Skip to main content

Flat wasps (Laelius Ashmead: Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) have four new species from Korea (Eastern Palaearctic)

Flat wasps (Laelius Ashmead Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) have four new species from Korea (Eastern Palaearctic)

NEWS - Laelius Ashmead, 1893 (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) is a cosmopolitan bethylid genus with 68 valid species distributed worldwide and now a taxonomic study from Korea adds four new species: Seoul flat wasp (Laelius afores), Jeju-do flat wasp (Laelius atratus), Gangwon-do flat wasp (Laelius sulcatus) and Jeollanan-do flat wasp (Laelius tricuspis).

The presence and relative ratio or length of 2r-rs&Rs veins on the forewings stand out as the most useful characteristics in Laelius taxonomy. However, in the case of the four new species in this study, they generally show relatively equal lengths of 2r-rs and Rs veins.

L. afores is similar to L. jilinensis Lim & Lee, 2010. However, L. afores differs based on WF 1.9× LE (vs. WF 1.4× LE in L. jilinensis), LE 1.0× OOL (vs. LE 1.2× LE), dorsal pronotal 0.5× longer and wider (vs. 0.8× longer), mesoscutum without notaulus (vs. notaulus absent), propodeal slope without median longitudinal carina (vs. median longitudinal carina present).

L. atratus is similar to L. nigrofemoratus Terayama, 2006. However, L. atratus differs by having mandibles with 4 teeth (vs. 5 teeth in L. nigrofemoratus), reddish brown legs except coxa and black femora (vs. reddish brown including coxa), lateral carina of first metapostnotal parallel to median carina of metapostnotal (vs. extending close to transverse posterior carina of metapectal-propodeal complex).

L. sulcatus is similar to L. yamatonis Terayama, 2006. However, L. sulcatus differs by having LE 1.7× OOL (vs. LE 1.3× OOL in L. yamatonis), mesoscutum with notalulus (vs. mesoscutum without notalulus), lateral carina of second metapostnotal reaching basal three-quarters of metapostnotal-propodeal disc (vs. reaching one-quarter).

L. tricuspis is similar to L. jilinensis Lim & Lee, 2010. However, L. tricuspis differs by scape 3.5× along flagellomere III (vs. scape 2.8× along flagellomere III in L. jilinensis), WF 2.4× WOT (vs. WF 2.2× WOT), pronotal disc 0.5× long and wide (vs. 0.8× long and wide), metapectal-propodeal complex with 3 lateral carinae of metapostnotal (vs. 5).

Four new species from the Korean Peninsula make five Laelius species recorded in the country indicating higher species diversity compared to Japan (4), China (1) and Far Eastern Russia (1) raising speculation that there are more unknown species in the Eastern Palearctic region.

L. afores was collected from Seoul and the specific epithet refers to the absence of notaulus on the mesoscutum and the median carina on the slope of the propodeum. L. atratus was collected in Jeju-do and the specific epithet atratus refers to the submedian carina parallel to the median disc carina.

L. sulcatus was collected in Gangwon-do and the specific epithet sulcatus refers to the clearly developed notaulus on the mesoscutum. L. tricuspis was collected from Jeollanan-do and the specific epithet tricuspis refers to three long and distinct metapectal-propodeal carinae.

Original research

Lim J, Lee S (2024) Four new species of Laelius Ashmead (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae) from Korea with an updated key to species in the Eastern Palaearctic region. ZooKeys 1213: 251-265, DOI:10.3897/zookeys.1213.121630

Dlium theDlium
Labels:

Popular Posts

Cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica)

Cogon grass ( Imperata cylindrica ) is a species of plant in the Poaceae, an annual grass, sharp leaves, long and scaly shoots, creeping underground, white or purplish flowers, very adaptive and grows in all climates. I. cylindrica has sharply pointed shoot tips that emerge from the ground, up to 3 meters high, short stems, rising above the ground surface. Leaves are long ribbon-shaped, pointed tip, narrow base, up to 100 cm long, very rough and sharply serrated edges, long hairs at the base and wide veins. Inflorescences in panicles, up to 28 cm long, spikes long-haired and white to 1 cm. The seeds spread quickly with the wind or via rhizomes that quickly penetrate the soil. This species grows in tropical to subtropical areas, elevation up to 2000 meters, temperature 20-40C, rainfall 500-3500 mm/year, pH 4-7.5, lots of sunlight to a bit of shade. This plant dominates open land, former forests, dry rice fields, roadsides and so on. This plant contains mannitol, glucose, sacharose...
Read more

Dadmari (Ammannia baccifera)

Dadmari ( Ammannia baccifera ) is a species of plant in the Lythraceae, an erect, branched herb, up to 50 cm tall, with slightly angular stems and narrow, oblong leaves about 3.5 cm long. The flowers are about 1.2 mm long, greenish or purplish, and grow in dense axillary clusters. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Myrtales Family: Lythraceae Genus: Ammannia L. in Sp. Pl.: 119 (1753) Species: Ammannia baccifera L. in Sp. Pl.: 120 (1753) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Ammannia baccifera f. genuina Koehne in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 1: 260 (1880) Ammannia baccifera f. typica Koehne (1880) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Celosia bicolor Blanco in Fl. Filip.: 191 (1837) Celosia nana Blanco (1837) Ammannia apiculata Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata Hochst. ex A.Rich. in Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 278 (1848) Ammannia attenuata var. latifolia Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata var. micromerioides Chiov. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital. 1917: 27 (1917) Ammannia attenuata f. pe...
Read more

Liberian coffee (Coffea liberica)

Liberian coffee ( Coffea liberica ) is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family, a tree up to 20 meters tall, with numerous, radial and irregular branches, brown bark, and linear fissures. The leaves are oval, thick, up to 35 cm long, up to 20 cm long, shiny green, and have petioles up to 1 cm long. The fruit is round to oval, irregular, and up to 2 cm wide. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Rubiaceae Subfamily: Ixoroideae Tribe: Coffeeae Genus: Coffea L. in Sp. Pl.: 172 (1753) Species: Coffea liberica W.Bull in Nursery Cat. (William Bull) 97: 4 (1874) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Coffea abeokutae Cramer in Meded. Dept. Landb. Ned.-Indië 11: 286, 396 (1913) Coffea abeokutae var. camerunensis A.Chev. in Encycl. Biol. 22: t. 44 (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. indeniensis (Siebert) A.Chev. (1942) Coffea abeokutae var. longicarpa Portères in Ann. Agric. Afrique Occ. 1(2): 224 (1937) Coffea abeokutae var. macrocarpa...
Read more