Girault, 1920 : 97 Gahan, 1927 : 27 G. shakespearei Bouček 1988 : 735 Narayanan, Subba Rao & Ramachandra Rao, 1960 : 168 G. shakespearei Review of Afrotropical species of Goetheana Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), with description of a new species Gumovsky, Alex Zootaxa 2016 4147 5 551 563 6KNXW Girault, 1920 Girault 1920 [151,620,151,178] Insecta Eulophidae Goetheana Animalia Hymenoptera 2 553 Arthropoda species shakespearei     Goetheana shakespearei  Girault, 1920: 97. For full bibliographic list, see Triapitsyn 2005.  Dasyscapus parvipennis  Gahan, 1927: 27; synonymized under  G. shakespeareiby  Bouček 1988: 735.  Dasyscapus thripsivorous  Narayanan, Subba Rao & Ramachandra Rao, 1960: 168, 169. Synonymized under  G. shakespearei by Bouček 1988: 735.   Diagnosis.Mesosoma uniformly dark brown, head pale brown to yellow in reflected light ( Fig. 1A, B); fore wing with apical area (beyond venation and apart from row of setae along extreme wing margin) setose, with at least two rows of setae arising from stigmal vein and another row of setae extending parallel to lower wing margin ( Fig. 2A, B). Male with scape notably wide, about 1.2× as long as broad, pale brown to yellow in reflected light ( Fig. 3A–D). Comparative notes. Annecke (1962)provided illustrations and a re-description of this species (reported as  G. parvipennis) based on material collected in  SouthAfrica(Skukuza) and on comparative specimens obtained from the Neotropics ( Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago). He stated that males of  G. shakespeareiand his newly described  G. incertaare easily distinguishable, but that females of the two species are more difficult to discriminate between. Nevertheless, he stated that longer antennal segments and fore wings, as well as absence of regular, fine, parallel and readily discernible “lines of sculpture” on the metasoma, were diagnostic for females of  G. shakespeareias compared to those of  G. incerta( Annecke 1962). Triapitsyn (2005)did not provide any differential characters for females of the two species, and stated that females of  Goetheanaspecies are quite similar to each other. My comparative studies of Annecke’s microscopic slides did not reveal any discernible characters suitable for differentiating females identified by him as “  G. parvipennis” and “  G. incerta”, including those characters listed above. Freshly collected females also demonstrate wide variation in the wing and body character states and may represent both  G. shakespeareiand  G. incerta. Also, the South African specimens identified by Annecke as “  G. parvipennis” (7 females and 1 male) were collected in the same area (and within the same time period) with the type specimens of  G. incerta(5 females and 2 males, see below). The species identity of the females of these “  G. parvipennis” therefore requires confirmation. Similarly, Annecke’s (1962) diagnosis of  G. incertafemales might have been generated from morphological observations on a mixture of  G. shakespeareiand  G. incerta. Sculpture on the propodeum was another putative diagnostic character that was expected to be useful to differentiate  G. shakespeareifrom  G. incerta. Males of the former species have the propodeum nearly smooth medially and have a somewhat weaker sculpture laterally ( Fig. 4A) than the latter species, which have these areas more distinctly alutaceous ( Fig. 4B). If constant throughout their ranges, this character might be expected to be of some value for distinguishing females of the two species as well. However, the character is of gradual nature and any evaluation of its diagnostic value should be tested on a larger comparative series of specimens from various regions. Based on the above, only males are referred to here as confirmed representatives of  G. shakespeareiand fieldcollected females are referred as  G. shakespearei/  G. incerta(see below). Correspondingly, the females reported by Annecke as “  G. parvipennis” may belong to both above mentioned species. Although males of  G. shakespeareiare easily distinguishable by their considerably expanded antennal scape ( Figs 1A, B; 3A–D), they otherwise exhibit considerable morphological variation. Males from the Neotropics have a somewhat longer, though still rather wide scape (1.35–1.4× as long as wide, Fig. 3B, D), than the males from the Afrotropics (1.2–1.25× as long as wide, Fig. 3A, C). Also, F2 and CL1–3 are notably longer than broad for Neotropical males of  G. shakespearei( Fig. 3B, D), whereas these segments are wider than long for Afrotropical males referred to this species ( Fig. 3A, C). As a result, the ratio of flagellum/pedicel is about 2.3 for Neotropical males ( Fig. 3B, D) and 1.7–1.9 for Afrotropical males ( Fig. 3A, C). The fore wing is also longer for Neotropical males (about 8.7× as long as its width in the narrowest part, Fig. 2B) than for Afrotropical males (about 8.0×, Fig. 2A). Consequently, the diagnostic value of these characters, as well as the species status of the different populations of what is recognized as  G. shakespeareirequires a separate study (see below, Discussion section).     