The Wharton Lab

Diachasmimorpha Viereck, 1913: 641. Type species: Diachasmimorpha comperei Viereck, 1913 [a junior subjective synonym of Diachasmimorpha longicaudata ( Ashmead, 1905)]. Monobasic and original designation.

Biosteres (Parasteres) Fischer, 1967: 3. Type species: Parasteres acidusae Fischer, 1967 [a junior subjective synonym of Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron, 1911)]. Original designation.

Parasteres: Fischer 1971: 33 (change in rank). Synonymized under Biosteres by Wharton and Marsh (1978: 154) and under Diachasmimorpha by Wharton (1987: 62).

In many of the publications prior to 1988, the species of Diachasmimorpha were placed either in the genus Opius or in the genus Biosteres. Most of the species were included in the subgenus Chilotrichia of Biosteres by Fischer (1977, 1987). Wharton (1987: 62) removed Diachasmimorpha from synonymy and recognized it as a valid genus. Information on synonymies for the genus and the type species can be found in Wharton (1987: 62) and Wharton and Gilstrap (1983).

The name Parasteres continues to be used by some authors, for example as a subgenus of Diachasmimorpha (Yu et al. 2012), but we continue to treat D. tryoni and D. longicaudata in the same species group based in part on ovipositor morphology. We therefore do not treat Parasteres as valid, nor do we recognize subgenera under Diachasmimorpha at this time (as of 2015).

Occipital carina nearly always present laterally (e.g. Diachasmimorpha fullawayi, Figs. 2, 3), though varying in length and virtually absent in some species (e.g. Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron) and Diachasmimorpha sanguinea (Ashmead)). Labrum completely or almost completely concealed by clypeus (Fig. 5); outer surface of clypeus weakly and evenly convex; ventral margin thin and evenly convex to slightly sinuate throughout, rarely weakly bidentate medially. First flagellomere slightly longer than second, except in Diachasmimorpha carinata (Szépligeti). Propleuron always without oblique carina dorsad propleural flange. Notauli deep to midpit and complete throughout in longicaudata species group (Figs. 7, 8), weak to absent posteriorly in all other species (Figs. 2, 3); always unsculptured. Postpectal carina absent. Hind tibia dorso-posteriorly without basal carina. Fore wing (Fig. 9) with second submarginal cell short; m-cu arising distad 2RS. Hind wing (Fig. 10) with RS absent basally, represented at most by a weak crease distally; m-cu long, nearly reaching wing margin, represented by a strong, pigmented crease. Second metasomal tergum striate in many species (Figs 4, 16), metasoma otherwise unsculptured beyond petiole. Ovipositor long to very long, with double dorsal node subapically, distinctly serrate ventrally; ovipositor sinuate subapically in longicaudata species group (Fig. 13).

Diachasmimorpha, as treated here, is best defined on the basis of the fore wing m-cu arising from a shortened second submarginal cell, well-developed hind wing m-cu and 2M, loss of hind wing RS (at least basally), absence of oblique carina ventral-laterally on propleuron, unsculptured notauli, and the long ovipositor with strongly attenuate hypopygium (Figs. 1, 2, 3). Of the known tephritid parasitoids, Diachasmimorpha is most similar in outward appearance to Doryctobracon. The species of Doryctobracon have the fore wing m-cu more basally displaced (arising from the first submarginal cell or directly in line with 2RS), the occipital carina uniformly absent, and the ventral margin of the clypeus weakly to strongly sinuate. The species of Fopius, in addition to having the fore wing m-cu as in Doryctobracon, have sculptured notauli and an oblique carina on the propleuron.

Diachasmimorpha, when treated in the strict sense, is clearly defined as monophyletic by the apically sinuate ovipositor (Wharton 1987, 1988), and the Indo-Australian group of species to which this definition applies (the longicaudata species group) has been recognized as distinctive since the work of Fullaway (1951). Van Achterberg and Maetô (1990) considerably broadened the definition of Diachasmimorpha by including the North American species mellea Gahan and (by implication) other species that do not have a sinuate ovipositor. The most recent treatments (Wharton 1997, van Achterberg 1999) have accepted this broader concept for Diachasmimorpha.

