Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838

Perry, Ryan K. & Heraty, John M., 2019, A Tale of Two Setae: How Morphology and ITS 2 Help Delimit a Cryptic Species Complex in Eulophidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), Insect Systematics and Diversity (AIFB) 3 (5), No. 1, pp. 1-23 : 2

Cirrospilus vittatus Walker, 1838

Cirrospilus vittatus has been described as a Holarctic ectoparasite of lepidopteran, dipteran, coleopteran, and hymenopteran leaf miner larvae (Ratzeburg 1852, Dowden 1941, Sundby 1957, Bouček and Askew 1968; Gordh 1978, Kamijo 1987, Noyes 2018). It is also known to be parasitic on gall makers ( Askew 1984) and sawfly eggs (Kirkland and Paramonov 1962, Cingovski 1965, Bouček and Askew 1968; Huber and Moreau 2003), and hyperparasitic on hymenopteran species attacking leaf miners ( Dowden 1941, Bouček 1959, Bouček and Askew 1968). This species is placed within the vittatus group of Cirrospilus that was defined by Askew (1984) using the following characters: two pairs of equally long setae on the mesoscutellum; fore wing with the cubital vein setae strongly curved to meet the basal vein setae; fore wing speculum narrow and linear; mesosoma yellow with dark longitudinal stripes (except in C. singa Walker and C. curvineurus Askew ), and antenna inserted at or below the lower edge of the compound eyes.

Cirrospilus vittatus has been documented as having extreme color variation, with specimens either completely yellow, completely metallic dark green, or with varying yellow and dark metallic patterns on the body. Recent studies have considered this as a single highly polymorphic species ( Bouček 1959, Askew 1984, Huber and Moreau 2003). In contrast, very slight differences in body banding patterns have been used to delineate species within Zagrammosoma ( Gordh 1978, De Santis 1983). Whether extreme or limited color variation within species in this tribe is a general pattern or restricted to only a few species greatly impacts species definitions across Cirrospilini , especially when species limits cannot be molecularly verified.

While examining specimens of C. vittatus from California, we found that the color variation of species was relatively discrete, with specimens assignable to distinct morphospecies based on their overall body color: mainly dark metallic or mainly yellow. This, coupled with the high number of synonymies, incited our suspicions concerning the validity of the species as currently delineated. Further prompting the study, C. vittatus may also prove an economically important biological control agent, as it parasitizes leaf miners on apple ( Eveleens and Evenhuis 1968, Askew 1984), alfalfa (Lotfalizadeh et al. 2015), watermelons, tomatoes ( Alba 2014), eggplants ( Çikman 2006), citrus (Schauff et al. 1998, Urbaneja 2002), roses, and chrysanthemums ( Askew 1984).

This study aims to help resolve the problems associated with color and morphological variation within a species complex of economically important parasitic wasps by utilizing integrative methods for efficient and precise species delimitation. In addition, the monophyly of the vittatus group and Cirrospilus was investigated, and the vitattus group is proposed as a new genus.