Taxonomic status and location of type specimens for species of Coelinidea Viereck and Sarops Nixon (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae) described by Garland T. Riegel

Authors: Kula, Robert

Submitted to: Journal of Hymenoptera Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2008
Publication Date: 10/1/2008
Citation: Kula, R.R. 2008. Taxonomic status and location of type specimens for species of Coelinidea Viereck and Sarops Nixon (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae) described by Garland T. Riegel. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 17(2):138-156.

Interpretive Summary: Parasitic wasps attack agricultural pests that cause billions of dollars of damage to crops annually. The wasps treated in this paper belong to a group with species that attack stem-mining flies, including wheat stem maggot, rice stem maggot, barley stem maggot, and gout fly. Increased knowledge of these wasps helps determine their impact as beneficial insects. Improved taxonomic stability for species in this group facilitates research on their biological control potential and promotes their use in biological control via more efficient retrieval of published data. This paper provides updates on names for 36 species, resulting in a more stable classification. New distribution records are given for four species. This paper will be useful to scientists conducting research on these species, especially those in systematics and biological control.

Technical Abstract: The following species of Coelinidea Viereck and Sarops Nixon described by Garland T. Riegel are transferred to other genera resulting in 28 new combinations: Chorebus pallidus (Riegel), Coelinius acicula (Riegel), Coelinius acontia (Riegel), Coelinius alima (Riegel), Coelinius alrutzae (Riegel), Coelinius arizona (Riegel), Coelinius arnella (Riegel), Coelinius bakeri (Riegel), Coelinius baldufi (Riegel), Coelinius calcara (Riegel), Coelinius columbia (Riegel), Coelinius crota (Riegel), Coelinius dubius (Riegel), Coelinius ellenaae (Riegel), Coelinius frisoni (Riegel), Coelinius garthi (Riegel), Coelinius hayesi (Riegel), Coelinius jeanae (Riegel), Coelinius marki (Riegel), Coelinius marylandicus (Riegel), Coelinius minnesota (Riegel), Coelinius montana (Riegel), Coelinius muesebecki (Riegel), Coelinius nellae (Riegel), Coelinius niobrara (Riegel), Coelinius robinae (Riegel), Coelinius ruthae (Riegel), and Coelinius sommermanae (Riegel). Coelinius ohioensis (Riegel, 1982) is synonymized with Coelinius wheeleri (Riegel, 1982), and the former is designated the senior synonym because the holotype is a female. The locations of primary and, where applicable, secondary types are indicated for all species of Coelinidea and Sarops described by Riegel. The holotypes of Coelinidea antha Riegel, Coelinidea arca Riegel, Coelinidea colora Riegel, and Coelinidea coma Riegel, reportedly deposited at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, apparently are lost. Therefore, all four names are considered nomina dubia since each species is known only from the holotype, and information Riegel provided in the original descriptions and key to North American species of Coelinidea is not adequate to apply the names unequivocally. Coelinius alima, C. marki, C. ohioensis, and C. robinae are first recorded from Quebec, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Kansas and Missouri, respectively.