Belyta Jurine, 1807

Quadros, Alex Leite & Brandão, Carlos Roberto F., 2017, Genera of Belytinae (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae) recorded in the Atlantic Dense Ombrophilous Forest from Paraíba to Santa Catarina, Brazil, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo) 57 (6), pp. 57-91 : 62-63

Belyta Jurine, 1807

( Figs. 4 E-F, 6, 7, 12B, 15D-E, 23C)

Total of specimens found: 285 (158 females and 127 males) in 18 morphospecies.

Diagnosis: Small (1.8 mm) to large (7 mm) specimens; antenna 15-segmented in females, 14-segmented in males; the form of female antenna varies, with flagellar segments gradually enlarged towards the apex, filiform or wider at the middle; mandibles short (mandible length shorter than the distance between the ventrolateral margins of the head, near the bases of the mandibles), asymmetrical, with wide base and wide inner tooth inverted backwards ( Figs. 6A , 12B ); subantennal furrows percurrent, confluent with subantennal rugosity; antennal sockets more or less projected anterodorsally. Body slender, a bit depressed or totally flattened in lateral view, female’s mesosoma more flattened than of male’s ( Figs. 6C, 6E ); pronotum more or less cervicoid subdivided into pronotal neck and pronotal collar ( Fig. 7 ); pronotal shoulder rounded ( Fig. 7A ) or angular ( Fig. 7B ). Forewing with closed ( Fig. 4E ) or open ( Fig. 4F ) radial cell; marginal vein shorter than parastigma ( Figs. 4 E-F).

Material examined: BRAZIL: Santa Catarina: São Bento do Sul, CEPA Rugendas , 26°19’25.6”S, 49°18’26.5”W, 13-16.x.2001, A.M. Penteado- Dias e eq. col., 2 ♀♀ ; São Francisco do Sul, CEPA Vila da Glória , 26°13’40.0”S, 48°40’49.1”W, 14-17.x.2001 (11), 17-20.x.2001 (3), 17.x.2001 (2), A.M. Penteado-Dias e eq. col., 11 ♀♀ / 5 ♂♂ ; São Paulo: Base Barra Grande, Parque Estadual de Intervales , 24°18’14.4”S, 48°21’50.4”W, 13-16. xii.2000 (4), 10-13.xii.2000 (1), 11-14.xii.2000 (2), 14-17.xii.2000 (3), 12.xii.2000 (1), 13.xii.2000 (3), 15.xii.2000 (1), M. T. Tavares e eq. col., 9 ♀♀ / 6 ♂♂ ; Ubatuba, Parque Estadual Serra do Mar , 23°21’43”S, 44°49’22”W, 21.i.2002 (30), 22.i.2002 (16), 23.i.2002 (2), 24.i.2002 (5), N.W. Perioto e eq. col., 34♀♀ / 19♂♂ ; Peruíbe, Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins , 24°31’06”S, 47°12’06”W, 05.v.2002, M. T. Tavares e eq. col., 1 ♀ ; Rio de Janeiro: Nova Iguaçu, Reserva Biológica do Tinguá , 22°34’32”S, 43°26’09”W, 06-09. iii.2002 (1), 05-08.iii.2002 (5), 08-11.iii.2002 (14), 09-12.iii.2002 (30), 07.iii.2002 (5), 08.iii.2002 (3), S. T. P. Amarante e eq. col., 30 ♀♀ / 28 ♂♂ ; Santa Maria Madalena, Parque Estadual do Desengano , 21°59’03.9”S, 41°57’08.4”W, 16-19.iv.2002 (14), 19-22.iv.2002 (14), 21.iv.2002 (2), A.M. Penteado- Dias e eq. col., 13 ♀♀ / 17 ♂♂ ; Bahia: Ilhéus , Mata Esperança , 14°46’S / 39°04’W, 15-18.v.2002 (1), 18-21.v.2002 (6), 17.v.2002 (3), A.M. Penteado- Dias e eq. col., 8 ♀♀ / 2 ♂♂ ; Mata de São João, Reserva de Sapiranga , 12°33’42.1”S, 38°02’43.8”W, 19-22.vii.2001 (3), 22-25.vii.2001 (3), 20-23. vii.2001 (3), 21.vii.2001 (2), 24.vii.2001 (4), M. T. Tavares e eq. col., 9 ♀♀ / 6 ♂♂ ; Porto Seguro, Estação Ecológica Pau Brasil , 16°22’17.7”S, 39°10’55.8”W, 16.v.2002 (1), 17.v.2002 (1), 18.v.2002 (3), 20.v.2002 (1), 21.v.2002 (15), C.O. Azevedo e eq. col., 7 ♀♀ / 14 ♂♂ ; Sergipe: Santa Luzia do Itanhy, Reserva Ecológica do Castro , 11°22’37.9”S, 37°25’01.8”W, 01-04.viii.2001 (20), 30.vii-02.viii.2001 (5), 02-05. viii.2001 (20), 01.viii.2001 (9), M. T. Tavares e eq. col., 25 ♀♀ / 29 ♂♂ ; Alagoas: Quebrangulo, Reserva Biológica Pedra Talhada , 09°18’57.6”S, 36°27’57.6”W, 08-11.ix.2002 (7), 11-14.ix.2002 (1), 11.ix.2002 (1), A.M. Penteado-Dias e eq. col., 8 ♀♀ / 1 ♂ ; Pernambuco: Recife, Parque dos Dois Irmãos , 08°03’14”S, 34°52’52”W, 18-21.vii.2002, S. T. P. Amarante e eq. col., 1 ♀. A.L. Quadros det.

