Diaziella Grandi

Peng, Simon Van Noort Yan-Qiong & Rasplus, Jean-Yves, 2006, First record of the fig wasp genus Diaziella Grandi (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae: Sycoecinae) from the Asian mainland with description of two new species from China, Zootaxa 1337, pp. 39-59 : 43

Diaziella Grandi

Diaziella Grandi, 1928: 80 –81. Type species Diaziella bicolor Grandi (by indication 'n. g. n. sp.')

Diagnosis. Females. Four-segmented fore tarsi (mid and hind legs 5 segmented); a laminar projection present on the proximal fore tarsal segment; defined clypeal sutures; no medial carina between the toruli, but a strong medial suture may extend from meeting point of clypeal sutures to toruli; a pronounced hypopygium that may extend well beyond the end of the metasoma; ovipositor usually long, about the length of the metasoma, but may be very short. Males. Four-segmented fore tarsi (mid and hind legs 5 segmented); winged. Affinities. The only other Indo-Australasian sycoecine genus, Robertsia , has no antennal scrobe; clypeal sutures that are not defined; a medial carina present between the toruli; fore tarsi five-segmented with no laminar projection; hypopygium not extending beyond end of metasoma; ovipositor short, usually not discernable. Males wingless. The four Afrotropical genera, Sycoecus , Seres , Crossogaster and Philocaenus all have fivesegmented tarsi with no laminar projection; a hypopygium that does not extend beyond end of the metasoma; and a clearly discernable but short ovipositor.

Distribution and host relationships. Diaziella species are known from the Oriental Region: China (Xishuangbanna); Brunei; Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi); Malaysia ( Sarawak, Sabah); Philippines (Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan); and Thailand (Trang Province).

Of the twelve described species of Diaziella Grandi , only one has been reared. Three species were collected at light in Sumatra and the Philippines ( Grandi, 1928; Wiebes, 1974). Eight species are known from the island of Borneo all collected at light ( Gardiner & Compton, 1987). The single previously reared species, D. falcata Wiebes was collected in Luzon ( Philippines), where it was reared from Ficus adamii Elm , which is a synonym of glaberrima Blume var. bracteata Corner ( Wiebes, 1974) . Variety bracteata is now a good species ( Berg & Corner 2005). Diaziella falcata was also reared from a host fig identified as F. longipedunculata , which is a synonym of F. chrysolepis Miquel , however, Wiebes (1974), based on the associated agaonid, was of the opinion that this was a misidentified host species. In this study Diaziella bizarrea was reared from Ficus glaberrima Blume and Diaziella yangi was reared from F. curtipes Corner. All of these fig species belong to section Urostigma , subsection Conosycea ( Berg & Corner 2005). An overview of sycoecine host relationships is provided in van Noort & Rasplus (2005).