A new host record and a
new combination in Cotesia Cameron
(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from India
Ankita Gupta 1 & SwapnilA. Lokhande 2
1 National Bureau of
Agriculturally Important Insects, Post Bag No. 2491, H. A. Farm Post, Bellary
Road, Hebbal, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560024, India
2 Departmentof Mathematics, IIT-Bombay, Powai, Mumbai,
Maharashtra 400076, India
1 drankitagupta7@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 swaplokhande@gmail.com
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3283.3678-81 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3887C8DD-6E23-461F-8745-21557B9C1BF3
Editor: T.C. Narendran,
Prof. T.C. Narendran Trust for Animal Taxonomy, Malappuram, India. Date
of publication: 26 February 2013 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms # o3283
| Received 02 August 2012 | Final received 04 December 2012 | Finally accepted
12 February 2013
Citation: Gupta, A. & S.A. Lokhande (2013). A new host record and a
new combination in Cotesia Cameron
(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 5(2): 3678–3681; doi:10.11609/JoTT.o3283.3678-81.
Copyright: © Gupta & Lokhande 2013. Creative Commons
Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium,
reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and
the source of publication.
Funding: Taxonomic
studies were undertaken by the first author with
the funds from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi.
Field studies/data was
contributed by the second author.
Competing Interest: None.
Acknowledgements:We are grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Dr. N.K.
Krishna Kumar, Director, NBAII, Bangalore, for providing necessary facilities
for carrying out this research work. Our special thanks to Keith Wolfe, Expert
on butterfly caterpillars and their host plant utilization, California and Milind Bhakare, Butterfly Expert,
India for the prompt identification of the host caterpillar. Many thanks to
Peter Smetacek, Lepidoptera Expert, India for sharing
his expertise and time. Second author is thankful to Abhay Soman for giving field support and mentoring. We are
indeed indebted to dedicated researchers BlaisePereira and Paresh Kale for their constant support
and valuable inputs.
Genus CotesiaCameron is the second largest genus of subfamily Microgastrinae(Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from the Indian region
after Apanteles Förster. Cotesiais the commonest and the most ubiquitous genus, comprising nearly
1500–2000 species worldwide (Mason 1981). The species are mostly gregarious in
nature with only a few solitary forms. They mainly parasitize caterpillars of Noctuidae,Geometridae and Saturniidae(Whitfield et al. 2009). Literature
review shows that nearly 34 species are recorded from the Indian region
(unpublished data of the first author) with a few cosmopolitan species. Some frequently encountered Indian
species of the Genus Cotesia inhabiting
various agro-ecosystems include Cotesia flavipes Cameron, gregarious parasitoid infesting graminaceous stem borers Chilo partellus (Swinhoe)
and Chilo sacchariphagus (Bojer); Cotesia vestalis (Haliday), solitary
parasitoid of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.); Cotesia glomerata (Linnaeus), potential parasitoid of Pieris brassicae(Linnaeus), Pieris rapae(Linnaeus), Spodoptera frugiperda(Smith), Bombyx mori(Linnaeus), Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel), Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus) and Trichoplusia ni (Hübner); Cotesia kazak (Telenga), solitary larval parasitoid of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) and Helicoverpa zea (Boddie); Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson) infesting Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) and Spodoptera litura (Fabricius); Cotesia ruficrus (Haliday) infesting Pelopidasmathias (Fabricius) on
rice, P. brassicae (Linnaeus) and P. rapae (Linnaeus) on cabbage, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders) on cotton, Plutella xylostella(Linnaeus) on cabbage, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) on many
crops, Spodoptera spp. and Chilo sp.; Cotesia chilonis (Munakata)
infesting Chilo partellus (Swinhoe), Chilo infuscatellus Snellen and Chilo suppressalis Walker;Cotesia sesamiae (Cameron)
as larval parasitoid of Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) and Cotesia melanoscelaas parasitoid associated with Lymantria dispar Linnaeus.
In the present study, a new
combination is proposed for Cotesia tiracolae (=Apanteles tiracolae), which is recorded as a larval
parasitoid of Phaedyma columella (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) feeding on
the host plant Grewia tiliifolia Vahl from Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. This is the first record of larval
parasitism associated with P. columella from
India. Cotesia tiracolae comb. nov. is redescribed and illustrated.
Materials and Methods: The wasps were bred from the
parasitized caterpillar collected from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai
campus. Specimens were preserved in
70% alcohol. Alcohol preserved
specimens were critically point dried and later card mounted and identified
consulting Wilkinson (1928) and Mason (1981). The parasitoid images were taken using a
Leica M 205 A stereozoom microscope with Leica DC 420
inbuilt camera using automontage software (version
3.8). Images of the host were
captured using Canon Powershot SX30 IS.
Results
Cotesia tiracolae (Ashmead),
new combination
(Images 1–11)
Apanteles tivacholae, Ashmead 1896. Proc. U. St. Nat. Mus., xviii, no. 1092, p. 647, female, male.
Apanteles tiracholae. Wilkinson 1928, Bull. Ent. Res., xix, p. 102.
Apanteles tiracolae Ashmead1896. Yu (2012).
Cotesia tiracolae (Ashmead) comb. nov., Howard & Ashmead, 1896 is reassigned from the traditionally defined Apanteles based on the presence of the
following characters:
Material examined: NBAII/Bra/Mic/Cot/tira/29612,
29.vi.2012, six females mounted on card, Powai,
Maharashtra, India, bred from parasitized larvae of Phaedyma columella (Cramer) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) on host plant Grewia tiliifolia Vahl,
coll. Swapnil A. Lokhande.
All specimens deposited in the National Bureau of Agriculturally Important
Insects (NBAII), Bengaluru, India.
