Glyptapanteles arcanus, Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin, 2022

Fagan-Jeffries, Erinn P., McCLELLAND, Alana R., Bird, Andrew J., Giannotta, Madalene M., Bradford, Tessa M. & Austin, Andrew D., 2022, Systematic revision of the parasitoid wasp genus Glyptapanteles Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) for Australia results in a ten-fold increase in species, European Journal of Taxonomy 792 (1), pp. 1-116 : 17-18

Glyptapanteles arcanus species group

The large G. arcanus species group forms two separate clades in the current phylogeny ( Fig. 2 ) and is therefore clearly not a monophyletic group. There is one small clade of two species ( G. ruhri Fagan- Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov. and G. rodriguezae Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov. plus an undescribed lineage, with a sequence in BOLD) which is sister to the G. niveus species group clade, whilst the remainder of species are paraphyletic with respect to the G. mouldsi species group and include G. arcanus Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov., G. doreyi Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov., G. erucadesolator Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov., G. goodwinnoakes Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov., G. lambkinae Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov., G. lessardi Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov., G. vergrandiacus Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov. and G. wrightae Fagan-Jeffries, Bird & Austin sp. nov. The species group, as currently recognised, is distributed throughout the eastern coast of Australia, from the northern regions of QLD through to central NSW and the ACT. One species, G. erucadesolator sp. nov., is also known from northern NT ( Fig. 4B ).

Species in the G. arcanus species group can be separated from the other described species of Glyptapanteles in Australia by the combination of the following characters: gena without a pale spot, T1 and T2 dark, anteromesoscutum punctures not extremely sparse and deep (i.e., not as in the niveus species group), no orange markings on anteromesoscutum postero-laterally, propodeum either strongly sculptured (rugose) or with punctures in the anterior half and shallow rugose sculpturing in the posterior half, ventral side of antennal scape (at least in distal half) paler than flagellomeres, tegula pale.

Figures

Fig. 2. Maximum likelihood phylogeny constructed using IQ-TREE ver. 1.6.12 of a concatenated COI and wingless alignment including Glyptapanteles Ashmead, 1904 from Australia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, with specimens of Cotesia Cameron, 1891 from Australia included for contextual placement of the genus. Branch support values are given as SH-aLRT support (%) / ultrafast bootstrap support (%), with symbols representing value ranges as follows: * = 96–100; • = 91–95; ^ = 85–90; - = <85.

Fig. 4. Distribution of species groups of Glyptapanteles Ashmead, 1904 in Australia. A. G. albigena species group. B. G. arcanus species group. C. G. austini species group. D. G. eburneus species group. E. G. mouldsi species group. F. G. niveus species group. G. Unplaced species of Glyptapanteles in Australia.