Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5613 No. 2: 27 Mar. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-03-27
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5613.2.7
Page range: 323-336
Abstract views: 145
PDF downloaded: 6

World checklist of the genus Lipolexis Förster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) with description of a new species from Thailand

Program in Zoology; Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Bangkok 10330; Thailand; Integrative Insect Ecology Research Unit; Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Phayathai Road; Pathumwan; Bangkok 10330; Thailand
Integrative Insect Ecology Research Unit; Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Phayathai Road; Pathumwan; Bangkok 10330; Thailand
Integrative Insect Ecology Research Unit; Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Phayathai Road; Pathumwan; Bangkok 10330; Thailand
Integrative Insect Ecology Research Unit; Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Chulalongkorn University; Phayathai Road; Pathumwan; Bangkok 10330; Thailand
Hymenoptera taxonomy molecular phylogeny DNa barcodes new species parasitoid Southeast asia

Abstract

We describe and illustrate a new species of the aphidiine braconid genus Lipolexis Förster, Lipolexis khaoyaiensis sp. nov., from Thailand, using an integrative approach. Morphologically, the new species is similar to L. peregrinus Tomanović and Kocić, 2020, but molecular analysis showed clear separation of at least 27 independent Lipolexis lineages, only eight of which correspond to previously known species, plus the one which represents the new species described here. A molecular phylogeny based on all available barcodes support that the genus comprises two well supported clades, with L. khaoyaiensis sp. nov. being recovered in the gracilis species-group with strong support (100% ultrafast bootstrap). A modified section of the identification key to species of Lipolexis is added to include the new species. Reported host associations for each of the described species as well as a distribution map of all records of species plus provenances of all barcoded specimens is provided.

 

