Paradelius De Saeger, 1942

Belokobylskij, Sergey A., Ku, Deokseo & Chen, Xue-xin, 2024, Review of the genus Paradelius De Saeger, 1942 of East Asia (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Cheloninae, Adeliini) with the description of a new species from South Korea, ZooKeys 1204, pp. 261-299 : 261-299

Genus Paradelius De Saeger, 1942

Paradelius De Saeger, 1942: 313; Belokobylskij 1988: 148; Whitfield 1988: 313; He et al. 2000: 682; Yu et al. 2016; Shimbori et al. 2019: 190.

Sculptomyriola Belokobylskij, 1988: 145 (type species: S. extremiorientalis Belokobylskij, 1988) (syn. nov.); He et al. 2000: 681; Yu et al. 2016; Shimbori et al. 2019: 154.

Sinadelius He & Chen in He et al. 2000: 681 (type species: S. guangxiensis He & Chen, 2000) (syn. nov.); Yu et al. 2016; Shimbori et al. 2019: 154.

Type species.

Paradelius ghesquierei De Saeger, 1942 , for primary designation and monotypy.

Notes.

A careful restudy of the type species of the genus Paradelius De Saeger , with the redescribed P. ghesquierei De Saeger , as well as the descriptions of all known taxa of this and related genera ( Belokobylskij 1988; Whitfield 1988; He et al. 2000; Shimbori et al. 2019) and available material for most Asian Paradelius species have shown that the characters suggested for the separation of Sculptomyriola from Paradelius (mainly fore wing venation, sculpture of metasoma, and condition of prepectal carina) are distinctly variable, not taxonomically stable and as result, not available for use as generic features. The infrageneric variation of the adeliine fore wing venation was already noted in the genus Adelius Haliday on the examples of the species originally described in the synonymised genus Myriola Shestakov, 1932 ( Muesebeck and Walkley 1951; Yu et al. 2016). Additionally, only laterally developed prepectal carina (which is reduced below) in the type species of Paradelius De Saeger , P. ghesquierei De Saeger , as well as in P. chinensis He & Chen, 2000 , are variable, weakly visible (often because of distinct sculpture surrounding this carina) or reduced in other species former belonged to Sculptomyriola . As a result of this study, Sculptomyriola Belokobylskij, 1988 is synonymised under Paradelius De Saeger, 1942 (syn. nov.), but we keep this name as a subgeneric subdivision including the larger part of previously described species of Paradelius .

The different levels of sculpture covering the first three metasomal tergites found in the Paradelius and Sinadelius species studied (and even in some Adelius ) as well as its variation in the sculpture distribution surface, also allow the name Sinadelius He & Chen, 2000 to be synonymised with Paradelius De Saeger, 1942 (syn. nov.). However, this name with three known eastern Asian species should be kept as a subgeneric subdivision of Paradelius because the members of Sinadelius have kept sculpture basically only on the whole first and basal part of second tergites (by the way, the second tergite is incompletely sculptured also in the type of the genus, P. ghesquierei De Saeger ), and with only weakly designated second suture.

Redescription of the genus.

