Erythmelus, Enock, 1909

Triapitsyn, Serguei V., Berezovskiy, Vladimir V., Hoddle, Mark S. & Morse, Joseph G., 2007, A review of the Nearctic species of Erythmelus (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), with a key and new additions to the New World fauna, Zootaxa 1641 (1), pp. 1-64 : 8-10

Subgenus Erythmelus ( Parallelaptera Enock, 1909 )

( Figs 1–3 )

Parallelaptera Enock 1909: 454 . Type species: Parallelaptera panis Enock , by monotypy; Peck 1963: 31 (catalog); De

Santis 1979: 369 (catalog). Anthemiella Girault 1911b: 187 . Type species: Anthemiella rex Girault , by original designation. Synonymized under Par-

allelaptera by Girault 1912: 297. Erythmelus Enock : Schauff 1984: 45 (in part); Trjapitzin 1993: 267 (as the panis species group). Erythmelus Enock (subgenus Parallelaptera Enock ): Triapitsyn 2003: 33–34 (diagnosis, revision of world species);

Donev 2004: 125 (diagnosis).

Diagnosis. Funicle of female antenna 5–segmented ( Fig. 1 ), clava with 5 longitudinal sensilla; flagellum of male antenna 10–segmented, with F2 much shorter than F1 and F3 ( Fig. 3 ); forewing in both sexes ( Fig. 2 ) with anterior and posterior margins almost parallel beyond venation (forewing about as wide at apex of venation as at broadest part of blade), blade without a seta behind base of marginal vein; petiole much wider than long, quite inconspicuous even in slide-mounted specimens; genitalia of male simple ( Triapitsyn 2003).

Comments. Species comprising the subgenus E. ( Parallelaptera ) are very small (body length of most specimens about 500 µm) and tend to have very wide distributional ranges. The trustworthy host records are from eggs of various Tingidae and also some Miridae ( Triapitsyn 2003) . Only one species, E. (P.) rex (Girault) , occurs in the New World; it has a wide Holarctic range and is associated with the hosts laying eggs on plants belonging to the family Chenopodiaceae ( Triapitsyn 2003) . This species was most likely unintentionally introduced to the Buenos Aires area in Argentina (here we for the first time record this true representative of E. ( Parallelaptera ) from South America).

Only four valid species are presently recognized in this subgenus. Erythmelus vladimir S. Triapitsyn & Fidalgo is excluded here from E. ( Parallelaptera ) because, as shown below, it is better placed in the nominate subgenus.

Erythmelus (Parallelaptera) rex (Girault, 1911)

( Figs 1–3 )

Anthemiella rex Girault 1911b: 185 (holotype female [on slide, USNM], examined. Type locality: Urbana, Champaign

Co., Illinois, USA). Parallelaptera rex (Girault) : Girault 1912: 298; Girault 1929: 8; Peck 1963: 31 (catalog); De Santis 1979: 369 (catalog). Erythmelus rex (Girault) : Trjapitzin 1993: 268, 270. Erythmelus (Parallelaptera) rex (Girault) : Triapitsyn 2003: 36–39 (diagnosis, distribution, host associations). Erythmelus margianus S. Trjapitzin 1993: 268 (holotype female [Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St.

Petersburg, Russia], examined. Type locality: Old Nisa, Ashgabat Vilayat, Turkmenistan). Synonymized under E .

(P.) rex by Triapitsyn 2003: 36.

Material examined. ARGENTINA. BUENOS AIRES, Luján, Universidad Nacional de Luján, 34°35'07"S 59°04'45"W, 32 m: 17.iii.2005, C. Coviella [1 female, UCRC]; 31.iii.2006, C. Coviella [1 female, UCRC]; 29.ix.2006, C. Coviella [1 female, UCRC]. CANADA. ALBERTA, Lethbridge, Agriculture Canada Research Station, 9–15.vii.1980, G. Gibson [1 female, CNCI]. SASKATCHEWAN, Outlook, 23.vi.1989, J.J. Soroka [1 female, CNCI]. USA. ARIZONA: Cochise Co., Pomerene: 28.vii.1982, K. R. Lakin, C.G. Jackson (“ex. Chenopodium leptophyllum ”) [1 female, USNM]; 25.viii.1982, K. R. Lakin, C.G. Jackson (“lab reared in eggs of Atomoscelis modestus (Van Duzee) , parents emerged from Chenopodium ”) [6 females, USNM]. Pima Co., Tucson, 22.ix.1982, K. R. Lakin ("3rd generation reared in Lygus hesperus eggs, USDA bio control lab") [2 females, USNM]. CALIFORNIA, San Luis Obispo Co., 3 mi. E of Shandon, 22.ix.1981, J.D. Pinto [1 female, CNCI]. ILLINOIS, Union Co., Pine Hill Recreation Area, 12–14.vii.1982, T.E. Vogt [1 female, CNCI].

Diagnosis. Very close to the common and widespread Old World species E. (P.) panis (Enock) , from which it may be distinguished by the female antenna ( Fig. 1 ) with F5 about 0.8–0.9 x the combined length of F3 and F4; the mesosoma in E. (P.) rex is usually shorter than the metasoma and the forewing ( Fig. 2 ) is 7.0– 9.0 x as long as wide. Occasionally, smaller females of E. (P.) rex may be confused with larger females of E. (P.) panis in the Palaearctic region. The relatively elongate male genitalia of E. (P.) rex are perhaps the best distinctive feature of this species ( Triapitsyn 2003).

Distribution. Argentina (new record), Canada, Mexico, and USA, as well as Austria, France, Greece, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Spain, Turkmenistan, and Wales ( UK) ( Triapitsyn 2003).

Hosts. Miridae : Atomoscelis modestus (Van Duzee) (new record) as well as Adelphocoris sp. and Lygus hesperus Knight ; also possibly some Miridae and/or Tingidae that lay eggs in plants of the family Chenopodiaceae ( Triapitsyn 2003) .

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Erythmelus (Parallelaptera) rex (California, USA). 1. Antenna (female). 2. Forewing (female). 3. Antenna (male). Scale bars = 0.1 mm.