Abstract Abstract
Dicopus longipes (Subba Rao) (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Mymaridae) is recorded from India for the first time. New additional distribution records of Mymaridae from the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala are documented.
Keywords: Mymaridae , distribution, India
Introduction
Fairyflies (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Mymaridae) are internal egg parasitoids of insects except two species that parasitize the larvae of eulophids (Huber et al. 2006). From India, 31 genera and 134 species of Mymaridae have been reported so far (Manickavasagam and Rameshkumar 2013, Ramesh Kumar et al. 2013). The mymarid fauna of India is not well documented as several states and biodiversity rich areas of India have not been surveyed so far for mymarids. Because mymarids are small to tiny, only Malaise traps and yellow pan traps yield good field collections. In this paper, we document new records of mymarids for the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. One species, Dicopus longipes (Subba Rao), is reported as new to India.
Materials and methods
Parasitoids were collected from Kasaragod, Kozhikode, Palakkad, and Idukki districts of Kerala and Coimbatore and Salem districts of Tamil Nadu using sweep netting, yellow pan traps and Malaise traps in different ecosystems (Noyes 1982). Collected specimens were processed using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) (Brown 1993) and card/slide mounted for identification. Voucher specimens are deposited in the reference collections of the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (ICAR-NBAIR), Bangalore, India and the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Ghat Regional Centre, Calicut, India.
Taxon treatments
Acmopolynema indochinense
Soyka
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Kumar; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Palakkad; locality: Chittur; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2011-02-04; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Acmopolynema indochinense (Fig. 1), hitherto known from Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh (Triapitsyn and Berezovskiy 2007), is a new record for Kerala.
Figure 1.
Acmopolynema indochinense, lateral view.
Acmopolynema malabaricum
Subba Rao
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 4; sex: females; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Tamil Nadu; municipality: Salem; locality: Yercaud; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-08-06; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureae of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Acmopolynema malabaricum (Fig. 2) was known only from Kerala (Hayat and Anis 1999) and is new to Tamil Nadu.
Figure 2.
Acmopolynema malabaricum, lateral view.
Acmopolynema problema
Triapitsyn & Berezovskiy
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Nikhil; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Palakkad; locality: near Silent Valley; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Sweep net; eventDate: 2013-01-16; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Acmopolynema problema (Fig. 3) has been recorded from only Karnataka (Triapitsyn and Berezovskiy 2007) and is recorded here from Kerala.
Figure 3.
Acmopolynema problema, lateral view.
Alaptus sp.
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 5; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Palakkad; locality: Pattambi; verbatimLocality: RARS campus; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventTime: 2014-01-25; habitat: Paddy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Alaptus (Fig. 4) includes some of the smallest mymarids. From India, it was recorded from Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu (Subba Rao and Hayat 1983), Karnataka (Manickavasagam et al. 2011), and Pudhucherry (Rameshkumar et al. 2011). We record it here from Kerala.
Figure 4.
Alaptus sp., lateral view.
Camptoptera matcheta
Subba Rao
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 3; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Tamil Nadu; municipality: Salem; locality: Yercaud; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-08-06; habitat: Weedy filed; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Camptoptera matcheta (Fig. 5) was known only from Karnataka (Subba Rao 1989) and is new to Tamil Nadu.
Figure 5.
Camptoptera matcheta, lateral view.
Dicopus longipes
(Subba Rao)
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 1; sex: Female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Palakkad; locality: RARS campus; Identification: identificationID: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-01-25; habitat: Paddy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bangalore; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Diagnosis
Dicopus longipes (Fig. 6) differs from D. noyesi Manickavasagam by the following features: antennal scape uniformly slender (distinctly bulging subapically in D. noyesi), F1 almost as long as F2 (distinctly shorter in D. noyesi), F6 and F7 slightly bottle shaped, the apex of each segment shorter and wider (F5 to F7 bottle-neck shaped, the apex of each segment distinctly long and narrow in D. noyesi).
Figure 6.
Dicopus longipes, lateral view.
Distribution
Malaysia (Subba Rao 1984); India (Kerala). Pricop and Andriescu (2011) have mentioned that D. longipes is known from India, but it appears to be incorrect. After Subba Rao (1984) described it from Malaysia-Sabah under Kubja, the only subsequent reference to this species was by Huber (2009) when he synonymised Kubja with Dicopus.
Dicopus noyesi
Manickavasagam
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 2; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Calicut; locality: red hills; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-04-25; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Dicopus noyesi (Fig. 7) was recorded from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (Manickavasagam and Rameshkumar 2011) and we record it here from Kerala.
Figure 7.
Dicopus noyesi, lateral view.
Eofoersteria sp.
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 11; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Palakkad; locality: Pattambi; verbatimLocality: RARS campus; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-01-25; habitat: Paddy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Calicut; locality: Mavoor; verbatimLocality: Medical college campus; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2012-11-22; habitat: grassy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Eofoersteria (Fig. 8) was recorded from Tamil Nadu (Subba Rao and Hayat 1983) and Karnataka (Manickavasagam et al. 2011). We record it here from Kerala.
Figure 8.
Eofoersteria sp., lateral view.
