Omalus Panzer, 1801

Wei, Na-sen, Rosa, Paolo, Liu, Jing-xian & Xu, Zai-fu, 2014, The genus Omalus Panzer, 1801 (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae) from China, with descriptions of four new species, ZooKeys 407, pp. 29-54 : 30-31

Genus Omalus Panzer, 1801

Omalus Panzer, 1801: 13. Type species: Chrysis aenea Fabricius, 1787. Bohart and Campos 1960: 235 (partim, Omalus s. s.); Bohart and Kimsey 1982: 36 (partim, Omalus s. s.); Kimsey and Bohart 1991: 243; Rosa 2005: 8; 2006: 100.

Diagnosis.

This genus is close to Holophris Mocsary, 1890, Philoctetes Abeille, 1879, and Pseudomalus Ashmead, 1902, but can be distinguish by mesoscutum impunctate and transpleural carina reaching the apex of propodeal angle. Other diagnostic characteristics are: scapal basin deep, smooth and glabrous, rarely with weak striae; malar space equal to or longer than 1 MOD, rarely less than 1 MOD, and horizontally bisected by the genal carina; mandibles tridentate; pronotum impunctate medially or nearly so; mesopleuron with scrobal sulcus horizontally, and with a single carina dorsally; transpleural carina reaching the apex of propodeal angle; scutellum with two flattened foveae on anterior margin; metanotum round or hemispherical; tarsal claw with three to six teeth; apex of T-III usually with small medial notch, rarely absent.

Biology.

Species of Omalus have been reported as parasitoids of some crabronid wasps ( Mocsáry 1889; Tsuneki 1952; Krombein 1963, 1967; Parker and Bohart 1966; Nozaka 1969; Bohart and Kimsey 1982; Tormos et al. 1996; Rosa 2006).

Distribution.

Omalus occurs in all zoogeographic regions, except Australia. There are 26 valid Omalus species, of which 19 are found in the Palaearctic, one in both the Holarctic and the Oriental, three in the Nearctic, two in the Afrotropical, and one in the Neotropical Regions.

Key to the Chinese species of the genus Omalus Panzer