Morphometric analysis and taxonomic revision of <i>Anisopteromalus</i> <scp>R</scp> uschka ( <scp>H</scp> ymenoptera: <scp>C</scp> halcidoidea: <scp>P</scp> teromalidae) – an integrative approach

Abstract

We use an integrative taxonomic approach to revise the genus <i>Anisopteromalus</i>. In particular, we apply multivariate ratio analysis (MRA), a rather new statistical method based on principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), to numerous body measurements and combine the data with those from our molecular analysis of <i>Cytb</i> and <i>ITS2</i> genetic markers (on a subset of species) and all available published data on morphology, karyology, behaviour, host associations and geographic distribution. We demonstrate that the analysis of quantitative characters using MRA plays a major role for the integration of name-bearing types and thus for the association of taxa with names. Six species are recognized, of which two are new: <i>A. cornis</i> Baur <b>sp.n.</b> and <i>A. quinarius</i> Gokhman & Baur <b>sp.n.</b> For <i>Anisopteromalus calandrae</i> (Howard), a well-known, cosmopolitan parasitoid of stored-product pests, we have selected a neotype to foster continuity and stability in the application of this important name. The species was sometimes confused with the related <i>A. quinarius</i><b>sp.n.</b>, another cosmopolitan species that is frequently encountered in similar environments. We also show that several species originally described or later put under <i>Anisopteromalus</i> actually belong to different genera: <i>Cyrtoptyx camerunus</i> (Risbec) <b>comb.n.</b>; <i>Meraporus glaber</i> (Szelényi) <b>comb.n.</b>; <i>Dinarmus schwenkei</i> (Roomi, Khan & Khan) <b>comb.n.</b><i>Neocatolaccus indicus</i> Ayyar & Mani is confirmed as a junior synonym of <i>Oxysychus sphenopterae</i> (Ferrière) <b>syn.n.</b> and <i>Anisopteromalus calandrae brasiliensis</i> (Domenichini) <b>stat.rev.</b> must be considered as a valid but doubtful taxon. This published work has been registered in ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BDFE96D3-D0F4-4012-90F5-9A087F7F5864.