Eubroncus sp.
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 1, 1; sex: male, female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Tamil Nadu; municipality: Valparai; locality: Urulikkal; verbatimLocality: Periyar nagar; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventTime: 2014-05-04; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Eubroncus (Fig. 9) is a rarely collected genus previously known from West Bengal (Hayat and Khan 2009) and Karnataka (Manickavasagam et al. 2011). We record it here from Tamil Nadu.
Figure 9.
Eubroncus sp., lateral view.
Gonatocerus monticolus
Zeya
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Raseena; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Calicut; locality: Vengeri; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Malaise trap; eventTime: 2014-02-13; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Gonatocerus monticolus (Fig. 10) is known only from its type locality in Uttar Pradesh (Zeya and Hayat 1995). We record it here from Kerala.
Figure 10.
Gonatocerus monticolus, lateral view.
Gonatocerus trialbifuniculatus
Subba Rao
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Raseena; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Calicut; locality: Vengeri; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Malaise trap; eventDate: 2014-02-13; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Gonatocerus trialbifuniculatus (Fig. 11) is known only from Karnataka (Zeya and Hayat 1995). We record it here from Kerala.
Figure 11.
Gonatocerus trialbifuniculatus, lateral view.
Kikiki huna
Huber
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 24; sex: females; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Tamil Nadu; municipality: Salem; locality: Yercaud; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-08-06; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Costa Rica, Hawaiian Islands, Trinidad and Tobago (Huber and Noyes 2013); Argentina (Triapitsyn 2013); India (Tamil Nadu).
Taxon discussion
Kikiki is unique among Mymaridae in having 4-segmented funicle, 2-segmented clava and 3-segemented tarsi. Only the type species, K. huna Huber (Fig. 12), is known so far. In India, Kikiki was first recorded by Manickavasagam and Palanivel (2013) from Tamil Nadu, but they did not confirm the species identity. The size of K. huna ranges from 150 to 170 µm and it holds the record for being the smallest winged insect known at present (Huber and Noyes 2013).
Kikiki huna: Lateral and dorsal view.
Figure 12a.
Female, lateral view
Figure 12b.
Female, dorsal view
Litus sutil
Triapitsyn and Berezovskiy
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Tamil Nadu; municipality: Salem; locality: Yercaud; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-08-06; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Litus sutil (Fig. 13) was known from Meghalaya (Ramesh Kumar et al. 2013). We record it here from Tamil Nadu.
Figure 13.
Litus sutil, lateral view.
Litus triapitsyni
Rehmat and Hayat
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; municipality: Salem; locality: Yercaud; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventTime: 2014-08-06; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Litus triapitsyni Rehmat and Hayat (Fig. 14) was recorded from Assam (Rehmat et al. 2009). We record it here from Tamil Nadu.
Figure 14.
Litus triapitsyni, lateral view.
Ooctonus nigrotestaceus
Subba Rao
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Abhilash; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Idukki,; locality: Vellimala; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Sweep net; eventDate: 2013-04-07; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Bijoy; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Idukki; locality: Mannavan shola; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Malaise trap; eventDate: 2013-04-07; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Ooctonus nigrotestaceus Subba Rao (Fig. 15) was originally described from Karnataka (Subba Rao 1989). We record it here from Kerala.
Figure 15.
Ooctonus nigrotestaceus, lateral view.
Schizophragma sp.
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 1; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Tamil Nadu; municipality: Salem; locality: Yercaud; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventTime: 2014-08-06; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Schizophragma sp. (Fig. 16) was recorded from Meghalaya (Ramesh Kumar et al. 2013). We record it here from Tamil Nadu.
Figure 16.
Schizophragma sp., lateral view.
Stethynium sp.
Materials
Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: A Rameshkumar; individualCount: 3; sex: female; lifeStage: Adult; Location: continent: Asia; country: India; countryCode: IND; stateProvince: Kerala; municipality: Calicut; locality: East hills; Identification: identifiedBy: A Rameshkumar; Event: samplingProtocol: Yellow pan trap; eventDate: 2014-04-25; habitat: Weedy field; Record Level: institutionID: ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources; institutionCode: ICAR-NBAIR
Distribution
Stethynium sp. (Fig. 17) was recorded from Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh (Subba Rao and Hayat 1983). We record it here from Kerala.
Figure 17.
Stethynium sp., lateral view.
Supplementary Material
Acknowledgements
The first author is thankful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research for funding his work under the Network Project on Insect Biosystematics. Thanks are due to Dr. Abraham Verghese, Director, ICAR-NBAIR, for facilities provided and encouragement. The third author is thankful to the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment for the financial assistance, Dr. K. Rajmohana (Research guide) and Dr. P. M Sureshan (Officer-in-charge, WGRC, Zoological Survey of India) for their support and facilities.
Author contributions
A. Rameshkumar - Collection, Identification, Manuscript preparation
J. Poorani - Collection, Identification, Imaging, Manuscript preparation
M. Anjana - Collection, Identification
Contributor Information
A. Rameshkumar, Email: drrameshtrichy@gmail.com.
J. Poorani, Email: pooranij@gmail.com.
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