Awad Jessica, Reinisch Ronja, Moser Marina, Vasilița Cristina, Krogmann Lars
Department of Entomology, State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
Biological Systematics (190w), University of Hohenheim, Institute of Biology, Stuttgart, Germany.
Ann Entomol Soc Am. 2025 Feb 12;118(3):206-219. doi: 10.1093/aesa/saaf003. eCollection 2025 May.
Platygastrine wasps (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) are parasitoids of gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). They and their hosts are exceptionally abundant and speciose, with great relevance to agriculture and biodiversity research. Both groups are also "dark taxa," whose species identification and ecological associations are obscured by a history of taxonomic confusion and neglect. Verified host records are few in number and limited in scope. In order to understand host specialization, more records are needed. However, rearing Cecidomyiidae is challenging, as many species require living host tissue to complete development. There is no universal rearing method for Cecidomyiidae and their parasitoids. The present work applies an exploratory approach to rearing gall midges, with the aim of obtaining accurate host associations and parasitoid identifications. We obtained 5 species of Platygastrinae from reared material, 3 of which are identified and diagnosed. Walker (= Kieffer, = Kieffer, ) is not host-specific, attacking Cecidomyiidae on Rosaceae worldwide, including . Buhl apparently specializes on (Bremi) on . (Walker) is known only from galls of (Perris), but may attack other midge species on . sp. emerged from (Hartig) galls on , and sp. was associated with sp. on sp. Illustrations, DNA barcodes, and distributions are provided. We discuss challenges to understanding "double dark taxa" interactions, implications for biological control, and possible solutions for future research on these important but neglected systems.
扁腹小蜂（膜翅目：扁腹小蜂科）是瘿蚊（双翅目：瘿蚊科）的寄生蜂。它们及其寄主数量极其丰富且种类繁多，与农业和生物多样性研究密切相关。这两个类群也是“隐秘类群”，由于分类混乱和长期被忽视的历史，其物种鉴定和生态关联尚不明确。经过验证的寄主记录数量稀少且范围有限。为了了解寄主专一性，需要更多的记录。然而，饲养瘿蚊具有挑战性，因为许多物种需要活的寄主组织才能完成发育。目前尚无针对瘿蚊及其寄生蜂的通用饲养方法。本研究采用探索性方法饲养瘿蚊，旨在获得准确的寄主关联和寄生蜂鉴定结果。我们从饲养材料中获得了5种扁腹小蜂亚科物种，其中3种已被鉴定和诊断。沃克扁腹小蜂（= 基弗扁腹小蜂，= 基弗扁腹小蜂，）并非寄主专一性的，它在全球范围内攻击蔷薇科植物上的瘿蚊，包括……布尔扁腹小蜂显然专一寄生于……（布雷米）上的…… （沃克扁腹小蜂）仅从……（佩里斯）的瘿中已知，但可能攻击……上的其他瘿蚊物种。……扁腹小蜂从……（哈蒂格）在……上的瘿中羽化，而……扁腹小蜂与……上的……物种相关联。文中提供了插图、DNA条形码和分布信息。我们讨论了理解“双隐秘类群”相互作用所面临的挑战、对生物防治的影响以及针对这些重要但被忽视的系统未来研究的可能解决方案。
