Diaspiniphagus Silvestri

Hayat, Mohammad, 2011, On Coccophagoides Girault and Diaspiniphagus Silvestri (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae), Zootaxa 3070, pp. 15-22 : 17-18

Diaspiniphagus Silvestri

Diaspiniphagus Silvestri, 1927 , 35. Type species Prospalta similis, Masi, 1908 , by original designation. Primaprospaltella DeBach & La Salle, 1981: 644 . Type species Prospalta murtfeldtae Howard, 1894 , by original designation. Synonymy with Diaspiniphagus by Yasnosh, 1987: 390.

Diaspiniphagus was synonymised with Coccophagoides by Mercet (1928) and this synonymy was accepted by all later authors, including Graham (1976) and Hayat (1998) until Yasnosh (1987) presented differences between the two genera, and resurrected Diaspiniphagus as a valid genus. Hayat (1998) preferred to treat Diaspiniphagus as a species group ( moeris group) of Coccophagoides . However, the re-examination of specimens of C. moeris (Walker) originating from England (Alam’s Collection, ZDAMU; two specimens sent several years ago by Dr. V. A. Yasnosh, Tbilisi, Georgia) and the recent collection of a single specimen from India described here as a new species, leads me to consider Diaspiniphagus as a genus distinct from Coccophagoides . This genus is briefly diagnosed and a list of the world species is given.

Diagnosis. Similar to Coccophagoides except for the following characters: scutellum with 4 setae; each axilla with one seta ( Fig. 1 ); fore wing with parastigma short, usually less than one-third length of marginal vein; marginal vein long, at least two-thirds length of costal cell ( Fig. 3 ). Female gaster with seven tergites ( Fig. 2 ); hypopygium extending at most three-fourths length of gaster, usually less. Male genitalia with phallobase elongate (about 4-5 as long as broad), basally rounded and gradually narrowed apically; parameres and digiti absent ( Fig. 4 , reproduced from Viggiani & Battagalia, 1984: Fig. VII.1)

Comments. As defined above, Diaspiniphagus is extremely similar to Encarsia Förster (1878) (for recent literature see Hayat, 1998; Schmidt & Polaszek, 2007) differing possibly only in the structure of the antennal flagellum which in Diaspiniphagus is compact, elongate and spindle-shaped. But a spindle-shaped flagellum, presence of more than 2 setae on the submarginal vein, and a 2-segmented maxillary palp are not uniquely derived (= synapomorphic) characters of Diaspiniphagus . These characters are also found in one or other species of Encarsia . It is very likely that a phylogenetic/cladistic analysis (based on morphology and molecules) may eventually prove Diaspiniphagus and Encarsia to be synonyms.

Diaspiniphagus is distributed mainly in the Nearctic region (4 species), with one species each described from Haiti, Australia, China, and the Palaearctic region. This is the first record of Diaspiniphagus from India.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. 1 – 4, Diaspiniphagus moeris (Walker): 1, mesosoma, female; 2, apex of gaster, female; 3, basal part of fore wing, female; 4, male genitalia (from Viggiani & Battaglia, 1984). 5 – 6, Coccophagoides orientalis (Agarwal): 5, mesosoma, female; 6, apex of gaster, showing separate TVIII, female. 7 – 8, Coccophagoides utilis Doutt: 7, basal part of fore wing, female; 8, male genitalia (from Hayat, 1998)