Toechorychus Townes, 1946

Tedesco, Anazélia M. & Aguiar, Alexandre P., 2013, <strong> Phylogeny and Revision of <em> Toechorychus </ em> Townes (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae), with descriptions of thirty-five new species </ strong>, Zootaxa 3633 (1), pp. 1-138 : 7-9

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.3633.1.1
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:60F0956C-A1F5-44CA-9D14-8C04343AD01F
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treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Toechorychus Townes
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Toechorychus Townes View in CoL View at ENA

( Figs 1 View FIGURE 1 and 2 View FIGURE 2 )

Toechorychus: Townes, 1946 View in CoL , 5: 29–63. Type species: Mesostenus abactus Cresson.

Diagnosis. All Toechorychus can be recognized by epicnemial carina usually not reaching more than 0.3 of distance to subtegular ridge ( Fig. 103 View FIGURES 97–104. 97–98 ); dorsal valve of ovipositor with subapical, V-shaped sulcus ( Fig. 45 View FIGURES 45–54. 45 ); ovipositor with subapical constriction ( Fig. 45 View FIGURES 45–54. 45 ); ovipositor sheath about 0.1 as long as hind tibia ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ); and dorsal margin of pronotum distinctly swollen (as in Fig. 47 View FIGURES 45–54. 45 ).

Redescription. Female. Fore wing length 3.93–8.20 mm (n=36). Body usually shiny, moderately stout.

Head ( Figs 55–84 View FIGURES 55–69 View FIGURES 70–84 ). Mandible 1.28–1.79 (n=38) as long as basal width, apex narrower than base, dorsal tooth distinctly longer than ventral tooth, usually basally wider than the base of ventral tooth. Palpi densely pilose. Malar space usually moderately large, 0.72–1.62 (n=38) length of basal width of mandible. Clypeus broad, 1.38–2.09 (n=38) as long as wide, in front view distinctly rectangular to almost triangular, apex usually entirely truncated to slightly but distinctly convex, dorsally often markedly convex; apicolateral corners not distinctly projected as triangular lobes; apical margin medially straight, concave, or slightly convex, without median teeth, usually sharp, lifted. Supraclypeal area sometimes with moderately stout, subrectangular medial protuberance; area between antennal foramens often with V- or U-shaped carinae. Antenna with 21–30 flagellomeres (n=38); flagellum usually slightly enlarged towards apex, sometimes markedly widened and flattened subapically; apical flagellomere often subcircular, sometimes flattened. Supra-antennal area ventrally slightly to distinctly concave, usually with faint median carina or with median elevation. Occipital carina ventrally always conspicuous, sharp, dorsally usually uniformly curved, sometimes dorsally very faint or completely absent, reaching hypostomal carina at, or far from mandible base. Occipital and hypostomal carinae ventrally from a regular carina to very wide.

Mesosoma ( Figs 85–104 View FIGURES 85–90 View FIGURES 91–96 View FIGURES 97–104. 97–98 ). Dorsal margin of pronotum swollen; epomia from absent to stout, usually restricted to space between posterior margin of collar and pronotal swelling. Mesoscutum always convex, subcircular to ovoid, always densely sculptured, usually corrugated at and laterally to impression of notaulus, lobes covered with fine to coarse punctures; notaulus long, reaching about 0.8 of mesoscutum length, moderately to deeply impressed, posterior apex always faintly impressed, usually U-shaped; sternaulus surface faintly to markedly corrugated. Epicnemial carina usually not reaching more than 0.3 distance to subtegular ridge, often curved backwards. Sternaulus intensely sinuous, often complete, but sometimes incomplete or medially shallow, sometimes interrupted, or faint at medial 0.5 to 0.9 (n=13), frequently entirely corrugated. Mesopleural groove always corrugated. Median portion of posterior transverse carina of mesothoracic venter short to moderately long, either straight or arched forwards or backwards, sometimes flanged. Hind margin of metanotum sometimes with teeth like projections. Transverse furrow at base of propodeum deep to very shallow, usually moderately narrow, but sometimes wide, width 0.05–1.45 (n=38) central length of anterior area of propodeum, surface smooth to markedly corrugated. Juxtacoxal carina absent to complete, usually represented only by very short ridges. Pleural carina absent to stout, occasionally irregular, fused to sculpture of propodeum and lower division of metapleuron. Fore tibia usually apparently apically compressed, partly because of faint medial swelling. Hind coxa generally globose. Hind tibia often with distinct, long bristles.

