ABSTRACT
Background: Citizen science is a research approach that involves collaboration between professional scientists and non-professional volunteers. The utilisation of recent online citizen-science platforms (e.g. social networking services) has greatly revolutionised the accessibility of biodiversity data by providing opportunities for connecting professional and citizen scientists worldwide. Meteorusstellatus Fujie, Shimizu & Maeto, 2021 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae) has been recorded from the Oriental Islands of Japan and known to be a gregarious endoparasitoid of two macro-sized sphingid moths of Macroglossum, Ma.passalus (Drury) and Ma.pyrrhosticta Butler. It constructs characteristic star-shaped communal cocoons, suspended by a long cable. Although M.stellatus has been reported only from the Oriental Islands of Japan, the authors recognise its occurrence and ecological data from Taiwan and the Palaearctic Island of Japan through posts on online citizen-science groups about Taiwanese Insects on Facebook and an article on a Japanese citizen-scientist's website. New information: Through collaboration between professional and citizen scientists via social media (Facebook groups) and websites, the following new biodiversity and ecological data associated with M.stellatus are provided: Meteorusstellatus is recorded for the first time from Taiwan and the Palaearctic Region (Yakushima Is., Japan).Cechetraminor (Butler, 1875), Hippotioncelerio (Linnaeus, 1758) and Macroglossumsitiene (Walker, 1856) (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) are recorded for the first time as hosts of M.stellatus and two of which (C.minor and H.celerio) represent the first genus-level host records for M.stellatus.Mesochorus sp. (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae), indeterminate species of Pteromalidae and Trichogrammatidae (Hymenoptera), are recognised as hyperparasitoid wasps of M.stellatus.Parapolybiavaria (Fabricius, 1787) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) is reported as a predator of pendulous communal cocoons of M.stellatus. The nature of suspended large-sized communal cocoons of M.stellatus and the importance and limitations of digital occurrence data and online citizen science are briefly discussed.
ABSTRACT
Six Japanese species belonging to the genus Aridelus Marshall, 1898 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) were recorded and photographed. Three species, A.dubius Belokobylskij, A.egregius Schmiedeknecht and A.rufotestaceus Tobias (= Aridelusrufiventris Luo & Chen syn. nov.), are new to Japan, and a new species, A.rutilipoides sp. nov. is described. An identification key to the Japanese species of Aridelus is also provided. In addition, new host records are provided, i.e., A.flavicans Chao reared from Homoeocerusunipunctatus and Riptortuspedestris (Alydidae) and A.rufotestaceus reared from Glauciassubpunctatus (Pentatomidae). The Alydidae is a newly recorded host family of Aridelus.
ABSTRACT
In spite of the two-fold reproductive advantage, asexual reproduction is not common in nature, probably due to the associated genetic deterioration or reduced genetic variation. To understand how genetic diversity is maintained in existing asexual populations, we investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of sympatric sexual and asexual populations of a parasitic wasp, Meteorus pulchricornis, using 614 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms. The genetic structures of the apomictic asexual populations were distinct, showing considerable genetic differentiation among them. Most of the asexual populations were highly differentiated from the sympatric sexual population; some asexual individuals could not be distinguished from members of the sexual population. Furthermore, significantly fewer multilocus genotypes were identified in the asexual populations (1-7) compared to the sexual population (42), which is consistent with their apomictic nature. The observed patterns of fixed heterozygous sites suggest that most asexual populations had the same evolutionary origin and have long since evolved individually; the detected gene flow between the sexual population and a few asexual population may indicate independent origins of asexuality. The potential role of occasional males in apomictic wasps is also discussed.
Subject(s)
Wasps , Animals , Male , Genomics , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/genetics , Reproduction, Asexual/genetics , Wasps/geneticsABSTRACT
A new species of microgastrine parasitoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Cotesia testacea Fujie, Shimizu Fernandez-Triana sp. nov., is described from Japan and Korea. It belongs to the flavipes species-group, which now comprises seven described species, most of them economically important as biocontrol agents of cereal and sugarcane stem borer pests worldwide. The new species, currently known from marsh habitats in the Eastern Palaearctic, is morphologically similar and probably related to the Western Palaearctic Cotesia ferruginea. A key to world species of the flavipes species-group is also provided.
