Ixodiphagus rogana
| Ixodiphagus rogana | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Ixodiphagus rogana | ||||||||||||
| Noyes , 2010 |
Ixodiphagus rogana is a wasp of the genus Ixodiphagus in the family Encyrtidae . The hyperparasite lays its eggs in the larvae and nymphs of one or more as yet unknown tick hosts . The hatching larvae feed ontheir hostas parasitoids . Ixodiphagus rogana has so far only been found in Costa Rica .
description
From Ixodiphagus rogana only the females are known to date. They are small, dark-colored wasps whose appearance other chalcids equivalent, and have a strong case and slightly flattened physique. The color of the head and body is dark brown, the head with a metallic sheen and greenish and purple reflections. The body length is between 1.1 and 1.2 millimeters. The wingspan is well below two millimeters and the front wings are at least 2.3 times as long as they are wide. They are translucent at the base, otherwise partly dark and opaque.
The head is flattened at the top and about twice as wide as the front vertex , with a trimming of bristle-like setae , which are located in conspicuous depressions. The three ocelli on the head form an angle of about 100 degrees in front. The distance between the posterior ocelles and the edges of the complex eyes is little less than their own diameter. At the front of the head are two brown antennae that are close together . Their scapus is about three times as long as it is wide. It is followed by the pedicellus and a funiculus divided into six limbs. The first flagellomer of the funiculus is about as long as or slightly longer than it is wide. The first flagellomer has no longitudinal sensilla , only the second or third to sixth flagellomer. The clavus is tripartite.
The scutellum is convex and has slight depressions with hair on the surface. The posterior edge of the hypopygium is convex, in the middle it has a slight U-shaped indentation with thick hair on both sides. The legs have dark brown coxae and femora , the ends of the femora are pale orange-brown. The tibiae are lighter and partly pale orange-brown in color. The limbs of the tarsi, with apical orange-brown and distal orange-colored ends, are brightened, the front limbs are overall lighter than the rear.
Ixodiphagus rogana is similar to the species Ixodiphagus satan . It differs from this in that it has a head that is about twice as wide in relation to the front vertex. The first flagellomer of the funiculus has no longitudinal sensillae. The posterior edge of the hypopygium is convex. In Ixodiphagus satan , the head is a maximum of 1.7 times as wide as the front vertex. All flagellomeres of the funiculus, including the first, have longitudinal sensillae. The posterior margin of the hypopygium is straight. From Ixodiphagus hookeri , both species differ in the scutellum, which is at least slightly longer than it is wide. The scutellum of Ixodiphagus hookeri is significantly wider than it is long.
Way of life
All species in the genus Ixodiphagus are parasitoids . They lay their eggs in larvae or nymphs of various types of ticks , which serve as food for their larvae. The tick host of Ixodiphagus rogana is not yet known.
distribution
Ixodiphagus rogana has so far only been found in Costa Rica . The type location is the Estación Biológica Altamira in the province of Puntarenas ( 9 ° 1 ′ 45.7 ″ N , 83 ° 0 ′ 29.2 ″ W ). The two paratypes also come from the province of Puntarenas. In addition to Ixodiphagus rogana , five other species of the genus Ixodiphagus occur in Costa Rica . Ixodiphagus texanus was described as early as 1907, the other four were described with Ixodiphagus rogana in 2010 .
Systematics and taxonomy
Ixodiphagus rogana is one of 15 species of the genus Ixodiphagus Howard , 1907 in the monotypic tribe Ixodiphagini Howard , 1908. This belongs to the family Encyrtidae , a family of jewel wasps whose species almost without exception parasites of insects , spiders , mites are or ticks. The Ixodiphagini are the only tick parasites.
The first description was in 2010 by the Welsh entomologist John S. Noyes from the Natural History Museum in London. Noyes treated the subfamily Encyrtinae with the Ixodiphagini and other tribes in the third volume of his presentation of the Encyrtidae of Costa Rica. The holotype is in the collection of the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio) in Costa Rica.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g John S. Noyes: Encyrtidae of Costa Rica (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) 3. Subfamily Encyrtinae: Encyrtini, Echthroplexiellini, Discodini, Oobiini and Ixodiphagini, parasitoids associated with bugs (Hemiptera), insect eggs (Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera) and ticks (Acari) . (= Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute. Volume 84). Gainesville, FL 2010, ISBN 978-1-887988-28-5 , pp. 649-660.
- ↑ John S. Noyes and Mohammad Hayat: A review of the genera of Indo-Pacific Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). In: Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Entomology). Volume 48, No. 3, 1984, pp. 131-395, here p. 288, digitized .
- ^ John S. Noyes: Encyrtidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) . (= Fauna of New Zealand. 13). DSIR Science Information Publishing Center, Wellington 1988, ISBN 0-477-02517-X , pp. 9-12, digitized .