Microplitis coactus (Lundbeck, 1896)

Hoecherl, Amelie, Shaw, Mark R., Boudreault, Caroline, Rabl, Dominik, Haszprunar, Gerhard, Raupach, Michael J., Schmidt, Stefan, Baranov, Viktor & Fernandez-Triana, Jose, 2024, Scratching the tip of the iceberg: integrative taxonomy reveals 30 new species records of Microgastrinae (Braconidae) parasitoid wasps for Germany, including new Holarctic distributions, ZooKeys 1188, pp. 305-386 : 305

Microplitis coactus (Lundbeck, 1896)

Material examined.

Canada: Newfoundland and Labrador: Saglek, Torngat Mountains NP, Base Camp south of park, 58.451, -62.798, 5 m, 01.viii.2014, leg. D. Whitaker, BIOUG18647-F03 ; Nunavut: Ellesmere Island, Hazen Camp , 81.816667, -71.300000, [date unknown, leg. unknown], CNC497575 ; Germany: Bavaria: Atzmannsberg, Hessenreuther and Atzmannsberger Forst , 49.825, 11.963, 550 m, Malaise trap, 11.vii.2019, leg. J. Müller, ZSM-HYM-42384-B08; St. Oswald , National Park Bayerischer Wald, 48.9509, 13.422, 842 m, Malaise trap, 20.vi.2012, leg. G. Sellmayer, BIOUG05949-B01 .

Geographical distribution.

NEA, PAL.

NEA- Canada (NL*, NU), Greenland; PAL- Germany*, Iceland.

Molecular data.

BIN: BOLD:ACA4555.

Host information.

Host of type unknown; also Noctuidae .

Notes.

German specimens were identified by comparison with many specimens at the CNC (see Figs 38 , 39 ) and by checking the keys and information in Papp (1984b) and van Achterberg (2006) and the original description ( Lundbeck 1896). The associated host information is taken from the original description of the species ( Lundbeck 1896, 244) which stated that (loose translation from Danish follows): "there were nine specimens from earlier dates without a specific locality, all females; according to the inscription, they hatched from a Noctua species [this would refer just to a noctuid = Noctuidae at that time]. [...] The wasp cocoons seem to form a hollow ball and were found under rocks in several places in both northern and southern Greenland". This is the first record of the species outside the Nearctic and Iceland. The sequences from Germany match well (0.31% p-distance) with the sequences from Greenland available in BOLD, and the corresponding BIN is fairly cohesive (average of 0.58% of bp difference within BIN and 0.96% max. p-distance within the BIN) and comparatively very well differentiated from any other BIN currently in BOLD (nearest BIN is at 3.57% p-distance), therefore confirming also from a molecular perspective the presence of this species in Europe. This species is illustrated in Figs 38 , 39 .

Figures

Figure 38. Microplitis coactus (Lundbeck, 1896), female (ZSM-HYM- 42384 - B 08) A lateral view B dorsal view C mesosoma D metasoma E wing. Length of the specimen: 2.6 mm.

Figure 39. Microplitis coactus (Lundbeck, 1896), female (CNC 497575) A lateral view B forewing C mesosoma D metasoma E head frontal view.