Enicospilus perlatus Shestakov, 1926

Johansson, Niklas, Ameri, Ali, Riedel, Matthias, Talebi, Ali Asghar & Ebrahimi, Ebrahim, 2021, Contribution to the Ophioninae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) of Iran with the description of 16 new species and an illustrated key to the Eremotylus of the Western Palaearctic, Zootaxa 5023 (2), pp. 151-206 : 164

Enicospilus perlatus Shestakov, 1926

Enicospilus perlatus Shestakov, 1926: 30 . Lectotype ♀ from Turkmenistan in ZIN, examined.

Enicospilus tricolor Hedwig 1957: 107 . Holotype ♀ from Iran in SMNS, examined.

Enicospilus perlatus hebraicator Aubert 1966: 43 ? Holotype ♀ from Israel in MZLS, examined.

Material examined: IRAN: Holotype ♀ of Enicospilus tricolor Hedwig 1♀, Iran, Belutschistan, SO Iranshar, Bampurufer, 13. März 1955. Richter & Schäuffele leg. ( SMNS); 1♀, Hormozgan Province, Minab, 11 Mar. 1971, Paz. / Ayt. leg. ( HMIM).

DNA Barcode: The DNA barcode sequences of two specimens of Enicospilus perlatus from Jordan are available at the BOLD systems database: sample id. NJP748/749, sequence id. LNU2584-21/2585-21 .

Remarks: According to Gauld via Horstmann (1981) possibly an unresolved aggregate of species. Enicospilus nervellator Aubert, 1966 , which occurs in several countries in the Middle East could also be expected to occur in Iran. This species has the flagellomeres stouter and less numerous (50–52 in nervellator , 52–57 in perlatus ), the head usually more strongly narrowed behind the eyes and the nervellus broken in the lower third by the abscissa (holotype ♀ in NHML studied). The similiarities between the two species are striking and there is some confusing variation regarding the characters used to distinguish the species and the first author have studied specimens with longer flagellomeres and the nervullus broken in the lower third. Aubert & Shaumar (1978, p. 16) also noted that the shape of the temples and flagellomeres are more variable than assumed in the original description. However, the shape of the temples and face and the different features of the antennae supports the existence of two valid, but morphologically very similar species. The treatment of Enicospilus nervellator and E. perlatus in Gadallah et al. (2017) is confusing. In the key to species both E. nervellator and E. perlatus key out under couplet 3b “Mesosoma uniformly coloured”, despite both nominate species having extensive pale markings on the mesosoma, which is also displayed by the depicted specimen of E. nervellator (p. 14, Fig. 4A ). In couplet 17, E. nervellator is distinguished from E. perlatus by the short mid tibial spurs and the weakly sclerotized and elongate central alar sclerite, which both are features clearly evident in both species. Two specimens of E. perlatus collected in Jordan (OÖLM) were barcoded and they form a mixed cluster in BOLD with two specimens of E. nervellator from Saudi Arabia ( Gadallah et al. 2017) and one specimen of E. perlatus ssp. hebraicator Aubert from Spain. This indicates that E. nervellator indeed is a junior synonym of E. perlatus , but preferably, additional markers should be analysed before any definitive conclusion will be made.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Enicospilus apocalypticus Johansson sp. nov. holotype ♀ (HMIM). A) Habitus, lateral view; B) head, anterior view; C) head, dorsal view; D) apical flagellomeres; E) alar sclerites; F) hind tarsal claws; G) propodeum, dorsal view. Photos: Niklas Johansson.