The Wharton Lab

Eurytenes Foerster, 1862: 259. Type species Opius abnormis Wesmael, 1835 (monobasic and original designation).

Eurytenes: Fischer 1972: 60, 472 (keys to genera of Opiinae and redescription of Eurytenes).
Eurytenes: Wharton 1988: 339, 341, 352, 357 (relationships).
Eurytenes: Fischer 1998: 21 (expanded concept).

Type locality of abnormis: Brussels; primary type in Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Brussels

Valid genus

Eurytenes was originally described by Foerster (1862) to accommodate Opius abnormis Wesmael, 1835, a species with distinctive wing venation. Despite numerous changes in opiine classification since Foerster (1862), including treatment of most of his proposed generic names as synonyms (e. g. Szépligeti 1904, Gahan 1915, Fischer 1972), Eurytenes has almost universally been treated as a valid genus (see Quicke et al. 1997 for an exception). Wharton (1988) broadened the concept of Eurytenes by including Opius macrocerus Thomson, 1895, and Fischer (1998) expanded the concept further, proposing six subgenera (Eurytenes s. s., Jucundopius Fischer, 1984; Stigmatopoea Fischer, 1986; Xynobiotenes Fischer, 1998; Oetzalotenes Fischer, 1998; Opiotenes Fischer, 1998). Fischer (1998) included 16 species, and 11 others have been added through 2012 (Chen and Weng 2005, Wu and Chen 2006, Walker and Wharton 2011, Wharton et al. 2012). Van Achterberg (2004) recognized Xynobius Foerster, 1862 as a valid genus and transferred Stigmatopoea to it but did not discuss Eurytenes. Wharton (2006) placed Xynobius as a subgenus of Eurytenes. Eurytenes s. s. is defined by the attachment of the radial cross-vein (= r) to the extreme base of the stigma. In the remaining subgenera of Eurytenes s. l. (Xynobius, Jucundopius, Stigmatopoea, Xynobiotenes, Oetzalotenes, and Opiotenes), r arises more distally along the stigma.

Wharton (1988, 2006), Fischer (1998), and Wu and Chen (2006) provide diagnoses for Eurytenes s. s. and s. l. Wu and Chen (2006) were the first to use morphological features other than color for discriminating between species of Eurytenes s. s.

Eurytenes s. s. is separated from all other opiines by the position of fore wing r arising from the extreme base of the stigma, with stigma long, narrow, weakly expanded apically (Figure 1).

Head: Antenna filiform, longer than body. Frons, vertex, and temple smooth, shiny; frons bare, vertex and upper temple nearly so. Labrum exposed. Clypeus weakly to distinctly protruding in profile. Malar sulcus deeply impressed. Mandible gradually to somewhat more abruptly widening from apex to base, carinate ventrally over most of basal half, never with distinct basal tooth as in Opius s. s. Maxillary palp longer than head, reaching mid coxa. Occipital carina present laterally, extending dorsal-medially at least to level of inner eye margin, broadly absent mid-dorsally; widely separated from hypostomal carina at base of mandible.

Mesosoma: Pronotum dorsally with narrow, transverse, crenulate sulcus extending continuously along lateral pronotum to ventral corner; weak to deep median pit interrupting sulcus dorsally. Mesoscutum in profile with anterior declivity very slightly concave, nearly vertical; notaulus present on anterior portion of mesoscutal disc, angled laterally at anterior end, laterally-directed portion carinate along anterior margin; notaulus continuous with weakly to distinctly crenulate impression bordering lateral mesoscutal margin, the impression extending posteriorly at least to level of tegula; midpit of mesoscutum well-developed, discrete. Scutellar sulcus narrow, though not exceptionally so, 3-4 times wider than mid-length, crenulate, with numerous closely-spaced ridges. Mesopleuron smooth, shiny, posterior margin not crenulate; precoxal sulcus distinctly impressed, crenulate. Propodeum with large median areola, variously obscured by sculpture.

Wings: Slightly more than twice as long as wide. Stigma long, very narrow, nearly parallel-sided basally, widening distally; thickest part of stigma twice maximum width of proximal half. Radial cross-vein® thickened, weakly to strongly bowed anteriorly, arising from extreme base of stigma, nearly in line with 3RSa; RS+M weakly to distinctly sinuate; second submarginal cell nearly parallel-sided, not or only very weakly converging distally; m-cu nearly always postfurcal, entering second submarginal cell; 2CUa distinct, shorter than 2cu-a. Hind wing with both RS and M distinct nearly to wing margin, usually nebulous: very weakly pigmented; m-cu varying from indistinct in smaller individuals to present in larger individuals as a weakly pigmented impression extending more than half way to wing margin.
Legs: Hind femur slender, dorsal surface uneven, somewhat bilobed.

Metasoma: Petiole (T1) with distinct dorsope; dorsal and lateral surface densely striate to strigose, largely obscuring dorsal carinae except at base; spiracle of T1 located at or slightly posteriad mid-length; sternite short but distinct, extending 0.4-0.5 distance between base of T1 and spiracle. Metasoma posteriad petiole pyriform, unsculptured, with row of setae evenly spaced on posterior margin of tergites; T2 spiracle laterally displaced. Ovipositor nearly straight, without dorsal node; ovipositor sheath setose throughout.

Canada to Mexico and throughout the Palaearctic Region.

Parasitoids of Agromyzidae.

This page was assembled by Bob Wharton as part of a revision of the New World Eurytenes s. s. published by Walker and Wharton (2011). We are most grateful to the following curators or collection managers and institutions for providing access to material used in this study: David Wahl (AEI), Paul Dessart (deceased, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique), Bill Mason (deceased, Canadian National Collection), Jeno Papp (Natural Museum of Natural History, Budapest), Max Fischer and Herbert Zettel (NHMW), Paul Marsh and Bob Kula (USNM), and John Sivinski (USDA/ARS, Gainesville, Florida). We also thank Matt Yoder (working NC State University during that time) for his support with mx and two anonymous reviewers for useful suggestions. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation Partnerships for the Enhancement and Education in Taxonomy (NSF-PEET) Grant DEB 0328922 and associated REU supplement 1026618. Page last significantly updated February, 2013. The material on this page is freely available, but should be acknowledged if used elsewhere.

This material is based upon work at Texas A&M University supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DEB 0328922 and associated REU supplement 1026618. 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.