References

  1. Anisimova, M., Gil, M., Dufayard, J.F., Dessimoz, C. & Gascuel, O. (2011) Survey of branch support methods demonstrates accuracy, power, and robustness of fast likelihood-based approximation schemes. Systematic Biology, 60 (5), 685–699. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syr041
  2. Belshaw, R. & Quicke, D.L.J. (1997) A molecular phylogeny of the Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution, 7, 281–293. https://doi.org/10.1006/mpev.1996.0400
  3. Chen, J.H. (1981) Description of a new species on aphid parasites of Oregma lanigera (Zehntner) (Hym.: Aphidiidae). Journal of Fujian Agricultural University, 10 (1), 33–38.
  4. Čkrkić, J., Petrović, A., Kocić, K., Mitrović, M., Kavallieratos, N.G., van Achterberg, C. & Tomanović, Ž. (2020) Phylogeny of the subtribe Monoctonina (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae). Insects, 11 (3), 160. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11030160
  5. Coceo, A., Jeyaprakash, A. & Hoy, M.A. (2009) Parasitism of the brown citrus aphid in dominica by Lysiphlebus testaceipes and Lipolexis oregmae (Hymenoptera: Aphidiinae). The Florida Entomologist, 92 (3), 497–499. https://doi.org/10.1653/024.092.0312
  6. Derocles, S. A., Le Ralec, A., Plantegenest, M., Chaubet, B., Cruaud, C., Cruaud, A. & Rasplus, J. Y. (2012) Identification of molecular markers for DNA barcoding in the Aphidiinae (Hym. Braconidae). Molecular Ecology Resources, 12 (2), 197–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03083.x
  7. Finlayson, T. (1990) The systematics and taxonomy of final-instar larvae of the family Aphidiidae (Hymenoptera). The Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 122 (S152), 3–74. https://doi.org/10.4039/entm122152fv
  8. Forster, A. (1862) Synopsis der Familien und Gattungen der Braconiden. Verhandlungen des Naturhistorischen Vereins der Preussischen Rheinlande und Westfalens, 19, 225–288.
  9. Gahan, A.B. (1932) Miscellaneous descriptions and notes on parasitic Hymenoptera. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 25(4), 736–757. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/25.4.736
  10. Guindon, S., Dufayard, J.F., Lefort, V., Anisimova, M., Hordijk, W. & Gascuel, O. (2010) New algorithms and methods to estimate maximum-likelihood phylogenies: assessing the performance of PhyML 3.0. Systematic Biology, 59 (3), 307–321. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syq010
  11. Hebert, P.D.N., Cywinska, A., Ball, S.L. & DeWaard, J.R. (2003) Barcoding animal life: cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 divergences among closely related species. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 270, 313–321. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0025
  12. Heimpel, G.E., Ragsdale, D.W., Venette, R., Hopper, K.R., O’Neil, R.J., Rutledge, C.E. & Wu, Z. (2004) Prospects for importation biological control of the soybean aphid: anticipating potential costs and benefits. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 97 (2), 249–258. https://doi.org/10.1603/0013-8746(2004)097[0249:pfibco]2.0.co;2
  13. Jasso-Martínez, J.M., Santos, B. F., Zaldívar-Riverón, A., Fernández-Triana, J.L., Sharanowski, B. J., Richter, R., Dettman, J.R., Blaimer, B.B., Brady, S.G. & Kula, R.R. (2022) Phylogenomics of braconid wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) sheds light on classification and the evolution of parasitoid life history traits. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 173, 107452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107452
  14. Kaliuzhna, M.O. (2018) A review of the genus Lipolexis Förster, 1862 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae: Aphidiinae) in the Fauna of Ukraine. Ukrainian Entomological Journal, 15 (2), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.15421/281810
  15. Kambhampati, S., Völkl, W. & Mackauer, M. (2000) Phylogenetic relationships among genera of Aphidiinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) based on DNA sequence of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene. Systematic Entomology, 25 (4), 437–445. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3113.2000.00129.x
  16. Kavallieratos, N.G., Tomanović, Ž., Starý, P., Athanassiou, C.G., Sarlis, G.P., Petrović, O., Niketić, M. & Veroniki, M.A. (2004) A survey of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of Southeastern Europe and their aphid-plant associations. Applied Entomology and Zoology, 39 (3), 527–563. https://doi.org/10.1303/aez.2004.527
  17. Knorr, L.C. & DuCharme, E.P. (1951) The relationship between Argentina’s lepra explosiva and Florida’s scaly bark, with implications for the Florida Citrus grower. Plant Disease Reporter, 35 (2), 70–75.
  18. Kocić, K., Petrović, A., Čkrkić, J., Kavallieratos, N.G., Rakhshani, E., Arnó, J., Aparicio, Y., Hebert, P.D.N. & Tomanović, Ž. (2020) Resolving the taxonomic status of potential biocontrol agents belonging to the neglected genus Lipolexis Förster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) with descriptions of six new species. Insects, 11 (10), 667. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11100667
