Melanips Walker in Haliday, 1835

Noort, Simon van, Buffington, Matthew L. & Forshage, Mattias, 2015, Afrotropical Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera), ZooKeys 493, pp. 1-176 : 37-38

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Figitidae

Melanips Walker in Haliday, 1835

Remarks.

Rare in the Afrotropical region; likely non-native to the region. The classification of this taxon is unstable. Recently, Buffington et al. (2007) moved it to Aspicerinae from Figitinae. As reflected in the key to subfamilies, the taxon does not neatly fit into either subfamily, and possesses a plesiomorphic morphotype reminiscent of Thrasorinae (Australasian), Plectocynipinae (Neotropical) and some Cynipidae . Rearing records (summarized below) as well as phylogenetic analyses suggest this taxon is more closely related to the genera in Aspicerinae, and we maintain that classification here.

Diagnosis.

Distinguished from other Figitidae by the characteristic ‘clam-shell’ petiolar lamina present on the dorsal half of the petiole. This lamina can often cover the junction between the petiole and the nucha. Superficially, Melanips appears to be a cynipid, but can be distinguished from the Afrotropical cynipids by lacking an areola in the forewing, and by having a dorsally smooth mesopleuron. In addition, Melanips has a setose mesoscutum.

Distribution.

Mainly Holarctic but transgressing into the Old World Tropics; in the Afrotropical region found so far only in Kenya and Yemen (here) but expected to show up elsewhere.

Biology.

Parasitoid of aphidivorous Brachycera larvae ( Evenhuis 1968, Fergusson 1986, Buffington et al. 2012); label data of several specimens in BMNH (from Kenya and India) records them as reared from Lecopis ( Chamaemyiidae ), some with host remains.

Species richness.

Melanips alienus Giraud, 1860 (Kenya, Yemen; extralimital distribution: widespread in Europe and North Africa)