Head transverse (dorsal view). Occipital carina distinct and complete, joined below with hypostomal carina. Vertex densely reticulate-punctate, sometimes additionally with irregular transverse striae. Ocelli relatively small, arranged in triangle with base 1.1–1.3 × its sides. Eye large, covered by dense and long or short setae. Frons weakly concave, sometimes with medial longitudinal carina. Clypeal suture deep and complete. Clypeus weakly or distinctly convex in lower margin. Malar suture distinct and complete. Antenna relatively short, thickened, setiform or filiform. Scape long and wide, 2.0–2.5 × longer than maximum width; pedicel short. Flagellar segments in apical quarter of antenna longitudinal or subsquare to transverse. Mesosoma relatively short and high. Mesoscutum densely and distinctly punctate, high and curvedly elevated above pronotum. Notauli absent. Prescutellar depression short or very short and distinctly crenulate. Prepectal carina variable, present laterally at least weakly or completely absent, always absent ventrally. Precoxal sulcus distinct, narrow or wide, long, distinctly sinuate, entirely crenulate or rugulose. Mesopleuron mainly smooth. Propodeum usually with areas delineated by distinct carinae, partly or widely smooth or entirely rugose. Fore wing with large pterostigma. Radial vein (r + 3 - SR) with one (r) or two (r + 3 - SR) abscissae, with its distal 0.5–0.7 transparent; vein arising from pterostigma separately from first radiomedial vein (2 - SR) or joined and from one point of pterostigma, sometimes first radiomedial vein (2 - SR) arising from short first abscissa of radial vein (r) closely to pterostigma. Discoidal (discal) cell large, anteriorly usually sessile on parastigma, but sometimes shortly petiolate near parastigma. Recurrent vein (m-cu) usually postfurcal to first radiomedial vein (2 - SR), only rarely subinterstitial or very weakly antefurcal. Mediocubital vein (M + CU 1) distinctly curved towards longitudinal anal vein (1-1 A). Brachial (subdiscal) cell widely open distally; most part of second abscissa of longitudinal anal (2-1 A) and brachial (CU 1 b) veins absent. In hind wing, radial (marginal) cell without additional transverse vein (r). First abscissa of mediocubital vein (M + CU) distinctly longer that its second abscissa (1 - M). Nervellus (cu-a) desclerotised and transparent. Hind coxa enlarged; hind femur wide. Hind tibia clavate, distinctly or strongly widened distally; long inner tibial spur not shorter than half of basitarsus. First and second segments of hind tarsus sometimes with distinct transparent keels below. Claw small and distinctly or weakly curved. Metasoma at least weakly depressed dorsoventrally, with immovably fused from first to third tergites, not formed complete coarse carapace and its posterior metasomal tergites usually distinctly protruding behind third tergite. First tergite without or with small dorsope, without dorsal carinae. Both sutures (between first and second, second and third tergites) present, rather deep or shallow, relatively narrow and densely sculptured. First and second tergites entirely or also third tergite at least in basal third or half densely striate-rugulose. Ovipositor short.

Composition.

Paradelius (Paradelius) chinensis He & Chen, 2000 , P. (P.) ghesquierei De Saeger, 1942 ; P. (Sculptomyriola) extremiorientalis ( Belokobylskij, 1988) , comb. nov., P. (Sc.) ghilarovi ( Belokobylskij, 1988) , comb. nov., P. (Sc.) koreanus Belokobylskij & Ku , sp. nov., P. (Sc.) neotropicalis Shimbori & Shaw, 2019 , P. (Sc.) nigrus Whitfield, 1988 , P. (Sc.) rubrus Whitfield, 1988 , P. (Sc.) sinevi ( Belokobylskij, 1998) , comb. nov.; P. (Sinadelius) guangxiensis ( He & Chen, 2000) , comb. nov., P. (S.) nigricans ( He & Chen, 2000) , comb. nov., P. (S.) ussuriensis Belokobylskij, 1988 .

Hosts.

Solitary koinobiont endoparasitoids of leaf-mining moths, Stigmella sp. and Stigmella variella (Braun, 1910) ( Nepticulidae ), as well as Enarmonia sp. ( Tortricidae ) ( Lepidoptera ) ( Yu et al. 2016; Shimbori et al. 2019).

A host record for P. ghesquierei , Enarmonia sp. ( Tortricidae ) ( De Saeger 1942), has not been confirmed later and might be erroneous ( Shimbori et al. 2019).

Distribution.

East Palaearctic ( Russia: Far East; China: Liaoning; Korean Peninsula), Oriental ( China: Zhejiang, Guangxi); Afrotropics (D. R. Congo); Nearctic ( USA); Neotropics ( Costa Rica).