Anagyrus callidus Triapitsyn, Andreason & Perring, 2019

Triapitsyn, Serguei V., Andreason, Sharon A., Dominguez, Chrysalyn & Perring, Thomas M., 2019, On the origin of Anagyrus callidus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), a parasitoid of pink hibiscus mealybug Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), Zootaxa 4671 (2), pp. 283-289 : 284-286

Anagyrus callidus Triapitsyn, Andreason & Perring, 2019

( Figs 1, 3–5 )

Anagyrus callidus Triapitsyn, Andreason & Perring in Andreason et al. 2019: 68–71 . Type locality: Coachella Valley (various locations), Riverside County, California, USA.

Material examined. 1 female ( Fig. 4 ) and 1 male ( Fig. 5 ), both on points [ USNM], labeled as follows: 1. “ TAI- WAN: Ping Tung Univ. coll. VI.6 -11.2000, ex Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) on Hibiscus sp. EBCL ( Taiwan) -2000-2 BIRL-2000-Id # 9”; 2. “ Anagyrus kamali (Moursi) det. M.E. Schauff 2000”. Also the specimens mentioned in “Materials and methods” above in vials 1 and 3 [ FSCA] .

Brief diagnosis. Female with a combination of the following key features: first funicle segment of antenna (F1) entirely black and almost always with 2 multiporous plate sensilla, ratio of F1 length to pedicel length 0.61–0.76, and ratio of second funicle segment (F2) length to F1 length 0.97–1.06; minimum width of frontovertex 0.27–0.33× head width; marginal setae on fore wing inconspicuous or relatively short (the longest seta at most 21 µm). Male antenna ( Fig. 1 ) with a dorsoapical dark area on scape. See Andreason et al. (2019) for the detailed diagnosis and description of both sexes of this species.

Comments on the origin. Vial 1 from FSCA labeled as “ Anagyrus kamali from Taiwan ” and vial 3 labeled as “ Anagyrus kamali from Egypt Rear in California” contained wasps which were not A. kamali because the scape of the male antenna ( Fig. 1 ) lacked a median dark band characteristic of that species ( Figs 2 , 6 ). Rather, these speci- mens had a dorsoapical dark area on the scape characteristic of A. callidus and some other species of the Anagyrus pseudococci species complex, such as A. dactylopii (Howard) (also native to the Oriental region), A. pseudococci (Girault) , and A. vladimiri Triapitsyn ( Andreason et al. 2019).

Discovery of these two specimens in USNM confirms southern Taiwan to be the origin of A. callidus introduced to the New World, as they undoubtedly are vouchers of the originators of the colony in Puerto Rico, represented by the voucher specimens in vial 1 from FSCA. They were collected June 6–11, 2000 at the National Pingtung University in Neipu Township, Pingtung County, Taiwan, by the USDA, ARS European Biological Control Laboratory, Montferrier-sur-Lez, Hérault, France (EBCL) scientist(s) and then apparently had gone through the USDA, ARS Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit quarantine laboratory (BIRL) in Newark, Delaware, USA before being shipped to the rearing facility in Puerto Rico (either directly or via Saint Thomas Island, U.S. Virgin Islands USDA-supported insectary), and from there to Florida for release in Broward County on August 6, 2002. Morphologically, females from these vials ( Fig. 3 ) and the female from Pingtung County, Taiwan in USNM ( Fig. 4 ) fully fit the original description of A. callidus and key to it in Andreason et al. (2019).

DNA sequences and results of genetic analyses. Sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene and the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) obtained for females of vial 1 ( Taiwan origin; vouchers FSCA00033086 and FSCA00033087) matched at 99–100% (megablast algorithm; blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi) with sequences deposited in GenBank® (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank) for A. callidus (Accession numbers MK 012234 – MK 012237 and MK025982 – MK025985 , respectively; Andreason et al. 2019). COI and ITS1 sequences were not obtained for vial 3 ( Egypt); however, the D2 domain of the 28S (28S-D2) ribosomal RNA gene of both female (voucher FSCA00033075) and male (voucher FSCA00033088) specimens was sequenced and matched deposited A. callidus sequences at 100% ( MK025921 – MK025924 ). Compared to A. kamali sequences, these sequences matched at only 91-92% for the COI gene fragment, 93–94% for the 28S-D2 fragment, and no full-length matches to A. kamali were obtained for ITS1. Therefore, genetic evidence confirmed the identities of these specimens as A. callidus and not A. kamali . All sequences were deposited in GenBank ( MK388536 –MK38853 and MK393193 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Anagyrus spp.: 1, A. callidus, base of male antenna (from colony in Puerto Rico of Taiwan origin); 2, A. kamali, base of male antenna (Hunghu Farm, Guangdong, China); 3, A. callidus, habitus of female in lateral view prior to DNA extrac- tion (from colony in Puerto Rico of Taiwan origin).

FIGURES 4–6. Anagyrus spp.: 4–5, A. callidus, habitus of female and male in dorsolateral view, respectively (Pingtung County, Taiwan); 6, A. kamali, habitus of male paratype in dorsal view (image courtesy of M.W. Gates).