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Key to genera and species of Afrotropical Phaeogenini (Ichneumoninae)

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera;  Superfamily: Ichneumonoidea; Family: Ichneumonidae; Subfamily: Ichneumoninae)

ClassificationIdentification keys


1. Mandibles unidentate, falcate (A) … 2

 

– Mandibles bidentate, shape various (a) … 7

 


2(1) Areolet open, 3Rs–m absent (A); hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 absent (A) … Lusius Tosquinet, 1903 (3)

 

– Areolet closed, 3Rs–m present, sometimes non–tubular (a); hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 present, sometimes very faint (a) … Heterischnus Wesmael, 1859 (4)

 


3(2) Clypeus wide, about twice as wide as high, strongly pointed apico–laterally (A); flagellum entirely testaceous (male unknown) (B) … Lusius flummox Rousse & van Noort, 2013

 

– Clypeus narrower, about one and a half times wider than high, weakly pointed apico–laterally (a); flagellum tri–coloured in both sexes: basally testaceous, medially white and apically black (b) Lusius tenuissimus (Heinrich, 1938)

 


4(2) Frons transversally striate (A); head reddish and yellow (B) … Heterischnus krausi Schönitzer, 1999

 

– Frons polished with fine isolated punctures (a); head black (b) … Heterischnus olsoufieffi (Heinrich, 1938)

 

– Frons coarsely punctate (aa); coloration of head various (yellow, orange or red to black) (bb) … 5

 


5(4) Colour entirely yellow to orange (A); mesoscutum polished with sparse punctation (B) … Heterischnus mkomazi Rousse & van Noort, 2013

 

– Coloration darker, at least head black to dark red (a); mesoscutum transversally striate (b) … 6

 


6(5) Propodeum without any distinct carina (A); mesosoma uniformly orange (B); flagellum of female with a white median ring (male unknown) (B); Southern Africa … Heterischnus mfongosi Rousse & van Noort

 

– Propodeum with apical transverse carina strong (a); mesosoma multi–colored, black yellowish and testaceous (b); flagellum uniformly colored in both sexes (b); Eastern Africa … Heterischnus africanus (Heinrich, 1936)

 


7(1) Metasomal tergite 2 with gastrocoeli and thyridiae totally absent (A, B) … 8

 

– Metasomal tergite 2 with gastrocoeli (G) present, faint to deep, and thyridiae (T) differentiated (a, b) … 17

 


8(7) Propodeal apophyses strong, spine–like, at least as long as basally wide (A) … Hoplophaeogenes Heinrich, 1938 (9)

 

– Propodeum without spine–like apophyses, or apophyses hardly distinct (a) … 10

 


9(8) Antenna short with less than 25 flagellomeres (A); head mostly dark brown to black with mandibles, clypeus and frons pale yellow (B) … Hoplophaeogenes curticornis Heinrich, 1938

 

– Antenna longer with more than 25 flagellomeres; head mostly pale yellow with occiput and vertex black … Hoplophaeogenes amoenus Heinrich, 1938

 


10(8) Sternaulus deep and long, reaching beyond mid–length of mesopleuron (A); areolet open, 3Rs–m absent (B); hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 absent (B) … Arearia Seyrig, 1952 (11)

 

– Sternaulus absent or at least much weaker and shorter (a); areolet closed, 3Rs–m present (b); hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 present, sometimes non pigmented (b) … 12

 


11(10) Mesoscutum and propodeum smooth (A–B); mesosoma mostly brown with pronotum yellow (C); Madagascar … Arearia paradoxa Seyrig, 1952

 

– Mesoscutum transversally striate, propodeum reticulate (a–b); mesosoma mostly yellow, dorsally black (c); South Africa … Arearia oxymoron Rousse & van Noort, 2013

 


12(10) Propodeum smoothly scupltured (at least anteriorly) with median areas fused into one single mid–longitudinal area (A); Madagascar … Chauvinia Heinrich, 1938 (13)

 

– Propodeum coarsely sculptured with area supero–media delimited (a); mainland Africa …Dicaelotus Wesmael, 1845 (15)