Propodeum ( Figs 125–162 View FIGURES 119–126. 119–114 View FIGURES 127–132 View FIGURES 133–138 View FIGURES 139–144 View FIGURES 145–150 View FIGURES 151–156 View FIGURES 157–162 ). Moderately stout, 0.96–1.33 (n=38) medially as long as wide, almost always entirely sculptured. Anterior margin with or without two lateral teeth, which may be faint or blunt; medially concave, or with two conspicuous lateral concavities, as in T. albimaculatus . Spiracle usually rounded, sometimes slightly elliptic. Anterior transverse carina absent to complete, faint to stout, either straight or slightly arched forwards or backwards, sometimes medially interrupted or elevated. Posterior area of propodeum with varied sculpture, from smooth to markedly closely strigate. Posterior transverse carina either completely absent or distinct as a pair of apophyses, conical swellings, rounded tubercles, or still as faint to moderately stout sublateral crests. Toechorychus guarapuavus sp. nov. ( Fig. 135 View FIGURES 133–138 ) with posterior transverse carina almost complete, centrally arched, laterally with low swelling.

Wings ( Figs 105–124 View FIGURE 105–118 View FIGURES 119–126. 119–114 ). Hyaline. Fore wing vein 1-Rs+M with bulla placed basally or medially; ramellus absent (except distinct in T. callangus sp. nov.); crossvein 1cu-a arising far from or near vein 1M+Rs; vein 2Cu distinctly longer than crossvein 2cu-a; bulla at crossvein 2m-cu moderately short, placed medially to posteriorly; cell 1+2Rs small to medium sized, rectangular to pentagonal, sometimes indistinct; crossvein 3r-m at least partly spectral or rarely not differentiated; when present, crossveins 2r-m and 3r-m parallel, subparallel, or markedly convergent, veins 2r-m shorter, longer, or about same size of 3r-m; vein 4Rs shorter, longer, or about same size of vein 4M. Hind wing vein M+Cu apically markedly convex; vein 1Cu shorter to longer than crossvein 1cu-a; crossvein 1r-m with bulla at ventral 0.3; veins 1-Rs and 2-Rs distinctly angled, cell R1 trapezoidal; apical 0.5 of vein Cub almost always distinctly convex; vein 2-1A reaching at least 0.50 of distance to wing margin.

Metasoma ( Figs 163–199 View FIGURES 163–174 View FIGURES 175–186 View FIGURES 187–199 ). T1 short to moderately long, apex distinctly wider than base, petiole from approximately cylindric to moderately compressed, with or without basolateral tooth, often with dorsal median depression posteriorly to spiracle, sometimes also with lateral and posterior median depressions; spiracle of T1 near midlength or slightly beyond, placed at apical 0.50–0.65 (n=43), in dorsal view slightly to distinctly prominent; median dorsal carina completely absent; dorsolateral carina absent, sometimes basally faint, apparently separating dorsal and lateral portions; ventrolateral carina usually completely absent. T2–8 usually coriarious. T2 usually short, often as long as wide, thyridium slightly to distinctly longer than wide, rarely about as wide as high; T7–8 usually slightly to distinctly shorter than T5–6. Ovipositor always short, reaching only apex of abdomen or nearly so, slender to moderately stout, almost always downcurved, rarely straight, sometimes scarcely punctate, basally cylindrical, subapically slightly to distinctly depressed, with subapical circular constriction, dorsal valve with subapical V-shaped sulcus; apex of ovipositor ending in long and narrow point, often without nodus or notch; dorsal valve without teeth; ventral valve apically with 4–8 faint to distinct teeth, or teeth absent.

