Copyright 2013 Magnolia Press TERMS OF USE Zootaxa 3626 (4): 583 588 www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3626.4.12 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:66e78e5a-71da-4c6a-a87e-f768a4431b5d ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) ZOOTAXA ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Charmon ramagei sp. nov., a new Charmontinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Reunion, with a synopsis of world species PASCAL ROUSSE Iziko South African Museum, Natural History Department, PO Box 61, Cape Town 8000, Sth Africa / Stellenbosch University, Department of Botany and Zoology, Evolutionary Genomics Group, Private Bag X1, Stellenbosch 7602, Sth Africa. E-mail: rousse.pascal@wanadoo.fr Abstract Charmon ramagei sp. nov. is described from Reunion. The small subfamily Charmontinae now comprises nine extant and one fossil species. This new species is readily distinguishable from other Charmon spp. due to the presence of a Y-shaped mid-longitudinal propodeal carina. The key to the world species of the subfamily is updated, and a synoptic table provided to compare their critical morphological features. Key words: Parasitic wasps, koinobiont endoparasitoids, hot spot volcanic island, Indian Ocean Introduction Charmontinae form a small subfamily of non-cyclostome Braconidae, with only two extant genera: Charmon Haliday, 1833 (seven species) and Charmontia van Achterberg, 1979 (one species). The fossil genus Paleocharmon Belokobylskij et al., 2010, with one extinct species, has recently been described from the amber of the Paris Basin. Charmontinae are nevertheless widespread, being reported from all biogeographical regions except Antarctica (Yu et al., 2012). Morphologically, they are characterized by a unique combination of features: occipital carina present, fore wing with vein r-m absent, hind wing with anal cross vein present (Fig. 2D), ovipositor very long and longitudinally ridged. They used to be considered as a tribe of Homolobinae (van Achterberg, 1979), but were later raised to subfamily rank (Quicke and van Achterberg, 1990). They show some similarities with Macrocentrinae: the longitudinally ridged ovipositor strongly resembles that of Macrocentrus Curtis (Quicke and van Achterberg, 1990). They are larvo-pupal koinobiont endoparasitoids of concealed caterpillars; their recorded hosts belong to 16 families of Lepidoptera (Yu et al., 2012). A new species belonging to the genus Charmon is described, bringing the total number of species in the genus to eight. I also provide an updated key to the world species of Charmontinae, and a comparison of the critical features differentiating the extant species of the subfamily. Material and methods Biogeography of Reunion. The origin of the Reunion entomofauna was discussed by Martiré and Rochat (2008) for Lepidoptera, stressing the strong influence of the Afrotropical region and the weaker contribution of the Indo- Pacific fauna. Endemism is also noticeable in Reunion, a small island of 2 500 km² with large areas of primary habitats still conserved. Granger (1949) pinpointed that the non-endemic braconid fauna in the Madagascar subregion mainly comes from continental Africa, though the influence of a Gondwanan origin has not to be neglected. Accepted by J.T. Jennings: 21 Jan. 2013; published: 15 Mar. 2013 583
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Terminology. The nomenclature used for body parts and wing venation follows Wharton et al. (1997). They are also defined in the HymATol glossary http://hymatol.org. The morphological and ecological data summarized in the table are compiled after van Achterberg (1979), Papp (1983), Chou and Hsu (1995), Chen and He (1996), and Belokobylskij (1998). The distribution records are extracted from the Taxapad database (Yu et al., 2012). Results The Charmon species collected in Reunion is a new species. Its carinated propodeum is a unique feature within the genus Charmon and makes this species readily distinguishable from all other species. The holotype has been deposited at the Muséum National d Histoire Naturelle of Paris. The morphological data gathered in Table 1 enables a comparison of the extant species of the subfamily, and were used to build the key below. Key to the world species of Charmontinae 1. Third labial palpus as long as second; last flagellomere without an apical spine; 1Rs distinct, first discal cell of fore wing slightly petiolate (Fig. 1A); tergite 1 nearly 3x