 


13(12) Mesosoma mostly black with mesopleuron sparsely and regularly punctate (A); tropical Africa ... Chauvinia nyanga Rousse & van Noort, 2013

 

– Mesosoma yellowish orange, mesopleuron polished (a); Madagascar ... 14

 


14(13) Apex of propodeum expanded between hind coxae, reaching half their length (A); clypeus strongly transverse (Ci < 3.0) (B); metasoma of female strongly elongate, longer than hind leg, with ventral margin of tergites 3 and following overlapping (C) … Chauvinia pelecinoides Heinrich, 1938

 

– Apex of propodeum hardly expanded between hind coxae (a); clypeus extremely transverse (Ci > 3) (b); metasoma of female shorter, shorter than hind leg, with ventral margin of tergites 4 and following overlapping (c) … Chauvinia nitida Heinrich, 1938

 


15(12) Tergite 2 and following densely and deeply punctate (A) … 16

 

 

– Tergite 2 shallowly punctate, following tergites alutaceous to smooth with isolated fine punctures (a) … 17

 


16(15) Ocelli moderately sized, IOi < 2.0 (A); metasoma mostly reddish (B) … Dicaelotus cariniscutis (Cameron, 1906)

 

– Ocelli small, IOi ≥ 2.0 (a); metasoma mostly black (b) … Dicaelotus asantesana Rousse & van Noort, 2013 


17(15) Hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 present as an unpigmented fold (A); mesosoma mostly black with one pale yellow longitudinal stripe on pronotum and another one on mesopleuron, mesopleuron and pronotum ventrally fading to reddish (B); flagellum unicolorous (male unknown) (B) … Dicaelotus hoerikwaggoensis Rousse & van Noort, 2013 

 

Hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 fully pigmented (a); mesosoma mostly reddish, pronotum black with a yellow longitudinal stripe, subtegular ridge and axillar troughs black (b); flagellum medially whitish (male unknown) (b) … Dicaelotus tablemountainensis Rousse & van Noort, 2013 

 


18(7) Occipital and oral carina joining at mandibular base, the junction separated from mandibular basis by less than carina width (A); postpectal carina complete (B); face quadrate without distinct mid–longitudinal bulge (C) … 19

 

– Oral and occipital carina joined distinctly above mandibular base (a); postpectal carina ventrally widely interrupted in front of mid coxae (b); face short and transverse with a strong mid–longitudinal bulge laterally limited by grooves (c) Tycherus Förster, 1869 (21)

 


19(18) Metasomal tergite 2 stout, less than 1.5x longer than apically wide (A); gastrocoeli deep, thyridiae concolourous with remainder of tergite (A); flagellum shorter than fore wing (B); malar space long (Mi > 0.5) (C) … Diadromus collaris (Gravenhorst, 1829)

 

– Metasomal tergite 2 elongate, more than 2x longer than apically wide (a); gastrocoeli very shallow, thyridiae lighter than remainder of tergite (a); flagellum slender, longer than fore wing (b); malar space short (Mi < 0.5) (c) … Kibalus Rousse & van Noort, 2013 (20)

 


20(19) Propodeum without any longitudinal carina, no area defined; punctate rugulose (A); head mostly black (B) … Kibalus toro Rousse & van Noort, 2013 

 

–Propodeum with longitudinal carina present, area superomedia complete; weakly rugulose (a); head mostly yellowish–orange (b) … Kibalus mubfs Rousse & van Noort, 2013 

 


21(18) Propodeum striate (A); head mostly yellow in frontal view (B) … Tycherus amatola Rousse & van Noort, 2013 

 

–Propodeum punctate (a); head mostly white in frontal view (b) … Tycherus nardousberg Rousse & van Noort, 2013 

 


Reference

Rousse P, van Noort S & Diller E. 2013. Revision of the Afrotropical Phaeogenini (Ichneumonidae, Ichneumoninae), with description of a new genus and twelve new species. Zookeys 354: 1-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.354.5968.

Credits

Photographs © Pascal Rousse (Iziko South African Museum)

Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2024. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

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