Abstract
In comprehensive rearing of butterflies from Goa, India, an interesting parasitoid complex of wasps and tachinid flies was found. Two new species of parasitic wasps are described and illustrated: Tetrastichus thetisae n. sp. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a gregarious parasitoid reared from the pupa of Curetis thetis (Drury) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) on the host plant Derris sp., and Sympiesis thyrsisae n. sp. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a gregarious parasitoid reared from the caterpillar of Gangara thyrsis (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) on the host plant Cocos nucifera L. Additionally, the following host-parasitoid associations are recorded: Amblypodia anita Hewitson (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) with Parapanteles sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae); Coladenia indrani (Moore) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) with Sympiesis sp. (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae); Danaus chrysippus L. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) with Sturmia convergens (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tachinidae); Idea malabarica Moore (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) with Brachymeria sp. (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) and Palexorista sp. (Diptera: Tachinidae); Notocrypta curvifascia Felder & Felder (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) with Cotesia erionotae (Wilkinson) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae); and Rapala sp. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) with an inominate species close to Aplomya spp. (Diptera: Tachinidae). This discovery is the first record of Tetrastichus as parasitoid of Curetis thetis, Sympiesis as parasitoid of Gangara thyrsis and Coladenia indrani, Brachymeria and Palexorista as parasitoids of Idea malabarica, and Cotesia erionotae as parasitoid of Notocrypta curvifascia. Data on habitat, brief diagnoses and host records for all parasitoids are provided.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bouček, Z. (1988). Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). A biosystematic revision of genera of fourteen families, with a reclassification of species. Wallingford, UK: CAB International, 832 pp.
Crosskey, R. W. (1976). A taxonomic conspectus of the Tachinidae (Diptera) of the Oriental Region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology Supplement, 26, 1–357.
Miller, C. D. (1970). The Nearctic species of Pnigalio and Sympiesis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 102 (Suppl. S68), 5–121.
Narendran, T. C. (1989). Oriental Chalcididae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Department of Zoology, University of Calicut, 441 pp.
Narendran, T. C. (2007). Indian chalcidoid parasitoids of the Tetrastichinae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper No 272, Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India, 386 pp.
Narendran, T. C. (2011). Fauna of India, Eulophinae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae). Kolkata: Zoological Survey of India, 442 pp.
Noyes, J. S. (2015). Universal Chalcidoidea Database. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/chalcidoids. Last accessed on 2 June 2015.
Rangnekar, P., & Dharwadkar, O. (2009). Three additions to the known butterfly (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera and Grypocera) fauna of Goa, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 1, 298–299.
Valerio, A. A., Whitfield, J. B., & Janzen, D. H. (2009). Review of world Parapanteles Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae), with description of fourteen new Neotropical species and the first description of the final instar larvae. Zootaxa, 2084, 1–49.
Verma, M., Hayat, M., & Kazmi, S. I. (2002). The species of Elasmus from India (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eulophidae). Oriental Insects, 36, 255.
Wilkinson, D. S. (1928). A revision of the Indo-Australian species of the genus Apanteles (Hym. Bracon.). Part II. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 19, 109–146.
Acknowledgements
AG thanks the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Dr. Abraham Verghese (Director, ICAR-NBAIR) for research encouragement and for providing necessary facilities. Taxonomic studies were undertaken under the Network project on Insect Biosystematics funded by ICAR. Tachinid identification aid from Dr. Nigel Wyatt, NHM, London and Dr. C. A. Viraktamath, UAS-Bangalore, India is kindly acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
All applicable institutional, national and international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gupta, A., Gawas, S.M. & Bhambure, R. On the parasitoid complex of butterflies with descriptions of two new species of parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) from Goa, India. Syst Parasitol 92, 223–240 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-015-9596-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-015-9596-6