Opius Wesmael

Wharton, Robert, Ward, Lauren & Miko, Istvan, 2012, New neotropical species of Opiinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) reared from fruit-infesting and leaf-mining Tephritidae (Diptera) with comments on the Diachasmimorpha mexicana species group and the genera Lorenzopius and Tubiformopius, ZooKeys 243, pp. 27-82 : 64-65

Opius Wesmael

Opius Wesmael, 1835: 115. Type species: Opius pallipes Wesmael, 1835. Subsequent designation ( Wharton 1987b, ICZN 1988).

Remarks.

Van Achterberg and Salvo (1997) restricted the name Opius to species with a basal lobe on the mandible, referring to a classification in press that has yet to be published. A major concern in this regard is that the type species of Biosteres Foerster, another large genus within the Opiinae , also has a basal mandibular lobe. Until a more complete classification is offered, we prefer to treat Opius in a much broader sense as a repository for the bulk of the Opiinae whose relationships remain uncertain, largely following the approach of Fischer (1972) and Wharton (1997).

Diagnoses are presented below for two species that represent a fairly diverse group of neotropical Opiinae that differ from both Lorenzopius and Tubiformopius in several features. These species all have a narrow, parallel-sided T1 and distinctly visible S1, though S1 is never as long as in Lorenzopius , and seldom as long as in Tubiformopius . Ultimately, the relationships of genus group taxa such as Eurytenes s.l., Lorenzopius , and Tubiformopius will have to be carefully considered in order to place the many neotropical species with a distinct S1.