Color. Orbital band generally complete and very large. Supra-antennal area almost always black or dark brown. Pronotum often with yellow marks laterally along collar and dorsal margin. Mesoscutum medially, on central lobe, often with subcircular to lanceolate yellow spot. Scutellum usually yellow, rarely concolorous with mesoscutum. Subalar ridge, hypoepimeron, scrobe, and sternaulus often marked in different colors than rest of mesopleuron. Mesosoma usually striped, rarely entirely brown or orange. Propodeum typically with two longitudinal yellow stripes, intercalated with black or dark brown.

Male. Very similar to female. Secondary sexual differences as typically observed for Cryptini : male body size almost always smaller than females; antenna with more flagellomeres than in female; propodeal apophyses, conical swellings, and sublateral crests, when present, usually fainter than in female, but always distinct nonetheless; propodeal sculpture significantly more confusedly arranged than in female. Male color patterns are usually also very similar to those of females, except white band of flagellum sometimes present only dorsally, and yellow marks at propodeum often smaller.

Variability. As can be easily noticed in the general description above, there is an unusually wide array of variation within Toechorychus (see also Discussion, below). Specimens of a given species, however, are generally quite similar and uniform, the major source of morphological variation being mostly limited to body color and few structural features highly variable, notably the sculpture of scuto-scutellar groove, varying from smooth to corrugated, and the extension of the scutellar carina. Species of Toechorychus can have also no considerable intraspecific variation in color patterns, even in spite of the sometimes moderately wide distribution range (e.g. T. stramineus ). The major exception is T. cassunungae , with a moderately range of differences in tonality (from pale yellow to dark brown, for example), extension of spots, and presence/absence of dark marks. In this species, the lanceolate mark at the mesoscutum can be reduced or almost indistinct or is sometimes medially interrupted. These color variations, however, seem to be of little or no importance at the species level.

Biology. Jeanne (1979) cites a unidentified Toechorychus sp. as parasitoid of Mischocyttarus ( Vespidae , Polistinae ). Bueno and Fraga (1988) also report a unidentified Toechorychus sp. parasitizing the pupae of Eueides isabella dianasa (Cramer) ( Lepidoptera , Nymphalidae , Heliconiini ) collected in passion fruit ( Passiflora edulis Sims , Passifloraceae ) in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mischocyttarus cerberus Ducke ( Vespidae , Polistinae ) was recorded as a host of a unidentified Toechorychus sp. by Togni and Giannotti (2006). In addition to these, the present study records three different Toechorychus spp. as parasitoids of Mischocyttarus drewseni (Saussure) new record, M. basimacula (Cameron) new record, and M. collarellus Richards ( Vespidae , Polistinae ) new record.

Soares et al. (2006) and Guimarães (2008) reared a supposed Pachysomoides Strand from Mischocyttarus cassununga (von Ihering) , but the pictures provided by those authors indicate that the parasitoid is actually a Toechorychus sp. The following combination of features, typical for Toechorychus , is clear from the respective images: T1 slender, subrectangular in dorsal view (vs. T1 stout, subtriangular in Pachysomoides ), ovipositor very short, only reaching T8 apex or nearly so (vs. ovipositor of moderate length, reaching well beyond metasoma apex), areolet small, approximately as high as pterostigma (vs. areolet medium sized to large, higher than pterostigma). More variable differential features include color patterns, as mesoscutum with yellow longitudinal mark at central lobe (vs. mesoscutum with yellow longitudinal marks at lateral lobes) and posterior transverse carina of propodeum absent between crests or apophyses (vs. conspicuous and arched forwards). Voucher specimens from Soares et al. (2006) are deposited in the insect collection of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, São Paulo, but could not be examined.

Distribution. Toechorychus is recorded from most continental countries of the Neotropical region, except only Belize, El Salvador, Chile, and Uruguay ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ). Even so, specimens of Toechorychus are rarely encountered (see Rarity, in Discussion, below).