Szelenyiopria pampeana (Loiácono) Loiacono, 2009

Loiácono, Marta S. & Margaría, Cecilia B., 2009, A note on Szelenyiopria pampeana (Loiácono) n. comb., parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae) attacking the fungus growing ant, Acromyrmex lobicornis Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini) in La Pampa, Argentina, Zootaxa 2105, pp. 63-65 : 63-65

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.274843

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6227027

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0399878C-FFF6-A538-6BE4-5E96FB4FFCB8

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Szelenyiopria pampeana (Loiácono)
status

comb. nov.

Szelenyiopria pampeana (Loiácono) n. comb.

Gymnopria pampeana Loiácono in Loiácono et al. 2000: 10.

Remarks: Masner and García (2002) considered Gymnopria Loiácono as junior synonym of Szelenyiopria Fabritius by comparison with material type-species. Here, S. pampeana is considered as a new combination. Szelenyiopria pampeana (Loiácono) is similar to S. lucens (Loiácono) but differs by the coriaceous sculpture of head and mesosoma; scarcely pilosity of cheeks and anterior margin of prothorax; and wider first segment of antennal club.

Among the Diapriinae the Diapriini is the only tribe that includes truely symphilic species, some of them remarkably adapted morphologically to life with ants; these adaptations include extensive mimicry of the host ants which may include convergences in sculpture, pilosity, color behavior, and biology. Members of the genus Szelenyiopria share no specialized structures known from other myrmecophilic diapriini ; but there is evidence of setae with truncate apices which were considered by Masner and García (2002) to be specialized structures, possibly as outlets for chemical substances ( Fig. 2 a View FIGURE 2. a ).

Distribution: Argentina: La Pampa: Santa Rosa (36º62’ S, 34º 28’ W) and La Reforma (37º 55’, S 66º 23’W).

Biology: Szelenyopria pampeana is known as a koinobiont and gregarious endoparasitoids of larvae of late instars of Acromyrmex lobicornis Emery ( Loiácono et al. 2000) .

Parasitized larvae of A. lobicornis were easily recognized by the dark coloration of the cuticle caused by the developing wasps ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 b). All parasitized larvae belong to the reproductive forms of the ants, which can be recognized by the peculiar “ancoriforme” pilosity ( Fig. 2 View FIGURE 2. a b) (Covello de Zolessi and González 1974). In this study, we verified that S. pampeana attacks both nests of A. lobicornis in two locations of La Pampa province; all recovered wasps were females ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 e), and solitary parasitism was predominant. From the 33 ant larvae parasitized at La Reforma, 26 showed solitary parasitism ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 c) and five larvae were gregariously parasitized with up to three diapriids per larva ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 a, b). These results are not similar that those of Loiácono et al. 2000 for S. pampeana : the authors recovered in some cases, both sexes from a single host. Further, the number of wasps per larva ranged from 1 to 22; gregarism was predominant and the coexistence of two diapriid species of different genera was found ( S. pampeana and Trichopria formicans Loiácono ). Loiácono et al. (2000) colected 1560 wasps (adults and inmatures) from 430 parasitized larvae from three partial colonies of A. lobicornis , which shows how aggressive these wasps can be in attacking the ants. Fernández-Marín et al (2006) suggest that these minute wasps present excellent opportunities to explore the hypothesis that parasitoid wasps regulate host population density and community structure both through indirect and direct effects.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Hymenoptera

Family

Diapriidae

Genus

Szelenyiopria

Loc

Szelenyiopria pampeana (Loiácono)

Loiácono, Marta S. & Margaría, Cecilia B. 2009
2009
Loc

Gymnopria pampeana Loiácono

Loiacono 2000: 10
2000
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