longer than apically wide; Chile...Charmontia inopina van Achterberg, 1979 - Third labial palpus reduced or absent, at most conspicuously shorter than second; last flagellomere with an apical spine; 1Rs indistinct, first discal cell of fore wing sessile or subsessile (Fig. 1B); tergite 1 at most 2x longer than apically wide................................................................................................ Charmon spp. 2 2(1). Ocelli enlarged, ocellar diameter at least 1.5x post-ocellar line; Far East.......................................... 3 - Ocelli smaller, ocellar diameter at most about as long as post-ocellar line......................................... 5 3(2). Pterostigma brown to blackish brown; mesosoma black, rarely with dark reddish maculae; body length > 60 mm; Mongolia and Korea.................................................................. Charmon paloratus Papp, 1983 - Pterostigma yellowish; mesosoma blackish to dark reddish with lighter brownish to yellowish parts; body length < 65 mm..................................................................................................... 4 4(3). Tergite 1 smooth; notauli very shallow and smooth, anteriorly obsolete; Far Eastern Russia............................................................................................... Charmon kozyrevskii Belokobylskij, 1998 - Tergite 1 longitudinally striate; notauli complete, deep and crenulate; Taiwan.... Charmon taiwanensis Chou and Hsu, 1995 5(2). 1cu-a shorter than 1Cu (Fig. 1C); M+Cu basally unpigmented; Papua-New Guinea.................................................................................................... Charmon brevinervis van Achterberg, 1979-1cu-a longer than 1Cu (Fig. 1B); M+Cu basally complete...................................................... 6 6(5). Notauli at least anteriorly obsolete, often totally absent; worldwide except South America and Australasian regions..................................................................................... Charmon extensor (L., 1758) - Notauli complete.................................................................................... 7 7(6). Propodeum with a mid-longitudinal Y-shaped carina oriented backwards (Fig. 2C); pterostigma blackish and dark testaceous; Reunion island................................................................... Charmon ramagei sp. nov. - Propodeum mostly smooth, at most with faint rugosities, but without carina; pterostigma yellowish................... 8 8(7). Ovipositor less than 1.2x length fore wing; mesosoma reddish to dark reddish; worldwide except South America and Australasian regions............................................................. Charmon cruentatus Haliday, 1833 - Ovipositor more than 1.2x length fore wing; mesosoma dark brown with mesothorax yellow to reddish yellow; China........................................................................... Charmon rufithorax Chen and He, 1996 Charmon ramagei Rousse, sp. nov. (Fig. 2) Diagnosis. Head mostly yellowish-orange, legs yellowish, body dark brown and yellowish-testaceous; propodeum with an Y-shaped carina oriented backwards; nearly entirely smooth, except T1 longitudinally striate and some faint sculptures on face, tegula, and propodeum. Description. COLOR. Head yellowish orange with brownish parts: flagellum, scape (laterally) and interocellar area; mesosoma dorsally dark brown, scutellum and lateral sides of pronotum yellowish, pleurae yellowishtestaceous; legs yellowish with tarsi infuscate; wing veins yellowish to dark brown, pterostigma testaceous, its anterior margin blackish; tergite 1 blackish brown, following tergites yellowish-orange and apically infuscate. FEMALE (1 specimen). Body / fore wing / antenna / ovipositor sheath lengths (mm): 5.1 / 4.8 / 7.4 / 5.3. A NEW CHARMONTINAE SPECIES FROM REUNION ISLAND Zootaxa 3626 (4) 2013 Magnolia Press 585
