Nomenclature
Erythmelus Enock, 1909: 454. Type Species: Erythmelus goochi Enock, by monotypy.
Enaesius Enock, 1909: 456. Type species: Enaesius agilis Enock, by monotypy. Synonymy by Debauche(1948: 192).
Parallelaptera Enock, 1909: 454. Type species: Parallelaptera panis Enock, by monotypy. Synonymy by Schauff (1984: 45).
Erythmelus Viggiani and Jesu, 1985: 487. Type species: Erythmelus lygivorus Viggiani and Jesu, by original designation. Synonymy by Triapitsyn (2003: 5).
Diagnosis
Erythmelus belongs to the Anaphes group of genera and can be identified by the following characters.
- Female funicle 5 or 6-segmented, very rarely apparently 4-segmented, clava with 5 or 6 longitudinal sensillae
- Mandible without teeth, reduced to a small stub
- Wings (Fig. 6) sparsely setose to subnudus
- Tarsi 4-segmented
- Hypopygium prominent, extending to apex of gaster, ploughshare-shaped.
Geographic Distribution
Cosmopolitan.
View Distribution map of Erythmelus in a larger map
Hosts and habitat
Tingidae and Miridae (Lin et al., 2007). Erythmelus teleonemiae (Subba Rao) is a parasitoid of the biological control agent, Teleonemia scrupulosa (Tingidae), reducing its efficacy against Lantana camara. Recorded / associated with hosts belonging to Cicadellidae, Miridae, Tingidae, Pamphiliidae, Lasiocampidae, Lymantriidae, Pyralidae, Tortricidae (Noyes, 2013).
Species in India
Subgenus Erythmelus (Erythmelus)
1. flavovarius (Walker, 1846) (original description); Triapitsyn (2003) (key, distribution and host); Triapitsyn et al., 2007 (key to New world, host, distribution and synonyms list); Subba Rao (1966) (description, as E. empoascae); Manickavasagam et al., 2011 (distribution and key) (Distribution: Delhi, Kerala, Pudhucherry, Tamil Nadu)
2. helopeltidis Gahan, 1949 (original description); Subba Rao and Hayat, 1983, 1986 (catalogue) (Distribution: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh).
3. lygivorus Viggiani et Jesu, 1985 (original description); Triapitsyn, 2003 (key, distribution and host); Donev, 2004 (key, distribution and host); Manickavasagam et al., 2011 (key, first report from India) (Distribution: Kerala)
4. nuinu Triapitsyn, 2003 (original description, key, distribution and host); Manickavasagam et al., 2011 (key, report from India) (Distribution: Pudhucherry, Tamil Nadu)
Subgenus Erythmelus (Parallelaptera)
1. panis (Enock, 1909) (original description); Subba Rao, (1989) (description as P. panchama, key to species); Triapitsyn, 2003 (key to world species and distribution); Donev (2004), Manickavasagam et al., 2011 (distribution & key) (Distribution: Kerala, Pudhucherry, Tamil Nadu)
2. teleonemiae Subba Rao, 1984 (original description); Triapitsyn (2003) (key to world species, distribution & host); Manickavasagam et al., 2011 (distribution & key) (Distribution: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu)
References
Anwar PT, Zeya SB. 2012. Record of some species of Mymaridae from different states of India (Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea). Bionotes, 14 (2): 52-53.
Enock F. 1909. New genera of British Mymaridae (Haliday). Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1909: 449-459.
Gahan AB. 1949. A new mymarid parasitic in eggs of Helopeltis cinchonae Maun. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 51: 75-76.
Manickavasagam S, Rameshkumar A, Rajmohana K. 2011. First report of four species of fairyflies from India, key to Indian species of four genera and additional distributional records of Mymaridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Madras Agricultural Journal, 98 (10-12): 393-408.
Rameshkumar A, Manickavasagam S, Jebanesan A. 2011a. Diversity and new distributional records of fairyflies (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Mymaridae) from the state of Kerala, India. Plant Archives, 11(2): 769-774.
Rameshkumar A, Manickavasagam S, Jebanesan A. 2011b. New distributional records of fairyflies (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Mymaridae) from Pudhucherry, India. Madras Agricultural Journal, 98 (7-9): 279-281.
Subba Rao BR. 1984. Descriptions of new species of Oriental Mymaridae and Aphelinidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science (Animal Science), 93: 151-262.
Triapitsyn SV. 2003. Review of the Mymaridae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Primorskii Krai: genera Erythmelus Enock, with taxonomic notes on some extralimital species. Far Eastern Entomologist, 126: 1-44.
Viggiani G, Jesu R. 1985. Due nuove specie palaertiche de genere Erythmelus Enock (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae). Redia, 68: 485-491.
Walker F. 1846. Descriptions of the Mymaridae. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 18: 49-54.
Ramesh Kumar et al., 2013