Revision of the western Palaearctic species of Aleiodes Wesmael (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae). Part 2: Revision of the A. apicalis group van Achterberg, Cornelis Shaw, Mark R. Quicke, Donald L. J. ZooKeys 2020 919 1 259 D8E9E2A4-D2C7-5C97-B629-DB1DC2567902 group Insecta Braconidae Aleiodes CoL Animalia Aleiodes apicalis Hymenoptera 0 1 Arthropoda species apicalis  Diagnosis. Apical half of marginal cell of hind wing distinctly widened, its maximum width 1.6 xits width near hamuli or wider (Fig. 27) andvein r of fore wing shorter than vein 3-SR (Figs 180, 608), ifmarginal cell largely parallel-sided (Figs 506, 609, 704) then tarsal claws comparatively robust and with often blackish pecten (Figs 517, 621, 716) or brachypterous (Fig. 390); occipital carina usually reduced ventrally, not reaching hypostomal carina (Figs 600, 663, 713, 788); mesopleuron partly smooth (at least between punctures), but largely densely sculptured in both sexes of  A. hemipterusand  A. krulikowskii, as well in some males of  A. ruficornisand allies; lateral carina of scutellum absent or if present then weakly developed and lunula wide (Fig. 508); 2nd metasomal tergite with distinct and smooth triangular area medio-basally (Fig. 509); ovipositor sheath distinctly setose apically (Fig. 483); males are often darker than females, most extremely so in  A. arnoldii,  A. carbonariusand  A. carbonaroides; brachypterous specimens of  Aleiodesare included in this group.  Biology. All species of the  A. apicalisgroup for which host data exist are parasitoids of Noctuidae. However, the putatively more basal  A. fortipesbelonging to the  Hemigyroneuronclade (see below) is a parasitoid of Geometridae. Also, only  A. fortipesand  A. sibiricusare known to parasitise hosts only in spring although these hosts would have been available in autumn of the previous year. Possibly others in the  A. apicalisgroup will be found to do this too, and we consider the habit putatively as ancestral, in contrast with the more derived  A. circumscriptusand  A. bicolorgroups in which species using hosts that overwinter as larvae invariably (as far as known) parasitise the host in the autumn and overwinter as a young larva inside it. While we have no host data for a disappointingly large number of species of the  A. apicalisgroup, the form of the clypeus may give important clues as to the site at which host mummification occurs, as those species in which mummification is known to take place in open situations (e.g., on a twig or in a leaf curl) invariably have a relatively small hypoclypeal depression and the clypeal margin blunt (  A. apicalis,  A. aterrimus,  A. fortipes,  A. nobilis,  A. pulchripes,  A. rugulosus) while species known to cause their hosts to mummify in concealed situations tend to have the hypoclypeal opening wider and the margin sharper (e.g.,  A. cruentus,  A. dissector,  A. ruficornis,  A. sibiricus,  A. unipunctator).  Notes. According to the 28S + COI analysis by  Zaldivar-Riveronet al. (2008)the following former subgenera or genera belong to this group:  ChelonorhogasEnderlein, [1st Sept.] 1912 (worldwide),  EucystomastaxBrues, [(end of?) Sept.] 1912 (Neotropical group with 2nd and 3rd maxillary palp segments enlarged),  HemigyroneuronBaker, 1917 (Old World group with distal half of subbasal cell of fore wing modified and glabrous), and  DimorphomastaxShenefelt, 1979 (males of this monotypic Neotropical group have a large curved tooth near the base of the mandible (an outgrowth of the condylar carina) and the hind tibial spurs are blunt apically; females have the tooth smaller and triangular, and the hind tibial spurs are acute). Butcher et al. (2012)indicate in their cladogram based on the analysis of COI sequences that  A. fortipes(Reinhard) forms together with  HemigyroneuronBaker and  ArcaleiodesChen & He the most basal clade of  AleiodesWesmael, and it is noteworthy that all known hosts of this clade are Geometridae(see species entry for  A. fortipes). According to the same analysis the  A. apicalisgroup consists of three clades: (i) the  Hemigyroneuronclade (see above; likely also includes  A. caucasicus(Tobias)), (ii) the  A. rugulosusclade (including the Asian group with modified pronotum), and (iii) the  A. gasteratorclade. Since we do not have the COI sequences of all species, we unite these three clades in the  A. apicalisgroup to allow identification based on their morphology.