Remarks: The genus was established for Belyta bicolor Jurine, 1807 , by monotypy. Kieffer’s (1916) concept of Belyta is based on the flattened mesosoma. All species classified by Kieffer under Belyta (except for one) display the diagnostic characters accepted for the genus, still a reliable diagnostic character for Belyta , but only for females; in males the mesosoma is generally convex in side view. The flattened female body might represent an adaptation for facultative terrestrial habits (search for hosts), contrary to the predominantly free-living activities of males. Sexual dimorphism of Belyta species had not been fully appreciated, and conspecific males and females were described as different species, sometimes being even assigned to different genera ( Pantoclis, Xenotoma , Aclista ) ( Macek, 1996). There are 91 described species of Belyta in the world ( Johnson, 1992), being Belyta rufipes Kieffer, 1906 the only species recorded in the Neotropics (San Marcos, Nicaragua) ( Kieffer, 1906) thus far; Hanson & Gauld (2006) estimated some twenty species in this region. Nixon’s (1957) identification key is reliable to separate European species, although with greater focus on the British fauna, and suggests how a thorough re-evaluation of previously described species is needed. Subsequently, keys were published for the Finland ( Hellen, 1964), Switzerland ( Wall, 1967), European part of USSR ( Kozlov, 1978) and SW-Germany ( Wall, 1993) species. Macek (1996) revised and keyed out the 16 European Belyta species he recognized as valid.

Distribution: Belyta is cosmopolite ( Hanson & Gauld, 2006). In the Atlantic Forest Belyta species have been recorded from Santa Catarina to Pernambuco ( Fig. 23C ).

Biology: Most species are polyvoltine parasitoids of Mycetophilidae ( Hanson & Gauld, 2006) . Some species may show affinity to a specific plant formation ( Macek, 1996).

Figures

FIGURE 4: Forewing of six Belytinae spp. (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae) from the Biota project (2000-2002): (A) female forewing of Scorpioteleia collected in Parque Estadual Serra do Mar, SP; (B) female forewing of Cinetus collected in CEPA Rugendas, SC; (C) female forewing of Scorpioteleia collected in Parque Estadual de Intervales, SP; (D) female forewing of Cinetus collected in Parque Estadual de Intervales, SP; (E) female of Belyta collected in Estação Ecológica Pau Brasil, BA; (F) male forewing of Belyta collected in Reserva Biológica do Tinguá, RJ.

FIGURE 6: Belyta sp. (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae, Belytinae) from Reserva Biológica do Tinguá, RJ (Biota project 2000-2002): (A) head of male, frontal view; (B) habitus of male, lateral view; (C) mesosoma of female, lateral view; (D) mesosoma of male, dorsal view; (E) mesosoma of male, lateral view.

FIGURE 7: Mesoscutum and pronotum of two Belyta spp. (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae, Belytinae) from the Biota project (2000-2002): (A) male from Mata da Esperança, BA (arrow indicates the rounded pronotal shoulder); (B) male from Parque Estadual do Desengano, RJ (arrow indicates the angular pronotal shoulder).

FIGURE 12: Head in frontal view of three different Belytinae spp. (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae) from Biota project (2000-2002): (A) female of Aclista collected in Parque Estadual de Intervales, SP; (B) female of Belyta collected in Reserva Biológica do Tinguá, RJ; (C) female of Cinetus collected in CEPA Rugendas, SC.

FIGURE 23: Distribution of Belytinae genera (Hymenoptera, Diapriidae) in the Atlantic Forest collected by the Biota project (2000-2002), at a scale of 1:1000: (A) Camptopsilus; (B) Lyteba; (C) Belyta.