Materialexamined. Specimensidentified as  Goetheana parvipennis(Gahan)by D.P. Annecke: Ƌ, two slides: with body under one small ring cover slip and with antennae and wings on another, “  Goetheana parvipennis(Gahan), det. Annecke”, “ƋN, T14, South Africa, Skukuza, Tvl.,  i.1960, D. P. Annecke, Suction trap” ( SANC).   Specimensidentified as “  Dasyscapus parvipennis”: Ƌ, slide with body under one small ring cover slip, wings, head and antennae under separate cover slips, Venezuela, “T 531”, “ Ell Valle, D.F., D1”; Ƌ, ibid., D2; Ƌ, ibid., Venezuela,  29 Sept. 1943, E. McC. Callan, D3”; Ƌ, ibid., D4”; 2 Ƌ, slides with body under one ring cover slip, Trinidad and Tobago, “ Trinidad”, “  Dasyscapus parvipennisGahan, reared from  Selenothrips rubrocinctus, Trinidad, B.W. I., March 1936, P. Alteck” ( Fig. 1A) (SANC).   Rearedmaterial(females are putatively assumed to be conspecific with males): Ƌ, 2 ♀(in gelatine capsule), South Africa, Kranskloofnr. Buffelspoort Dam, Magaliesberg, Tvl.,  16. III.1993, with  Lecanodiaspissp., on  Dombeya rotundifolia(S. Neser), AF 2488, SANC Pretoria Database No.  HYMC05228, “  Goetheanasp. J. Huberdet., 2006” ( SANC).   FIGURE 1.Habitus of  Goetheanaspecies. A, B,  G. shakespearei, ♂; C, E,  G. shakespearei/  G. incerta, ♀; D, G. i n c e r t a, ♂; F– H,  G. kobzari: F, ♀, G, H, ♂. A–G, combination of direct and reflected light; H, reflected light.   FIGURE 2.Fore wing of  Goetheanaspecies. A, B,  G. shakespearei, ♂; C,  G. shakespearei/  G. incerta, ♀; D,  G. incerta, ♂; E, F,  G. kobzari: E, ♀, F, ♂.  Other material:11 Ƌ, Republic of South Africa,  Limpopo Province, Phalaborwa, Molengraaf Farm, between the Palabora Copper Mine and Phalaborwa town, yellow pan traps,  25.V.2014( A. Gumovsky& C. Davies) ( SIZK); Ƌ, Johannesburg, Northcliff, ex hort: suburban garden, S 26°8’26.149”, E 27°57’40.349”, yellow pan traps,  30.IX.2015( A. Gumovsky); 7 Ƌ, ibid.,  01–03.X.2015, under  Kiggelaria africana( SIZK, SANC); Ƌ, Namibia, ~  20 kmSE Tsumeb, Baltimore Farm, yellow pan traps,  18–23.VIII.2014( A. Gumovsky); Ƌ, Senegal,  Dakar, Botanical Gardenof the Cheikh Anta Diop University, near pond,  03.IV.2008( A. Gumovsky) ( SIZK); 30 Ƌ, Tanzania, Mkomazi Game Reserve, Ibayacamp, S 3°58’, E 37°48’,  Acaciaspp bushveld, yellow pan trap,  9– 10.XII.1995, SAM-HYM PO15128, PO15129, PO15132, PO15134, PO15137 ( S. van Noort) ( SAMC).   Hosts.Various thrips species of Thripidae ( Noyes 2015), including the agricultural pests  Selenothrips rubrocinctus(Giard) ( Clausen 1978),  Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis(Bouché) ( Hessein & McMurtry 1989), and  Ceratothripoides claratris(Shumsher) ( Murai et al. 2000). Occurrence of this parasitoid appears seasonal in South Africa, its adults being most numerous in the dry winter seasons, but hardly collected in the rainy summer seasons.   Distribution.Nearly cosmopolitan ( Triapitsyn 2005, Noyes 2015). Afrotropical: Ghana( Clausen 1978), Ivory Coast( Triapitsyn 2005), Namibia, Tanzania, Senegal(new records) and  SouthAfrica( Annecke 1962). However, as noted above, the specific status of the different populations requires confirmation. After initially recorded from Australia ( Girault 1920) and Java ( Gahan 1927), the species was mentioned in two catalogues of parasitoids and predators ( Thompson 1955; Herting 1971). In the former catalogue it was recorded from Ghana, Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, whereas the records in the latter catalogue chiefly originated from the Neotropics (Bermuda, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela). Some of the records are likely to have been based on specimens studied later by D.P. Annecke (1962)and discussed in this paper.  Goetheana shakespearei(identified as this species due to the expanded antennal scape of males) was released for control of thrips in Trinidad and the Bahamas in 1935 and in USA (California, Florida) in 1962 and 1982( Viggiani & Nieves-Aldrey 1993; Bennett et al. 1993). Thereafter the species was recorded from various regions, and assumed to be  G. shakespeareibased on distinctive morphological markers, i.e. the expanded antennal scape of the males (for example, Peck 1963, De Santis 1979, Schauff 1991, and others). 1291045516 1960-01 SANC D. P. Annecke South Africa Material Annecke Skukuza Specimens 2 553 1 1291045509 1943-09-29 Ell Valle, D. F. & Callan, D & Trinidad Venezuela 4 555 Specimens 2 553 1 1291045522 1993-03-16 SANC, HYMC Pretoria Database No. South Africa Reared J. Huber Buffelspoort Dam Kranskloof 4 555 HYMC05228 2 2 1291045521 2014-05-25 SIZK A. Gumovsky & C. Davies Phalaborwa 5 556 Phalaborwa town Molengraaf Farm 4 555 1 Limpopo Province 1291045510 2015-09-30 2015-10-03 2015-09-30 SIZK, SANC A. Gumovsky -26.140596 Northcliff 1 27.961208 Johannesburg 5 556 1 Limpopo Province 1291045520 2014-08-18 2014-08-23 2014-08-18 A. Gumovsky Namibia Baltimore Farm 5 556 1 1291045517 [151,1395,260,285] 2008-04-03 SIZK A. Gumovsky Namibia Cheikh Anta Diop University Botanical Garden 5 556 1 Dakar 1291045511 1995-12-09 1995-12-10 1995-12-09 SAMC S. van Noort Tanzania -3.9666667 Ibaya 1307 37.8 Mkomazi Game Reserve 5 556 1