Psyttalia Walker, 1860

Wu, Qiong, Achterberg, Cornelis van, Tan, Jiang-Li & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2016, Review of the East Palaearctic and North Oriental Psyttalia Walker, with the description of three new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Opiinae), ZooKeys 629, pp. 103-151 : 104-107

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Psyttalia Walker, 1860 Figs 1, 2-12, 13, 14-24, 25-27, 28-32, 33, 34-43, 44, 45-52, 53, 54-64, 65, 66-76, 77, 78-88, 89, 90-99, 100, 101-110

Psyttalia Walker, 1860: 311. Type species (by monotypy): Psyttalia testacea Walker, 1860 (= Opius walkeri Muesebeck, 1931) [examined].

Mesostoma Cameron, 1905: 42. Type species (by monotypy): Mesostoma testaceipes Cameron, 1905.

Marginopius Fahringer, 1935: 9. Type species (by monotypy): Opius (Marginopius) romani Fahringer, 1935.

Austroopius Szépligeti, 1900: 64. Type species (by monotypy): Austroopius novaguineensis Szépligeti, 1900 [examined].

Acidoxanthopius Fischer, 1972: 71 (as subgenus of Opius Wesmael, 1835). Type species (by original designation): Opius acidoxanthicidus Fullaway, 1949.

Diagnosis

(mainly after Wharton 2009). Hypopygium of ♀ enlarged, 0.3-0.5 times as long as length of metasoma, distinctly acute apically (Figs 13, 44, 65) and vein m-cu of fore wing 0.5-0.7 times vein 1-M (Figs 2, 14, 28, 55); pterostigma distinctly triangular (Figs 2, 55, 78, 90); scutellum slightly convex; second metasomal tergite strongly transverse, posterior width 4-7 times its median length (Fig. 5, but sometimes not separated from third tergite and nearby border only indicated by line of setae) and its anterior half usually without granulation, but sometimes distinct in Psyttalia cyclogaster (Fig. 17) and similar species; hypoclypeal depression wide and clypeus medium-sized (Fig. 19) or narrow (Figs 49, 71, 83, 95); precoxal sulcus impressed and usually crenulate medially; antenna of ♀ 1.1-1.7 times as long as fore wing; temple narrow (Figs 8, 32, 50, 96) or medium-sized (Figs 20, 84); vein m-cu of fore wing more or less antefurcal or interstitial (but more or less postfurcal in Psyttalia cyclogaster (Fig. 13) and similar species), gradually merging into vein 2-CU1 (Figs 28, 78) or angled with 2-CU1 (Figs 2, 13, 55, 90), straight or slightly (Fig. 2) to strongly curved; vein 1-CU1 of fore wing more or less widened (Figs 2, 28, 35, 66; but hardly so in Psyttalia cyclogaster (Fig. 13) and similar species); vein 2-SR+M of fore wing absent (Fig. 13) or present and more or less widened (Figs 2, 28, 55) or slender (Figs 55, 90); vein CU1b of fore wing present; second submarginal cell of fore rather elongate (Figs 2, 14); antero-medially pronotum at most with a transverse groove (Fig. 9) or with an shallow point-like pronope; mandible symmetrical, without extra protuberance (Fig. 86); medio-longitudinal carina of propodeum often present, but hardly so in Psyttalia cyclogaster (Fig. 17) and similar species); ovipositor sheath protruding far beyond apex of metasoma, its setose part usually 3-5 times as long as first metasomal tergite.

Biology.

Parasitoids of larvae of Tephritidae ; mainly in fruits, but sometimes in buds, flowers or galls ( Wharton 2009).

Distribution.

Cosmopolitan, except Nearctic and Neotropical regions. Wharton (2009) excluded Psyttalia ovaliops (Fischer, 1980) and Psyttalia rufoflava Fischer, 2001 (the only species known from the New World) because they belong to different New World species groups.

Notes.

Tobias and Jakimavičius (1986) synonymized Phlebosema Fischer, 1972 (as " Phelbosema ") with Psyttalia . This is not accepted here because the type species ( Opius discreparius Fischer, 1963, from Japan) has a narrow elliptical pterostigma and the second metasomal tergite is granulate. Later Tobias included the type species in the subgenus Tolbia Cameron, 1907 ( Tobias 1998). Both subgenera ( Phlebosema and Tolbia ) were synonymized with Phaedrotoma Foerster, 1863, by Li et al. (2013).

All known Psyttalia species from China have the setose part of ovipositor sheath about as long as the metasoma or slightly longer (= 3-5 times as long as first metasomal tergite). If the sheath is about twice as long as the metasoma, see the similar Phaedrotoma daghestanicum (Telenga, 1950) comb. n. that may occur in NW China. It is not included in Psyttalia , because the medio-posterior depression of the mesoscutum is present, vein CU1b of the fore wing is absent, the pterostigma is narrow, vein 1-CU1 of the fore wing is narrow, the precoxal sulcus is absent and the second metasomal tergite is as long as the third tergite ( Fischer 1983). It is included in Phaedrotoma because it keys out there in the key by Li et al. (2013) and in the key below.

The genus Psyttalia Walker may be confused with Psyttoma van Achterberg & Li and some species of Phaedrotoma Foerster ( Li et al. 2013), because of the acute hypopygium and far-protruding ovipositor. They can be separated as follows (for convenience Rhogadopsis is added because sometimes Rhogadopsis species are mistaken for Psyttalia ).

Key to East Palaearctic and North Oriental species of the genus Psyttalia Walker