lacking both synapomorphies of Athacryvac. The possible homoplasious nature of the comb of setae on hind tibia, and the extreme variation found in Neotropical species on seriatus species-group, prevent us from including Athacryvac as a member of this group. Another argument considered is the existence of a group of species closely related to Athacryvac, which lacks the comb of flattened setae on hind tibia. The subgenus Aleiodes (Athacryvac) comprises 13 species from Neotropical region. With the inclusion of these species, there are 104 Aleiodes named species in Neotropical region.
Based on the putative basal position of Athacryvac in the Aleiodes clade and morphological resemblance, Athacryvac could also be related with Heterogamus, another basal subgenus within Aleiodes (or genus within Aleiodini sensu Zaldívar-Riverón et al. 2008). Common characters include: most species with dorsal carina of petiole forming a basal semicircular area; precoxal sulcus frequently present; hind wing vannal cell relatively short, although much shorter in Athacryvac species; and eyes relatively small and only weakly emarginated. The elongated trochantellus is an important diagnostic character present in Heterogamus (Zaldívar-Riverón et al. 2008), but absent in Athacryvac. Athacryvac can be distinguished from Heterogamus by the short pronotal collar, as opposed to the very long pronotal collar in Heterogamus, the strongly oblique scapus, which is at most weakly oblique in Heterogamus, the presence of mid-longitdinal carina on the metanotum, which is absent in Heterogamus, and the ventral mid-line on mesopleuron set within a crenulate sulcus, while in Heterogamus the sulcus is absent.
Distribution. Aleiodes (Athacryvac) has only been recorded from the Neotropical Region. Its distribution ranges from southern Mexico, south and eastward to southern Brazil, and westward to Peru and Ecuador (Fig. 74).
description: Published as part of Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio, Shaw, Scott Richard, Almeida, Luis Felipe Ventura De & Penteado-Dias, Angélica Maria, 2016, Eleven new species of Athacryvac Braet & van Achterberg from the Neotropical Region (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae), pp. 83-117 in Zootaxa 4138 (1) on pages 85-86, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4138.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/255331