The Wharton Lab

Absyrtus Holmgren, 1859: 323. Type species: Absyrtus luteus Holmgren, 1859 [a junior subjective synonym of Ichneumon vicinator Thunberg, 1822; synonymized by Roman (1912): 288]. Monobasic.

Eczetesis Foerster (1869): 196. Type species: Perilissus paniscoides Ashmead, 1896, based on subsequent inclusion by Davis (1897): 253. Genus synonymized by Cushman (1922): 2.

The following extant species were included by Yu et al. (2005):
Absyrtus arealis Cushman, 1924. Nearctic.
Absyrtus paniscoides (Ashmead, 1896). Nearctic.
Absyrtus perilissoides Cushman, 1924. Nearctic.
Absyrtus veridicator Aubert, 1979. southern Palaearctic.
Absyrtus vernalis Bauer, 1971. Palaearctic.
Absyrtus vicinator (Thunberg, 1822). Palaearctic.

The Nearctic species were revised by Cushman (1924). The three Nearctic species are distinguished from one another primarily by difference in propodeal carination.

The above description is based on the three Nearctic species plus one specimen from Niger.

The defining feature is the thickened 2-1A vein of the fore wing (Fig. 1), which is angled or curved near the middle of the first subdiscal cell. This vein is straight or evenly curved in nearly all other genera of Perilissini. As noted by Townes (1970), the species of Absyrtus are not otherwise readily separated from some Perilissus.

Clypeus with ventral margin thick and mostly blunt medially; weakly toothed laterally in females of some species, usually less so in males, ventral margin appearing weakly concave in specimens where lateral tooth evident, otherwise varying from truncate to weakly convex; epistomal sulcus very weak, barely perceptible in some specimens. Malar space absent or nearly so. Mandible with ventral tooth longer than dorsal tooth. Ocelli large, lateral ocellus longer than distance between ocellus and eye. Palps and antennae long; maxillary palps longer than height of head; female antennae longer than body; first flagellomere with small tyloid containing 15 or fewer sensilla. Hypostomal carina joining occipital carina well before base of mandible; occipital carina complete. Dorsal end of epicnemial carina distant from anterior margin of mesopleuron. Notaulus varying from weakly impressed on anterior declivity to absent. U-shaped groove very distinct between propodeum and metanotum in lateral view; pleural carina usually complete, well-developed (Fig. 2), but weak, incomplete (absent medially) in one of the specimens examined; propodeal carinae varying from completely absent or nearly so in most species (Fig. 2) to well developed in A. perilissoides, which has a pair of median longitudinal carinae forming a parallel-sided, rectangular areola and sometimes with a complete posterior transverse carina. Apex of mid tibia with small tooth similar to fore tibia in at least some species; apex of hind tibia with well-developed comb; posterior hind tibial spur at least 7x longer than maximum width at base; tarsal claws completely pectinate. Fore wing areolet present; Rs+2r arising near middle of stigma; 2-1A bulging posteriorly in middle of first subdiscal cell (Fig. 3), the bulge usually thickened or tuberculate. Hind wing with first abscissa of CU1 quite variable, either distinctly longer than 1cu-a (rare), nearly equal in length to 1cu-a (common), or distinctly shorter than 1cu-a (common). T1 (Fig. 2) long, slender, without dorsal carinae, dorsal surface weakly to moderately arched; no median basal depression at dorsal tendon attachment; dorsal-lateral carina extending through spiracle to apex of T1; glymmae on each side meeting on the midline posterior to dorsal tendon attachment, large, deep, separated at midline by translucent partition. T2 thyridium absent; short longitudinal carina extending less than half distance towards T2 spiracle from base; laterotergites of T2 and T3 completely separated by creases. Ovipositor straight, short, broad, with deep subapical notch (Fig. 4); ovipositor sheath rounded and weakly pointed apically. Male parameres weakly excavated medially, attenuate apically to form short, slender, rounded projections, these never as slender and pointed as in Mesochorinae and some Neurogenia; aedeagus rounded and weakly clubbed distally, with a short, thick, ventral spine on each side in some species (Fig. 5).

The known species are slender, long-legged, and pale yellow-orange with a black ocellar area.

According to Townes (1970) this is a Holarctic genus. There are six valid, extant species: three Nearctic and three Palaearctic (including A. veridicator Aubert distributed from Morocco to Israel along the southern margin of the Mediterranean). Brues (1910) also described a fossil species from Colorado (USA) and placed it in this genus.

Two of the Palaearctic species have been reared from Tenthredinidae, with three species of Macrophya recorded by as hosts by Aubert (2000) and Tenthredo rubricoxis recorded by Hinz (1961). I have not seen the publications by Gyoefi listed by Yu et al. (2005) with lepidopteran host records (Gyoerfi 1943 and Gyoerfi 1958), but I regard these as suspect and in need of verification.

The Nearctic species apparently have not been reared.

This page was assembled by Bob Wharton as part of a larger collaborative effort on the genera of Ctenopelmatinae. This work would not have been possible without the groundwork provided by Ian Gauld’s study of the Australian and Costa Rican faunas, and we are particularly grateful for his assistance in many aspects of this study. We also thank David Wahl for useful feedback throughout our study and Gavin Broad for exchange of information on Perilissini. Matt Yoder provided considerable assistance with databasing issues, and our use of PURLs (http://purl.oclc.org) in this regard follows the example of their use in publications by Norm Johnson. Andrea Walker, Caitlin Nessner, Patricia Mullins, Heather Cummins, Amanda Ladigo, and Cheryl Hyde graciously assisted with image capture, processing, formatting, and literature retrieval. This study was supported by the National Science Foundation’s PEET program under Grant No. DEB 0328922 and associated REU supplement nos DEB 0723663, 0923134, and 1026618. Page last updated June, 2011.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DEB 0328922 with REU supplements DEB 0723663, 0923134, and 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.