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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #283926
Title: A new species and new distribution records for Braconidae from Mountain Lake Biological Station in southwestern Virginia and a redescription of Pentapleura foveolata Viereck

Author
item Kula, Robert

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/19/2013
Publication Date: 4/29/2013
Citation: Kula, R.R. 2013. A new species and new distribution records for Braconidae from Mountain Lake Biological Station in southwestern Virginia and a redescription of Pentapleura foveolata Viereck. Zootaxa. 3641(5):501-523.

Interpretive Summary: Parasitic wasps attack crop and forest pests that cause billions of dollars of damage annually. The parasitic wasps treated in this paper attack plant-feeding insects, including wood-boring beetles, stem- and leaf-mining flies, foliage-feeding caterpillars, and plant-sucking aphids. Increased knowledge of these wasps can help determine their impact as beneficial insects and potential use for biocontrol. This paper provides information on the diversity, distribution, and/or identification of 60 wasp species in the Western Hemisphere. Two species new to science are described; one species is redescribed to report new morphological data. New distribution records are reported for 15 species. This paper will be useful to scientists conducting research on these wasps, as well as personnel responsible for controlling and limiting the spread of pest insects.

Technical Abstract: One new species of Alysiinae, Coelinius wrayi Kula, is described. Pentapleura foveolata Viereck, also in Alysiinae and previously known only from a male collected at the type locality in Connecticut, is redescribed based on six females and two males collected at Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS) in Virginia. Morphological variation for Alysia (Alysia) salebrosa Wharton is discussed given variation observed in specimens from MLBS. Sixty-two species of Braconidae collected at MLBS in August of 2009 are listed along with 12 species reported previously from MLBS. Host use for the 62 species is discussed; 31 are in Alysiinae or Opiinae, subfamilies that exclusively contain parasitoids of cyclorrhaphous flies. Fifteen species are reported from Virginia for the first time. Problematic couplets in a key to species of Spathius Nees for North America (Marsh & Strazanac 2009) are discussed using specimens from MLBS.