Nomenclature
Alaptus Westwood, 1839: 79. Type species: Alaptus minimus Westwood, by monotypy.
Parvulinus Mercet, 1912: 332. Type species: Parvulinus auranti Mercet, by monotypy. Synonymy by Girault (1913 [127]: 221).
Metalaptus Malenotti, 1917: 339. Type species: Metalaptus torquatus Malenotti, by monotypy. Synonymy by Girault (1913 [165]: 109).
Diagnosis
Alaptus belongs to the Alaptus group of genera and can be diagnosed by the following combination of characters:
- Female funicle 5-segmented or rarely with a minute additional segment
- Hind margin of fore wing excised beneath the venation and thereafter almost straight to apex
- Mesophragma large, broadly truncate, extending well into the gaster.
Geographic Distribution
Neotropical, Afrotropical, Oriental and Palaearctic regions.
View Distribution map for Alaptus in a larger map
Hosts and habitat
Known hosts belong to Psocoptera (Lin et al., 2007), Hemiptera (Cicadellidae, Coccidae, Diaspididae), and Amphibia (Caeciliidae) (Noyes, 2013).
Species in India
1. delhiensis Mani, 1942 (original description) (Distribution: Delhi)
2. magnanimus Annandale, 1909 (original description) (Distribution: West Bengal)
3. ramakrishnai Mani, 1942 (original description) (Distribution: Tamil Nadu)
References
Annandale N (1909) Description of a minute hymenopterous insect from Calcutta. Records of the Indian Museum 3: 299.
Lin, N. Q., Huber, J. T. and LaSalle, J. 2007. The Australian genera of Mymaridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Zootaxa, 1596: 1-111.
Mani MS (1942) Studies on Indian parasitic Hymenoptera II. Indian Journal of Entomology 4(2): 159-160.
Noyes, J. S. 2013. Universal Chalcidoidea Database. Worldwide Web electronic Publication. www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/chalcidoids/index.html (accessed 30th June, 2013).
Ramesh Kumar et al., 2013