Bothrochacis Cameron, 1904

Noort, Simon van, Buffington, Matthew L. & Forshage, Mattias, 2015, Afrotropical Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera), ZooKeys 493, pp. 1-176 : 84-86

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Figitidae

Bothrochacis Cameron, 1904

Bothrochacis (synonyms Ditrupaspis Kieffer, 1910d, Salpictes Kieffer, 1913b, Stirencoela Cameron, 1910)

Remarks.

Not uncommon. Bothrochacis has been a small and easily recognisable genus since its original description. Quinlan’s Afrotropical Eucoila species have been known for some time to not fit into Eucoila , but nothing has been published about them since their original description. Here we note that they share all the important characteristics of Bothrochacis except the very peculiar notched scutellum, and include them here. Most of the characteristics of the genus in the wider sense are also found in the genera Afrodontaspis and Linoeucoila , but preliminary phylogenetic analyses ( Baião and Forshage, unpubl.) have not supported their merging into one genus.

Diagnosis.

Most of the large and dark (black or distinctly bicolored) eucoilines in the Afrotropical region belong to Bothrochacis . They can be distinguished from the few others ( Afrodontaspis , Linoeucoila , Aganaspis , Trybliographa and perhaps some Trichoplasta ) by having plenty of large truncate setae on pronotum and mesoscutum, and stout setae on the subcosta of the wing. Like other genera of Eucoilini , they have subalar pits and glabrous oblique metapleural corners. They have a striate vertex, often have vermiculate-reticulate sculpture on the coxae and large scutellar foveae, usually strong reduction of wing pubescence, and sometimes a notched scutellum.

The core group are the " erythropoda species group", coinciding with Bothrochacis sensu Quinlan, the species possessing a notched scutellar plate. These are large, typically bicolored, have hairless wings, smooth coxae, and large scutellar foveae.

Appearing like a less modified stem group there is the " veleda species group", consisting of species described by Quinlan in Eucoila , typically of smaller size, with an evenly arched scutellar plate and smaller scutellar foveae, often with some pubescence on wings. Specimens belonging to this group are sometimes quite similar to Trybliographa , rare in the region, common elsewhere, but easily separated by the characters listed above.

Distribution.

Mainly Afrotropical but also occuring in the Oriental and Oceanic regions (hitherto unpublished). Afrotropical records: Kenya ( Kieffer 1913b), Rwanda ( Benoit 1956a), Ethiopia ( Belizin 1973), Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe ( Quinlan 1988), Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Namibia, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia (here).

Biology.

One species is recorded as attacking Muscidae in dung ( Bridwell 1919), and due to phylogenetic inference as well as inference based on parallell occurrence of morphological particularities (elsewhere in the Eucoilinae as well as in the Figitinae) it seems reasonable to assume that most of them have similar habits.

Species richness.

Bothrochacis erythropoda species group

Bothrochacis erythropoda Cameron, 1904 (Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania)

syn Ditrupaspis semirufa Kieffer, 1910d

syn Bothrochacis stercoraria Bridwell, 1919

syn Stirencoela striaticollis Cameron, 1910

Bothrochacis rufiventris (Kieffer, 1913b) ( Salpictes ) (Kenya)

Bothrochacis septenaria Belizin, 1973 (Ethiopia)

Bothrochacis serratepilosa Benoit, 1956a (Rwanda)

Bothrochacis veleda species group

Bothrochacis bantia (Quinlan, 1988), comb. n. ( Eucoila ) Type in BMNH studied by MF (Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa, Zimbabwe)

Bothrochacis erinna (Quinlan, 1988), comb. n. ( Eucoila ) Type in RMCA studied by MB (Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya)

Bothrochacis marina (Quinlan, 1988), comb. n. ( Eucoila ) Type in BMNH studied by MF (Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe)

Bothrochacis veleda (Quinlan, 1988), comb. n. ( Eucoila ) Type in BMNH studied by MF (Botswana, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe)