Mesopteromalus abdominalis Ashmead, 1908

Mesopteromalus abdominalis Ashmead, 1908 nomen nudum

Mesopteromalus abdominalis Ashmead, 1908 (in Rocha 1908: 70). Rocha (1918: 21, nomen nudum, checklist; 1950: 292, checklist, biology), Costa Lima (1956: 90–91, taxonomy).

P teromalus abdominalis (Ashmead) : Silva (1973: 110, checklist, combination, biology), not Pteromalus abdominalis Statz, 1938 View in CoL .

Remarks. Rocha (1950) and Costa Lima (1956) reported this species as a parasitoid obtained from Phelypera schuppeli (Boheman, 1834) ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae : Hyperinae ). Costa Lima (1956) stated that he did not find any description of Mesopteromalus abdominalis Ashmead , nor did he know about the existence of the genus Mesopteromalus . Silva (1973) cited Mesopteromalus abdominalis Ashmead as Pteromalus abdominalis and did not indicate who proposed the combination and neither justified it. The name Mesopteromalus abdominalis seems to refer to the species known as Jaliscoa nudipennis Bouček, 1993 , a parasitoid of Phelypera schuppeli (Boheman, 1834) ( Coleoptera : Curculionidae : Hyperinae ) ( Vanin et al. 2012). Costa Lima (1956) described the cocoon of P. schuppeli sent to him by F.D. da Rocha and from which the later reared specimens were sent to and identified By W. H. Ashmead as M. abdominalis . Costa Lima (1956) described the host cocoons and their contents as “ They are ovoid, measuring 9 to 10 mm long by 6 mm wide… The wall is made up of a network of thin threads, forming meshes that resemble gauze fabric [cheesecloth] … Some cocoons are empty, while others, in greater numbers, have inside the mummified body of the larva that built them. In these [into the coccons] it is also possible to see, attached to the meshes of the network through a thin stalk, the exuviae of pupae of a microhymenoptera of the superfamily Chalcidoidea … ” (translated from p. 90). Vanin et al. (2012) described and illustrated the P. schuppeli cocoons attacked by J. nudipennis and they are very similar to Costa Lima’s descriptions. We (MTT and NWP) have seen cocoons attacked by J. nudipennis and we could see the pupal exuvia of this wasp hanging inside the cocoons. Diniz and Morais (1996) reported a parasitoid wasp emerged from the pupa of P. schuppeli belonging to a genus related to Psilocera Walker, 1833 ( Hymenoptera : Psilochromidae). The later wasp’s pupal exuviae were observed attached by a posterior peduncle to the wall of the cocoon, exactly as the pupae of J. nudipennis . There are no other parasitoid species reported to P.schuppeli . Thus, the name M. abdominalis almost certainly refers to J. nudipennis . It is necessary to emphasize that Pteromalus abdominalis Statz, 1938 is a fossil species of the Tertiary yellow-brown slate, from Germany, and it is a valid name.

Torymidae

Toryminae