Rhogadopsis Brethes, 1913

Taxonomic History / Nomenclature
Rhogadopsis Brethes, 1913: 44-45. Type species: Rhogadopsis miniacea Brethes, 1913 (monobasic).

Type locality of type species: Argentina, Buenos Aires; lectotype female in Buenos Aires, designated by Wharton (1987).

Treated as a synonym of Opius s. l. by De Santis (1967); proposed by Wharton (1987) as a senior synonym of Opius (Lissosema Fischer, 1972), belonging to the tucumanus species group of Fischer (1972). More recently elevated to generic rank by Li et al. (2013).

Diagnosis and Relationships
Rhogadopsis and Lissosema were characterized in Fischer’s (1972) classification of subgenera of Opius s.l. on the basis of the absence of a mesoscutal midpit (Fig. 2), presence of a precoxal sulcus (Fig. 6), an exposed labrum (Fig. 1), fore wing m-cu postfurcal (Figs 4, 5), absence of sculpture on the top of the head and on metasomal terga 2 and 3, a sculptured propodeum (Figs 3, 7), and the posterior margin of the mesopleuron without crenulations dorsally (Fig. 6). Li et al. (2013), on the other hand, emphasized characters not used by Fischer (1972) when they redefined Rhogadopsis and elevated it to generic rank. Li et al. (2013) continued to treat Lissosema as a synonym of Rhogadopsis while defining Rhogadopsis on the basis of the presence of a median longitudinal carina on the propodeum (Fig. 7) and fore wing venation in which 1m-cu and 2M do not form a distinct angle but more gradually merge with one another (Figs 4, 5).

The type species of Rhogadopsis additionally has the dorsal tooth of the mandible much larger than the tiny ventral tooth (Fig. 1); the mandible with a strong carina forming the entire ventral margin, but lacking a basal tooth or lobe ventrally; a very slightly protruding clypeus (Fig. 1); occipital and hypostomal carinae very widely separated at the base of the mandible, with hypostomal carina distinctly protruding as a flange beneath the mandible; a deep, narrow malar sulcus (Fig. 1); notauli short, transverse, deep and crenulate; precoxal sulcus about as in Fig. 6: short, broad, crenulate ventrally and somewhat more rugose dorsally; posterior margin of mesopleuron crenulate ventrally but smooth dorsally (Fig. 6); metapleuron smooth medially but with crenulate anterior margin and foveolate ventral, dorsal, and posterior margins; propodeum reticulate/rugose as in Figs 3 and 7, with the median longitudinal carina present but not easily differentiated from surrounded sculpture; T1 with laterope deep and round, dorsope absent but dorsal carinae well developed and extending full length of T1.

Figs 1-5 are of the lectotype of Rhogadopsis miniacea. Figs. 6 and 7 are of a specimen compared with the type that has very similar mesopleuron, metapleuron, and propodeum, but which lacks the distinctive fore wing venation.

21540_mximage
1. Rhogadopsis miniacea lectotype face...
21543_mximage
2. Rhogadopsis miniacea lectotype dorsal v...
21544_mximage
3. Rhogadopsis miniacea lectotype metasom...
21568_mximage
4. Rhogadopsis miniacea lectotype wings...
21569_mximage
5. Rhogadopsis miniacea lectotype wings...
23428_mximage
6. Opius mesopleuron and me...
23432_mximage
7.Opius propodeum
 
Distribution
No referenced distribution records have been added to the database for this OTU.
Map

There are no specimens currently determined for this OTU, or those specimens determined for this OTU are not yet mappable.

Acknowledgements
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 August, 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.