Therophilus Wesmael, 1837

Stevens, Nicholas B., Austin, Andrew D. & Jennings, John T., 2011, Diversity, distribution and taxonomy of the Australian agathidine genera Camptothlipsis Enderlein, Lytopylus Foerster and Therophilus Wesmael (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Agathidinae), Zootaxa 2887 (1), pp. 1-49 : 7-8

Therophilus Wesmael, 1837 .

Therophilus Wesmael, 1837: 15 ; Type species: Microdus (Therophilus) conspicuous Wesmael, 1837 , by subsequent designation Viereck, 1914; Shenefelt, 1970b: 313 [catalogue]; Chou and Sharkey, 1989: 151 [synonym of Bassus ]; Sharkey et al., 2009: 47 [elevated generic status]; Stevens et al. 2010: 19 [key, diagnosis]; Achterberg & Long, 2010: 93 [key, descriptions].

Orgiloneura Ashmead, 1900: 355 ; Type species: Orgiloneura antipoda Ashmead, 1900 , by monotypy [examined]; Parrott, 1953: 198 [catalogue]; Shenefelt, 1970a: 251 [catalogue]; Sharkey et al., 2009: 47 [synonym].

Agathiella Szépligeti, 1902: 73 ; Type species: Agathiella pedunculata Szépligeti, 1902 , by monotypy [examined]; Turner, 1918a, 108 [key, descriptions]; Parrott, 1953: 198 [catalogue]; Shenefelt, 1970b: 312 [synonym of Agathis ]; Chou & Sharkey, 1989: 151 [synonym of Bassus ]; Sharkey et al., 2009: 47 [synonym].

Aerophiliodes Strand, 1911 : Type species: Aerophiliodes testaceator Strand, 1911 , by monotypy; Shenefelt, 1970b: 308 [catalogue]; Sharkey, 1992: 441 [in tribe Microdini ]; Sharkey et al., 2009: 47 [synonym].

Comments. As discussed above, Sharkey et al. (2009) brought Therophilus out of synonymy as part of a reclassification of the large polyphyletic genus Bassus s.l. ( Sharkey et al. 2006). Stevens et al. (2010) discussed the implications of this in relation to the Australian fauna. Therophilus is undoubtedly polyphyletic and additional work, including developing a comprehensive sequence data set, is required to further define and resolve the genus.

Distribution and species richness. Therophilus is by far the largest and most widespread agathidine genus in Australia. The continent’s fauna comprises approximately 150 species, of which only 17 have been described prior to this study. They are found in a wide variety of environments, and are recorded from all biogeographic regions ( Fig. 1 ). With few exceptions it is the only genus to occur in the southern, more temperate regions of the continent, including Tasmania. Of the large number of species recognised as part of this study, 68% are confined to a single biogeographic region, with the highest proportion of endemism occurring in the Kosciuskan (60%) and Tasmanian regions (60%) ( Fig. 1 ; Table 1). The greatest species richness occurs along the eastern margin of the continent. However, this region is also the most intensively collected relative to other areas of Australia. Interestingly, the Kosciuskan region shares the greatest number of species with the south-western region. The lowest number of species occur in the Tasmanian, Eyrean and Timorian regions, although these areas are the poorest surveyed.

Hosts. Host data available for Australian species of Therophilus are listed in Table 2. Importantly, both T. rugosus and T. unimaculatus have been reared from the native legume pest, Etiella behrii Zeller (Pyralidae) ( Austin et al. 1993) (as undescribed Bassus species ), and the polyphagous Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (Tortricidae) ( Paull and Austin 2006) (as undescribed Bassus species ). Both lepidopteran species feed on a large range of native and horticultural plant species, and have been accidentally introduced into other countries; E. behrii into Indonesia ( Wakamura et al. 1999) and E. postvittana into New Zealand, New Caledonia, Hawaii, the western United States of America and the United Kingdom ( Bradley 1956; Geier and Briese 1980; Danthanarayana 1983; Varela et al. 2008), thus raising the prospect of employing these species as control agents.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution patterns of Therophilus species in Australia. Number of Therophilus species found in a particular biogeographic region with number of endemic species in parenthesis. Biogeographic region nomenclature adapted from Heatwole (1987).