FIGURE 1. Fore wings. A: Charmontia inopina; B: Charmon extensor; C: Charmon brevinervis (redrawn after van Achterberg, 1979). Head. Entire head transverse and polished with a moderately dense pilosity, genae moderately long with temples regularly rounded behind eyes, 1.5x wider than high in facial view, 1.6x wider than long in dorsal view. Mandibles moderately long, basally slightly constricted then margins sub-parallel towards apex, teeth sub-equal, malar line 0.2x basal mandibular width. Subocular sulcus absent. Clypeus transverse, 2.0x wider than high, shallowly and sparsely punctate, its apical margin with a fine crenulated impression. Face transverse, 1.7x wider than high, sparsely and shallowly punctate. Occipital carina dorsally obsolescent, joining ventrally hypostomal carina distinctly before mandible basis. Antenna with 37 flagellomeres. Ocellar diameter 1.1x post-ocellar line and 0.4x ocullo-ocellar line. Mesosoma. Entire thorax smooth and shining, except a deep transverse crenulated groove behind pronotal collar, some fine punctures below tegula and the complete, deep and finely crenulated notaulus. Scuto-scutellar 586 Zootaxa 3626 (4) 2013 Magnolia Press ROUSSE
groove shallow, with three weak cross carinae. Propodeum smooth with a median longitudinal carina, subdividing from basal fifth to apex into two sub-median parallel longitudinal carinae, the surface between them rugose. Legs elongate. Fore wing with first discal cell sessile (1Rs absent), M+Cu fully tubular and pigmented basally, 1cu-a distinctly apical to 1M, twice longer than 1Cu. Metasoma. Tergite 1 2.1x longer than apically wide, coarsely longitudinally striate, with glymma deep and short, spiracle at basal fourth. Remaining tergites smooth. Ovipositor very long, 3.1x longer than hind tibia and 1.2x longer than fore wing. MALE. Unknown. Material examined. HOLOTYPE (MNHN EY8803): Verbatim label data: St Louis / Les Makes, forêt de Bon Accueil, alt. 1190m, 02/2011, fauchage; coll. Ramage; complete. Etymology. To my colleague and friend Thibault Ramage, whose field strolls greatly supplied my collections. Distribution records. Reunion. FIGURE 2. Charmon ramagei sp. nov. (Holotype ). A: habitus; B: head, frontal view; C: propodeum; D: hind wing, detail of vannal lobe showing the anal cross vein (arrow); E: head and thorax, dorsal view; F: fore and hind wings. Acknowledgments I am very thankful toward Dicky Yu, Sergey Belokobylskij, and Xue-xin Chen for their translations. This work was co-funded by the Société Entomologique de France (Bourse Germaine Cousin) and the South African National Research Foundation (SABI grant). A NEW CHARMONTINAE SPECIES FROM REUNION ISLAND Zootaxa 3626 (4) 2013 Magnolia Press 587
References Belokobylskij, S.A. (1998) 18. Charmontinae. In Ler, P.A. (Ed.), Key to the Insects of Russian Far East. Vol. 4. Neuropteroidea, Mecoptera, Hymenoptera. Pt 3. Dal nauka., Vladivostok, Russia, pp. 498 500. Belokobylskij, S.A., Nel, A., Waller, A. & De Plöeg, G. (2010) New fossil non-cyclostome braconid wasps from the lowermost Eocene amber of Paris Basin. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 55, 519 527. http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2009.1114 Chen, X.X. & He, J.H. (1996) The genus Charmon Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Charmontinae) from China. Entomotaxonomia, 18, 59 64. Chou, L.Y. & Hsu, T.C. (1995) The Braconidae (Hymenoptera) of Taiwan. VI. Charmontinae, Homolobinae and Xiphozelinae. Journal of Agricultural Research of China, 44, 357 378. Granger, C. (1949) Braconides de Madagascar. Académie Malgache, Antananarivo, Madagascar, 428 pp. Haliday, A.H. (1833) An essay on the classification of the parasitic Hymenoptera of Britain, which correspond with the Ichneumones minuti of Linnaeus. Entomological magazine, 1, 259 276, 333 350. Source: Entomological Magazine. 1(iii):259-276, 333-350. He, J.H., Chen, X.X. & Ma, Y. (2000) Hymenoptera Braconidae. Science Presse, Beijing, China, 757 pp. Martiré, D. & Rochat, J. (2008) Les papillons de La Réunion et leurs chenilles. Biotope, Mèze (collection Parthénope) Muséum d'histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, 496 pp. Papp, J. (1983) Braconidae (Hymenoptera) from Mongolia. IX. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 29, 441 449. Quicke, D.L.J. & van Achterberg, C. (1990) Phylogeny of the subfamilies of the family Braconidae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen, 258, 1 95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.1992.tb00068.x van Achterberg, C. (1979) A revision of the subfamily Zelinae auct. (Hymenoptera, Braconidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 122, 241 479. Wharton, R.A., Marsh, P.M. & Sharkey, M.J., Eds. (1997) Manual of the new world genera of the family Braconidae (Hymenoptera). The International Society of Hymenopterists, Washington DC, USA, 395 pp. Yu, D.S., van Achterberg, C. & Horstmann, K. (2012) Taxapad 2012, Ichneumonoidea 2011. Database on flash-drive. www.taxapad.com, Ottawa, Canada. 588 Zootaxa 3626 (4) 2013 Magnolia Press ROUSSE