Allorhogas Gahan, 1912

Martinez, Juan J., Zaldivar-Riverón, Alejandro & Sáez, Alberto G., 2008, Reclassification of Bracon mendocinus, a gall-associated doryctine wasp, and description of a new closely related species of Allorhogas (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Journal of Natural History 42 (41 - 42), pp. 2689-2701 : 2691-2692

Genus Allorhogas Gahan

Allorhogas Gahan 1912, p. 3 .

Catolestes Brèthes 1922, p. 136 ; synonymized by Marsh (1993)

Type species: Allorhogas gallicola Gahan

Diagnosis

The concept of Allorhogas has been broadened in the past decade. Marsh (1993) redefined the boundaries of this genus by segregating a few parasitic species in the new genus Parallorhogas Marsh. This author also proposed the following five diagnostic characters to identify Allorhogas : (1) coriaceous mesopleuron, (2) excavated frons, (3) swollen male hind femur, (4) short ovipositor sheaths, and (5) association with plant galls and phytophagy. This concept of Allorhogas was followed in Marsh et al. (2000), but it has been subsequently modified in a revision of the Doryctinae of Costa Rica ( Marsh 2002).

The genus Allorhogas , as defined in this study following Marsh (2002), can be distinguished from the remaining doryctine genera by its excavated frons and the slightly curved vein m-cu in the hind wing.

Biology

Allorhogas has been previously reported to be associated with galls on the plant families Bignoniaceae , Fabaceae and Melastomataceae ( Macêdo and Monteiro, 1989; Macêdo et al. 1998; Marsh et al., 2000; Marsh, 2002). Here, based on the new combination, the genus is now known to be also associated with the family Solanaceae .