Abstract:

Paridris Kieffer and Trichoteleia Kieffer are morphologically similar genera of solitary egg parasitoids with little overlap between their distributions: Paridris is found commonly worldwide with the exceptions of Madagascar, from which a single specimen is known, and New Zealand, from which no records are known; Trichoteleia is endemic to the Malagasy islands. Here we present the first phylogenetic analysis of platygastroid wasps that combines and compares morphological and molecular data. We find the results of the phylogenetic analyses of the two data sources to be largely congruent for the species treated here. Paridris and Trichoteleia are found to be monophyletic, as are two morphologically well-defined species groups within Paridris. Neoparidris Galloway is found to belong within Paridris and is treated as a junior synonym, syn. n. The faunas of Paridris from Africa, Melanesia and the Indo-Malay islands are revised. Fifteen species are described of which 9 are new: Paridris anikulapo Talamas, sp. n. (sub-Saharan Africa); Paridris densiclava (Kieffer), (Seychelles); Paridris bispinosa (Masner), (Gabon); Paridris nigriclava (Kieffer), (Seychelles); Paridris nitidiceps (Kieffer), (Seychelles); Paridris tenuis (Nixon), (sub-Saharan Africa); Paridris trispinosa Talamas & Masner, sp. n., (Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo); Paridris bifurcata (Dodd), comb. n., (Australia, Papua New Guinea); Paridris mnestros Talamas & Masner, sp. n., (Indonesia, Malaysia); Paridris pantex Talamas, sp. n., (Fiji); Paridris phrikos Talamas & Masner, sp. n., (Fiji); Paridris skolops Talamas & Masner, sp. n., (Fiji); Paridris sulcata Talamas, sp. n., (Vanuatu); Paridris taekuli Talamas & Masner, sp. n., (Australia, Bangladesh, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, New Caledonia, Thailand, Vietnam); Paridris xestos Talamas & Masner, sp. n., (Fiji). Paridris flaviclava (Kieffer), syn. n., and P. nigraticeps (Kieffer), syn. n., are treated as junior synonyms of P. nigriclava.

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