Coptera haywardi Loiácono, 1981

Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio, Costa, Valmir Antonio & Zucchi, Roberto Antonio, 2020, Annotated checklist and illustrated key to parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae Eulophidae and Pteromalidae) of fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae) in Brazil, Zootaxa 4858 (1), pp. 53-70 : 58

Coptera haywardi Loiácono, 1981

( Fig. 17 )

Diagnosis. Black with reddish-brown legs; head in dorsal view nearly as wide as long, vertex and occipital margin marked with large punctures; fore wing without distinct veins, but with longitudinal fold line, ending apically in a distinct notch in both sexes; metasomal petiole with complete median carina. This species is similar to Coptera pomonellae Muesebeck , differing mainly in the proportion between the eye and the malar space (larger in Co. pomonellae ) and the complete median carina on the petiole (incomplete in Co. pomonellae ). For the Neotropical species, Co. haywardi resembles Coptera sexpunctata (Ashmead) , from which it can be distinguished by the smaller length/width ratio of head and petiole ( Loiácono 1981).

Taxonomy. In the Neotropics, three species are known, Coptera brevipes (Kieffer) , Co. haywardi and Co. sexpunctata ( Johnson 1992; Notton 2014). The only key including Neotropical species was published more than a century ago ( Kieffer 1916), species identification is therefore problematic, and the revision of Nearctic species by Muesebeck (1980) is helpful to some extent. In addition to those keys, a detailed, illustrated description is available for Co. haywardi , which allows comparison with reared material and more reliable identification ( Loiácono 1981). The Neotropical fauna is in urgent need of revision, and molecular characterization of the species seems to be important, since cryptic species have already been identified in this genus ( Forbes et al. 2012).

Biology. Endoparasitod koinobiont on pupae of tephritids ( Sivinski et al. 1998), such as A. fraterculus , A. schultzi Blanchard ( Loiácono 1981) and A. ludens (Loew) , infesting citrus ( López 1996); A. serpentina and A. striata Schiner in Venezuela ( García & Montilla 2001); and A. fraterculus and A. sororcula in Brazil ( Aguiar-Menezes et al. 2003) ( Table 1 ). In the laboratory, Co. haywardi has been reared from A. obliqua ( García & Montilla 2001) , A suspensa (Loew, 1862) , A. ludens , A. curvicauda (Gerstaecker) (as Toxotrypana curvicauda ) and Ce. Capitata ( Sivinski 1998).

Biological control. This species has been considered for augmentative biological control programs because it possesses suitable biological traits, most importantly its specificity for fruit-infesting tephritids ( Sivinski et al. 1998; Baeza-Larios et al. 2002).

Distribution in the Neotropics. Recorded in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela.

Distribution in Brazil: RJ ( Aguiar-Menezes et al. 2003) ( Table 1 ).

Figures

FIGURES 9–17. 9–11, Head: 9, Spalangia endius; 10, Spalangia gemina; 11, Spalangia simplex. 12–14, Pro- and mesonotum (arrows at pronotal sculpturing): 12, S. endius; 13, S. gemina; 14, S. simplex (arrow at median pit of mesoscutum). 15–17, Fore wing: 15, S. simplex; 16, Trichopria sp. aff. anastrephae; 17, Coptera haywardi (adapted from Loiácono 1981). (bar = 0.2 mm)