Scientific name

Cerocephala sp.

Taxonomic position

Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae: Cerocephalinae

Diagnosis

Macropterous. Head subglobose in frontal view. Interantennal crest more developed in male. Antenna with 6 funicle segments in female and 7 in male. Wings almost bare with long marginal fringe and with a distinct tuft of black bristles on the parastigma. Propodeum with irregular rugulose sculpture/with or without carinae, median carina slightly indicated sometimes. Gastral petiole transverse in female and longer than wide / or equal in male.

Images

  Male - lateral view
 Female - lateral view

Comments

This is probably a male of Cerocephala dinoderi Gahan, 1925 (so far the only species of this Genus known from India). However as the detailed description given by Gahan (1925) is based on single female and does not include diagnosis of male, the identity of this specimen is retained as Cerocephala sp. until males and females are collected together from the same host.

Distribution

India: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Biology / Hosts

Parasitic on some Scolytidae and Anobiidae.

References

  • Boucek, Z. 1988. Australasian Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera). C. A. B. International, Wallingford, U.K. pp. 832.
  • Gahan, A.B. 1925. A second lot of parasitic Hymenoptera from the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Science 27:100-102.
  • Graham, M.W.R. de V. 1969. The Pteromalidae of north-western Europe (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) (Entomology) Supplement 16 pages: 908 pp, 686 figs.
  • Noyes, J.S. 2014. Universal Chalcidoidea Database. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/chalcidoids.
  • Sureshan, P.M. & Narendran, T.C. 2004. Key to the genera of Pteromalidae of India and the adjacent countries (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Rec. Zool. surv. India. Occ. Paper No. 229: 1-56.
  • Sureshan, P.M. 2012. Checklist of Pteromalidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of India. Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghats Regional Centre, Kozhikode, Kerala, India.