Diadegma insulare ( Cresson, 1865 )

Rousse, Pascal & Villemant, Claire, 2012, Ichneumons in Reunion Island: a catalogue of the local Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera) species, including 15 new taxa and a key to species, Zootaxa 3278, pp. 1-57 : 12

Diadegma insulare ( Cresson, 1865)

( Figs 6 e and 6g)

Angitia plutellae Viereck, 1912: 583 ; Campoplex hellulae Viereck, 1912: 622 ; Campoplex pygmaeus Viereck, 1925: 203 ; Limneria polynesialis Cameron, 1883: 191 ; Mesoleptus insularis Cresson, 1865: 15 ; Sagaritis congregator Walley, 1926: 225

Diagnosis. Characterized among Diadegma species by the area superomedia, apically narrowed and delimited ( Fig. 6 e), and the tergites VI-VII of females not to slightly indented ( Fig. 6 g).

Description. Azidah et al. (2000).

Host records. Plutella xylostella , P. operculella , P. omissa , P. a r m o r a c i a e ( Lepidoptera : Plutellidae ) and Hellula undalis ( Lepidoptera : Pyralidae ).

Comments. The presence of D. insulare in Reunion is surprising. We expected to find instead D. semiclausum , which was introduced into Mauritius in 1991 from Taiwan ( Dunhawoor & Abeeluck 1998) . However, all the 12 examined specimens have an area superomedia distinctly narrowed posteriorly (for most of them the area is even distinctly apically closed). This character is the most reliable to differentiate D. insulare from its close relatives D. semiclausum and D. mollipla . Azidah et al. (2000) stated that D. semiclausum and D. insulare are very similar, both being also differentiated by the emargination of apical tergites in females ( Figs 6 f–g). None of the females we examined bore a distinct indentation.

Distribution records. Reunion (new record). North and Central America, Cuba, Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela, Morocco, Israel, Tahiti, Hawaii, Society Islands.

Material examined. 4Ƥ 333 St Paul / Tan Rouge, alt. 800m, VI.2011, leg. Cirad; 1Ƥ 13 same locality, I. 2011, leg. Cirad; 13 St Pierre / Bassin Martin, alt. 290m, XII.2010, leg. Cirad; 1Ƥ Le Tampon / Pont d’Yves, alt. 820m, III.2003, leg. P. Rousse; 13 Le Tampon / Bras de Pontho, alt. 680m, IX.1997, leg. Cirad.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Diadegma spp. details. a: D. semiclausum, head, dorsal. b: D. mollipla, head, dorsal. c-d: D. mollipla, propodeum, dorsal. e: D. insulare, propodeum, dorsal. f: D. semiclausum, propodeum, dorsal. g: D. insulare, apex of metasoma, dorsal. h: D. semiclausum, apex of metasoma, dorsal (Azidah et al. 2000).