Both New and Old World species groups of Diachasmimorpha occur in several countries in Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina. For example, Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) and D. tryoni, both representatives of the Old World longicaudata species group (Wharton 1997), were established in various parts of Mexico during biological control programs directed against tephritid pests primarily in the genus Anastrepha. Females of the Old World species are readily distinguished from New World Diachasmimorpha because of the sinuate ovipositor (as noted above). The notauli are also more deeply incised posteriorly in the longicaudata species group, which facilitates identification of males in biological control and other tephritid pest management programs.

Considerably more information on species groups, species used in biological control, and some keys can be found in the Paroffit website, beginning with the Diachasmimorpha page [http://mx.speciesfile.org/projects/8/public/public_content/show/13236?content_template_id=88] and by following links to species pages.

Diachasmimorpha, as it is currently recognized and defined, includes species from the Nearctic and northern Neotropical Regions, the Indo-Australian Region (with at least two species extending northward into Japan and the southeastern corner of Russia), and the Afrotropical Region.

This page was assembled by Bob Wharton and Danielle Restuccia. It is part of a review of the genera of World Opiinae, conducted at Texas A&M University. We are particularly grateful to Xanthe Shirley, Andrew Ly, Patricia Mullins, Trent Hawkins, Lauren Ward, Cheryl Hyde, Karl Roeder, and Andrea Walker, who did nearly all of the imaging (together with Danielle) for this project. Matt Yoder and Istvan Miko provided guidance on databasing issues associated with our use of mx and HAO respectively. This project would not have been possible without the kindness of many curators at museums throughout the world who gave generously of their time to Bob Wharton and his students. In particular, I thank Henry Townes (deceased) and David Wahl (American Entomological Institute, Gainesville), Gordon Nishida (Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu), Norm Penny, and Bob Zuparko (California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco), Bill Mason (deceased), Mike Sharkey, Andrew Bennett, and Henri Goulet (Canadian National Collection, Ottawa), Paul Dessart (deceased) (Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels), Marc De Meyer (Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika, Tervuren), Axel Bachmann (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Natureles, Buenos Aires), Eberhard Koenigsmann (deceased) and Frank Koch (Museum fuer Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universitaet, Berlin), J. Casevitz Weulersse and Claire Villemant (Museum National d’Historie Naturelle, Paris), James O’Connor (National Museum of Ireland, Dublin), Jenö Papp (National Museum of Natural History, Budapest), Kees van Achterberg (National Museum of Natural History, Leiden), Max Fischer, Herb Zettel, and Dominique Zimmermann (Naturhistorisches Museum, Wien), Per Persson and Lars-Åke Janzon (Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm), Ermenegildo Tremblay (Silvestri Collection, Portici), Erasmus Haeselbarth (Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Munich), Tom Huddleston and Gavin Broad (The Natural History Museum, London), Paul Marsh and Robert Kula (USDA Systematic Research Laboratory and US National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C.), Vladimir Tobias (deceased) and Sergey Belokobylskij (Zoological Institute, Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg), and Roy Danielsson (Zoological Institute, Department of Systematics, Lund) for facilitating loans and general assistance associated with examination of holotypes and other material in their care. This work was supported largely by NSF/PEET DEB 0328922 and 0949027, with REU supplements 0723663, 1026618, 1213790, and 1313933 (to Wharton). Page last updated July, 2015. The material on this page is freely available, but should be acknowledged if used elsewhere.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers DEB 9300517, DEB (PEET) 9712543, DEB (PEET) 0328922 with REU supplements 0723663 and 1026618 and DEB 0949027 with REU supplements 1213790 and 1313933. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.