Enicospilus shikokuensis (Uchida, 1928)

Shimizu, So, Broad, Gavin R. & Maeto, Kaoru, 2020, Integrative taxonomy and analysis of species richness patterns of nocturnal Darwin wasps of the genus Enicospilus Stephens (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ophioninae) in Japan, ZooKeys 990, pp. 1-144 : 1

Enicospilus shikokuensis (Uchida, 1928) Figure 44

Henicospilus combustus var. shikokuensis Uchida, 1928: 224; LCT ♀ from Japan, designated by Townes et al. (1965: 334), SEHU, examined.

Enicospilus seniculus Chiu, 1954: 71; HT ♀ from Korea, TARI, examined; synonymised by Gauld and Mitchell (1981: 375).

Enicospilus sigmatoides Chiu, 1954: 75; HT ♂ from Korea, TARI, examined; syn. nov.

Specimens examined.

Total of 93 specimens (36♀♀55♂♂ and 2 unsexed): Japan (35♀♀54♂♂ and 2 unsexed), Korea (1♀1♂).

Type series: LCT ♀ of Henicospilus combustus var. shikokuensis Uchida, 1928, Ehime, Shikoku, JAPAN, 9.V.1924, Tsushima leg. (SEHU); HT ♀ of Enicospilus seniculus Chiu, 1954, Suigen, KOREA, IV-VI.1927, K. Sato leg. (TARI); HT ♂ of Enicospilus sigmatoides Chiu, 1954, Suigen, KOREA, 24.IV.1930, K. Sato leg. (TARI).

Distribution.

Eastern Palaearctic and Oriental regions ( Yu et al. 2016); this is a predominantly Eastern Palaearctic species.

JAPAN: [ Hokkaidô]*; [Hokuriku] Niigata ( Ohmori 1960; present study); [ Kantô-Kôshin] Tochigi ( Katayama et al. 2010), Saitama*, Tôkyô ( Chiu 1954; Konishi and Maeto 2000; Konishi et al. 2014; present study), and Kanagawa ( Chiu 1954; Watanabe et al. 2016; present study); [ Tôkai] Shizuoka* and Mie ( Uchida 1928); [Kinki] Kyôto ( Uchida 1928) and Hyôgo *; [ Chûgoku] Shimane*, Okayama* and Hiroshima ( Konishi and Nakamura 2002, 2010; Maeto 2003; present study); [Shikoku] Tokushima*, Ehime ( Uchida 1928; Konishi and Yamamoto 2000; present study) and Kôchi *; [ Kyûshû] Nagasaki*, Kumamoto*, Miyazaki* and Kagoshima*; [ Ryûkyûs] Kagoshima ( Watanabe 2018; present study) and Okinawa*. *New records.

Bionomics.

No host records from Japan. Enicospilus shikokuensis is one of the most frequently collected ichneumonids in spring in Japan, and it seems to be univoltine.

Differential diagnosis.

As mentioned in the diagnosis of E. multidens stat. rev., this species is sometimes confused with E. multidens stat rev., but can be distinguished by the characters listed in the diagnosis section of E. multidens stat. rev. Gauld and Mitchell (1981) compared E. shikokuensis to E. ramidulus , but E. shikokuensis is easily distinguishable by the much wider lower face (Fig. 44B ), longer and slenderer mandible (Fig. 44B, D ), larger size, etc.

Remarks.

This species exhibits a wide range of colour variation from entirely testaceous to dark brown or black. Paler individuals have the proximal and distal sclerites separated and the central sclerite weak, so it is likely that the degree of melanisation has an effect on the sclerite development as well as the colour. The holotype of Enicospilus sigmatoides Chiu, syn. nov. is a paler individual with separated proximal and distal sclerites. DNA barcodes of individuals spanning the morphological continuum varied by less than 1%.

Figures

Figure 44. Enicospilus shikokuensis (Uchida, 1928) ♀ from Japan A habitus B head, frontal view C head, dorsal view D head, lateral view E mesosoma, lateral view F central part of fore wing.