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OLD Key to species of Afrotropical Rhyssinae (after Rousse & van Noort 2014)

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

ClassificationIdentification keys


1 Fore wing with areolet closed, triangular and strongly petiolate (A); body orange and dark brown, wings dark brown (B); tropical Africa ... Megarhyssa babaulti Seyrig, 1937

 

- Fore wing with areolet open (a); body and wings colorations variable but usually wings hyaline and body yellow interspersed with black markings (b) ... Epirhyssa ... 2


 

2(1) Face smooth to sparsely punctate (A-B), without transverse rugosities ...3

 

 

- Face transversely rugulose punctate or transversely striate (a-b) ...5


 

3(2) Wings hyaline, fore wing slightly infuscate apically (A); Madagascar ... Epirhyssa migratoria Seyrig, 1932

 

- Wings with dark patterns, yellowish to black (a, b); tropical Africa ... 4


 

4(3) Wings blackish with subapical lighter patch (A); epicnemial carina reaching level of mesopleural pit (B) ... Epirhyssa villemantae Rousse & van Noort, 2014

 

- Wings yellowish with apex blackish and an additional subapical transverse blackish band on fore wing (a); epicnemial carina very short, hardly extending onto mesopleuron (b) ... Epirhyssa maynei Benoit, 1952


 

5(3) Metasoma with large apico-lateral yellow spots on tergites 1–5 (A); clypeus without median subapical tubercle (B); body and ovipositor large to very large (B > 25mm; OT > 6) ...Epirhyssa overlaeti Seyrig, 1937

 

- Metasoma usually uniformly colored (a); clypeus with a distinct subapical tubercle (b); body and ovipositor smaller (B < 25mm; OT < 6) ... 6


 

6(2) Anterior sclerotized part of sternite 1 with a pair of submedian tubercles, tubercles also present on sternites 2–4 (A); general coloration dark testaceous to black interspersed with pale yellow (B) ... Epirhyssa brianfisheri Rousse & van Noort, 2014

 

- Sternite 1 without a pair of submedian tubercles, tubercles present on sternites 2–4 only (a); general coloration pale to striking yellow with isolated black markings (b) ... 7


 

7(6) Apex of subtegular ridge concave, laterally flanged (A) ... 8

 

- Apex of subtegular ridge convex, without lateral flange (a) ... 9


 

8(7) Clypeus punctate (A); tergite 1 of female slender, more than 1.4x longer than apically wide (B) ... Epirhyssa gavinbroadi Rousse & van Noort, 2014

 

- Clypeus almost smooth, hardly sculptured (a); tergite 1 of female stout, less than 1.4x longer than wide (b) ... Epirhyssa uelensis Benoit, 1951


 

9(7) Tergite 2 densely punctate over its entire surface (A); general coloration pale yellow (B); Southern Africa ... Epirhyssa shaka Rousse & van Noort, 2014

 

- Tergite 2 smooth to superficially punctate laterally (a); general coloration bright yellow (b); tropical Africa ... 10


 

10(9) Fore wing with 2m–cu basal to rs–m (A); mesosternum black (B) ... Epirhyssa leroyi Benoit, 1951

 

- Fore wing with 2m–cu apical to rs–m (a); mesosternum yellow (b) ... 11


 

11(10) Clypeus shallowly longitudinally strigose (A); frons with two medial carinae converging in front of median ocellus (B); tergite 1 of female stout, less than 1.4x longer than apically wide (C) ... Epirhyssa tombeaodiba Rousse & van Noort, 2014

 

-Clypeus smooth (a); frons with two submedian carinae, diverging on upper frons toward lateral ocelli (b); tergite 1 of female slender, more than 1.4x longer than apically wide (c) ... Epirhyssa ghesquierei Benoit, 1951


Reference

Rousse P. & van Noort S. 2014. A review of the Afrotropical Rhyssinae (Ichneumonidae: Hymenoptera) with descriptions of five new species. European Journal of Taxonomy 91: 1-42.

http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2014.91

Hopkins T, Roininen H, van Noort S, Broad GR, Kaunisto K, Sääksjärvi IE. 2019. Extensive sampling and thorough taxonomic assessment of Afrotropical Rhyssinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) reveals two new species and demonstrates the limitations of previous sampling efforts. ZooKeys @@: @–@. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.@@.37845

Credits

Photographs © Simon van Noort or 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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