  19. Mackauer, M. (1968) Aphidiidae In: Ferriere, C. & van der Vecht, J. (Eds.), Hymenopterorum Catalogus. Pars 3: Aphidiidae. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague, pp. 1–103.
  20. Mifsud, D. & Starý, P. (2012) Lipolexis gracilis Förster, 1862 - new record of an aphid parasitoid from Malta (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae). Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta, 5, 175–177.
  21. Minh, B.Q., Nguyen, M.A.T. & Von Haeseler, A. (2013) Ultrafast approximation for phylogenetic bootstrap. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30 (5), 1188–1195. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst024
  22. Nguyen, L.T., Schmidt, H.A., Von Haeseler, A. & Minh, B.Q. (2015) IQ-TREE: a fast and effective stochastic algorithm for estimating maximum-likelihood phylogenies. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 32 (1), 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msu300
  23. Persad, A.B., Hoy, M.A. & Nguyen, R. (2007) Establishment of Lipolexis oregmae (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) in a classical biological control program directed against the brown citrus aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Florida. Florida Entomologist, 90 (1), 204–213. https://doi.org/10.1653/0015-4040(2007)90[204:eoloha]2.0.co;2
  24. Pramanik, D.R. & Raychaudhuri, D. (1984) New aphid-parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) from Nagaland, northeast India. Akitu, 61, 4.
  25. Rambaut, A. (2009) FigTree: Tree figure drawing tool. Version 1.2.2. Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, England. Available from: http://tree.bio.ed.ac.uk/software/figtree/ (accessed 14 February 2025)
  26. Ratnasingham, S. & Hebert, P.D. (2013) A DNA-based registry for all animal species: the Barcode Index Number (BIN) system. PLoS ONE, 8, e66213. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066213
  27. Sharkey, M.J. & Wharton, R.A. (1997) Morphology and terminology. In: Wharton, R.A., Marsh, P.M. & Sharkey, M.J. (Eds.), Identification manual to the New World genera of Braconidae. Special Publication of the International Society of Hymenopterists, 1, pp. 19–37.
  28. Sirikajornjaru, W. (2002) Taxonomic Study of Aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) in Northern Thailand. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Mahidol University, Bangkok, xiii + 325 pp.
  29. Smith, C.F. (1944) The Aphidiinae of North America (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Ohio State University Contributions in Zoology and Entomology, 6, 1–154.
  30. Stanković, S.S., Ilić Milošević, M. & Žikić, V. (2015) Potential candidates for biological control of the black bean aphid Aphis fabae in Serbia. Biologica Nyssana, 6, 49–54.
  31. Starý, P. (1959) Redescription of the aphidiine genus Lipolexis Förster, 1862 (Hym., Braconidae). Acta Societatis Entomologicae Čzechosloveniae, 59, 93.
  32. Starý, P. (1960) The generic classification of the family Aphidiidae (Hymenoptera). Acta Societatis Entomologicae Čzechosloveniae, 57, 238–252.
  33. Starý, P. (1960) The systematic position of “Diaeretus oregmae Gahan” (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae). Insecta Matsumurana, 23(2), 109–111.
  34. Starý, P., Rakhshani, E., Havelka, J., Tomanovic, Z., Kavallieratos, N.G. & Sharkey, M.J. (2010) Aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) from Thailand. Zootaxa, 2498 (1), 47–52. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.2498.1.3
  35. Starý, P., Sharkey, M.J. & Hutacharern, C. (2008) Aphid parasitoids sampled by Malaise traps in the National parks of Thailand (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae). Thai Journal of Agricultural Science, 41 (1–2), 37–43.
  36. Tomanović, Ž., Mitrović, M., Petrović, A., Kavallieratos, N., Žikić, V., Ivanović, A., Rakhshani, E., Starý, P. & Vorburger, C. (2018) Revision of the European Lysiphlebus species (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) on the basis of COI and 28SD2 molecular markers and morphology. Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, 76 (2), 179–213. https://doi.org/10.3897/asp.76.e31926
  37. van Achterberg, C. (1988) Revision of the subfamily Blacinae Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden, 249, 1–324.
  38. Ye, Z., Vollhardt, I.M., Tomanović, Ž. & Traugott, M. (2017) Evaluation of three molecular markers for identification of European primary parasitoids of cereal aphids and their hyperparasitoids. PLoS One, 12 (5), e0177376. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177376
  39. Yu, D.S., van Achterberg, C. & Horstmann, K. (2016) Taxapad 2016. World Ichneumonoidae 2015. Taxonomy, Biology, Morphology and Distribution. Taxapad Interactive Catalogue Database. Nepean, Ottawa, Ontario. [database on flash-drive]

How to Cite

Kerkig, P., Quicke, D.L.J., Latibari, M.H. & Butcher, B.A. (2025) World checklist of the genus Lipolexis Förster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) with description of a new species from Thailand. Zootaxa, 5613 (2), 323–336. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5613.2.7