Alloxysta Foerster , 1869

Noort, Simon van, Buffington, Matthew L. & Forshage, Mattias, 2015, Afrotropical Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera), ZooKeys 493, pp. 1-176 : 42-44

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Figitidae

Alloxysta Foerster, 1869

Remarks.

Commonly collected. Reviewed for Africa by Ferrer-Suay et al. (2013).

Diagnosis.

These are the characteristic tiny pale charipines, but in fact they vary a lot in size and colour (also within species!). Colours vary from very dark brown through middle browns and reds to pale yellow, frequently with the head in a paler hue than the rest of the body. The absence of a mesopleural line is the best way to separate them from the otherwise often similar Phaenoglyphis . Dilyta and Apocharips also lack the mesopleural line, but can be separated by their conjoined two apical antennal articles, or by their characteristic metasoma, which is mostly covered by a syntergite and is oval in shape. The metasoma of a representative of Alloxysta typically shows the posterior tergites separate, and is truncated at the end, often with a (cynipid-like) oblique slash. Furthermore, most Alloxysta are larger, paler and more pubescent (on the pronotum, metapleura and coxae) than most Dilyta , and the mesoscutum is smoothly convex (rather than the hump of Dilyta ).

Distribution.

Worldwide, but most abundant in the Holarctic region. Afrotropical records: Democratic Republic of Congo ( Benoit 1956e), Kenya ( Evenhuis 1974), Madagascar ( Ferrer-Suay et al. 2012), Burundi, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe ( Ferrer-Suay and Pujade-Villar 2013) Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, Yemen, Zambia (here). Apparently some species are synanthropically widespread, but there is no reason to assume that none of the forms present in Africa are native.

Biology.

Hyperparasitoids attacking aphelinid and aphidiine wasps on aphids. ( Gutierrez and van den Bosch 1970, Evenhuis passim, Andrews 1978, Fergusson 1986).

Species richness.

Alloxysta antananarivoi Ferrer-Suay & Pujade-Villar, 2012 (Burundi, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Zimbabwe)

Alloxysta antsirananae Ferrer-Suay & Pujade-Villar, 2012 (Madagascar, Zimbabwe)

Alloxysta arcuata (Kieffer, 1902) ( Allotria ) (Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe; also Palearctic and Neotropical regions)

Alloxysta brevis (Thomson, 1862) ( Allotria ) (Zimbabwe; also Palearctic and Neotropical regions)

Alloxysta citripes (Thomson, 1862) ( Allotria ) (South Africa; cosmopolitan species described from the Palearctic)

Alloxysta fuscicornis (Hartig, 1841) ( Xystus ) (Kenya, South Africa; cosmopolitan species described from the Palearctic)

Alloxysta hendrickxi (Benoit, 1956e) ( Charips ) (Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe)

Alloxysta mullensis (Cameron, 1883) ( Allotria ) (Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe; also Palearctic and Neotropical regions)

Alloxysta pilipennis (Hartig, 1840) ( Xystus ) (Zimbabwe; also Palearctic and Neotropical regions)