Diagnosis: Female (Image 3). Body length 2.5mm. Black. Antennae mostly black, scape yellow
brown with apex black; tegulae brown; fore and mid legs testaceous red
(except red brown coxae with slight bluish-black
tinge dorsally). Hindcoxa black with white apex, rugosepunctate and shining. Hind
femora tipped with black; hind tibia darkened towards apex and hind tarsi dark
brown. Hind tibialspurs subequal and pale testaceous; individually shorter than half of basitarsus. Forewings with pterostigmaand wing veins brown; R1 vein longer than stigma. Hindwings with margin of vannal lobe almost convex
and hairy throughout (Image 4).
Head (Image
5) and mesosoma (Image 7) densely punctate, punctations denser in head. Mesoscutum evenly and strongly punctate; scutellumshining, shallowly and sparsely punctate. Propodeum (Image 8) rugose, without areola, with a
more or less complete median longitudinal carina from which emerge oblique carinae, and with strong basal transverse carinae.
Metasoma laterally testaceous yellow-red except last and second last lateral tergites black; 1st and 2nd tergite with lateral margins pale testaceous,
3rd tergite testaceousred laterally, paler on latero-apical margin,
suffused with black in the middle; basal ventrites testaceous yellow. Pale lateral margins
of 1st and 2nd tergite narrower
than lateral margins of 3rd tergum. Tergum 1st (Image 8) nearly quadrate,
hardly longer than wide, its lateral margins subparallelwith corners rounded; apical half coarsely but sparsely sculptured. Tergum 2ndindefinitely sculptured with lateral sulci, basal margin little wider than
apical margin of tergum 1st, tergum 2nd shorter in median length than 3rdbut longer than 4th, subrectangularand indefinitely sculptured. Tergum 3rd subrectangular and smooth. 4thand 5th tergites testaceousyellow medio-laterally with posterior margin black. Hypopygiumshort; ovipositor sheath shorter than half length of
hind tibia, concealed by hypopygium, with a few hair
concentrated at apex.
Types: Wilkinson (1928) redescribed this
species from a cotype given by Dr. A.B. Gahan to the British Museum and from five females and one
male, 10.i.1919, ex. larvae of Tirachola plagiata Walker, type locality Ceylon.
Remarks: Both
the genera, Apanteles Försterand Cotesia Cameron, are described in
detail by Mason (1981). Genus Cotesia can be identified with following key
characters: Propodeum mostly rugose,
usually with a median carina and a short transverse carina running mesad from near the spiracle, never with an areolet, short inflexible hypopygium,
short ovipositor. Tergum 1stparallel sided or broadened posteriorly, mostly rugose. 2nd tergum rectangular, rugose. The key characters of the Genus Apantelesinclude: Propodeum never showing trace of a median
longitudinal carina but instead more or less well defined areola and costulae; ovipositor sheath usually long and hairy
throughout. Hindwing with vannallobe margin typically concave and hairless on the posterior part, in extreme
case convex, though curve is somewhat flattened and sparsely hairy.
The original description of ‘tivacholae’ given by Ashmead(1896) lacks characters of propodeum which are very
important in correct placement of species in the genus. The species description was based on 36
females and 14 males bred from larvae of Tirachola plagiata Walker. It mentions “two basal joints of
antennae brownish-yellow. The legs are brownish-yellow, but all coxae black, while the apex of hind femora, apex of their
tibiae and their tarsi are fuscuous, the scutellum is smoother; the abdomen is as long as the thorax
and except ventor, the membranous margins of first
and second segments and lateral dorsal spots on third and fourth segments,
which are yellow and sometimes confluent, is black; the plate of first segment
is long trapezoidal, more than twice as long as wide at apex and shagreened apically; the second is as long as the fourth,
feebly shagreened; the third is very short”.
The diagnostic characters of
this species agree with the redescription of ‘tiracholae’ given in Wilkinson (1928). In the key to Indo-Australian species of
Genus Apanteles provided by Wilkinson
(1928) the species is placed in couplet 45th. The description includes propodeum characters stating “propodeon rugose with median longitudinal carina from which
emerge oblique carinae and with strong basal
transverse carinae”.
Considering the following
contradicting characters: Propodeum with strong rugosity and distinct median longitudinal carina, areola
absent; shape and sculpture of 1st and 2nd tergite (similar to that of Genus Cotesia),
the species is proposed to be rightly placed in Genus Cotesiainstead of Apanteles.
Distribution: India (New distribution record) and Sri Lanka.
Host record: Phaedyma columella larva (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) on host plant Grewia tiliifolia Vahl. Also recorded from Agrotera basinotata Hampson(Lepidoptera: Crambidae), defoliator of Lagerstroemiaparviflora from Central India, ICFRE (2009) and Tiracola plagiata (Walker)
(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from Sri Lanka, Yu (2012).
Discussion
Both
species, Cotesia tiracolae (Ashmead) and Protapanteles neptisis (Watanabe) attack same host Genus Neptis. P.neptisis is
recorded as a larval parasitoid of Neptis coenobita Goeze(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) (Yu 2012). Morphologically, the genus Protapanteles is very close to the genus Cotesia (Whitfield 1997). Hence, both species are compared here
as C. tiracolae can be confused in
identification with P. neptisis. It differs in
the following characters of P. neptisis -
head, disc of scutellum and hind coxaesmooth; cocoons white; first tergite 1.5x longer than
wide.
Conclusion
Cotesia tiracolae (Ashmead1896), new combination, is redescribed and
illustrated from India. Phaedyma columella larva parasitised by C. tiracolae confirms
that this parasitoid is capable of infecting Nymphalidaein addition to the known host spectrum belonging to Crambidaeand Noctuidae.
References
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