Paramblynotus Cameron, 1908

Noort, Simon van, Buffington, Matthew L. & Forshage, Mattias, 2015, Afrotropical Cynipoidea (Hymenoptera), ZooKeys 493, pp. 1-176 : 135

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Liopteridae

Paramblynotus Cameron, 1908

Paramblynotus (synonyms: Paraegilips Kieffer, 1910a, Allocynips Kieffer, 1914, Holocynips Kieffer, 1916, Diholocynips Rohwer & Fagan, 1917, Mayrella Hedicke, 1922, Paribalia Weld, 1922, Stylobrachys Belizin, 1951, Baviana Barbotin, 1954, Decellea Benoit, 1956b)

Remarks.

The genus was recently revised by Liu et al. (2007) and van Noort and Buffington (2013). The latter paper described a further 9 species, including a new species group from Madagascar. Paramblynotus species are rare in collections.

Diagnosis.

Medium sized to very small cynipoids. Very small species look superfically like cynipids, but careful attention to the relative size of the metasomal terga will help seperate Paramblynotus from cynipids. Some superficially resemble figitids, especially Thrasorinae (not found in Africa), but can be separated from the latter by having a deeply foveate pronotum and mesoscutum, as well as diagnostically liopterid metasomal terga. Within Afrotropical Liopteridae , Paramblynotus can be distinguished by lacking any scutellar armament, by the lack of any sort of lobe at the base of the tarsal claws, and the presence of an auricula on the side of the scutellum.

Distribution.

The genus is represented in all biogeographical regions except for the Western Palaearctic and Australia ( Liu et al. 2007, Ronquist 1995a). Three species groups are present in, and endemic to the Afrotropical region: the Paramblynotus trisetosus and Paramblynotus yangambicolus species groups (two of the seven species groups recognized by Liu et al. (2007)) and the Paramblynotus seyrigi species group erected by van Noort and Buffington (2013).

Biology.

The type female of Paramblynotus yangambicola was captured on a Drypetes gossweileri S. Moore ( Euphorbiaceae ) log in Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) ( Benoit 1956b). Two females of Paramblynotus yangambicola from Uganda are labelled "ex Coleoptera "; two other females from Uganda are labeled "ex Lepidoptera " (Ronquist 1995). Inferred association with Lepidoptera and Coleoptera and rearing of Paramblynotus yangambicolous from a rotten log, suggest that Paramblynotus species are parasitoids of beetle larva ( Liu et al. 2007). The extensive backward pointing ridges on the pronotum and mesoscutum in a number of species suggest an adaption for exiting from (or burrowing in to find) concealed hosts in a confined substrate such as dense leaf litter or rotten logs ( van Noort and Buffington 2013). Ronquist (1995) proposed that these structures help with host tunnel negotiation. These effective backward pointing teeth would facilitate the negotiation of such substrates, preventing slippage and promoting forward movement down the tunnels or through the substrate.