Nemesoleius Heinrich, 1949: 87. Type species: Tryphon flavipes Gravenhorst. Original designation. Synonymized under Dentimachus by Townes (1957: 105); and later synonymized under Alcochera by Kaur (1989).
Alcochera Foerster, 1869
Taxonomic History / Nomenclature
Alcochera Foerster, 1869: 205. Type species: Mesoleius nikkoensis Uchida, 1930. Subsequent designation by Townes et al. (1965: 253).
Remarks
Alcochera has been recorded from the Oriental and the Eastern and Western Palaearctic Regions. The biology was apparently unknown as of 2012. The following valid species were included by Yu et al. (2012):
Alcochera aequalis Sheng, 1998
Alcochera albicervicalis Sheng and Fan, 1995
Alcochera flavipes (Gravenhorst, 1829)
Alcochera nikkoensis (Uchida, 1930)
Diagnosis and Relationships
I have not examined specimens of this genus and the following is therefore based on Townes (1970).
Alcochera runs to the end of the mesoleiine key in Townes (1970), and is similar to several other mesoleiines in overall appearance. As in Arbelus, the clypeus is short and wide, with the margin blunt at least medially; the lower tooth of the mandible is distinctly longer than the upper tooth, as in Lagarotis; the epicnemial carina extends to the anterior margin of the mesopleuron, at least in the type species; the notaulus is poorly developed, usually weakly defined on the anterior declivity; propodeal carinae are typical of many mesoleiines: with a broad, well-defined petiolar area from which the somewhat irregular median longitudinal carinae extend to or nearly to the anterior margin and the lateral longitudinal carinae are usually distinct though not as well developed as the pleural carina; longest tibial spur on hind leg about half length of hind basitarsus; fore wing areolet present; and hind wing 1CU about as long as or a little longer than 1cu-a. There appear to be no distinctive characters that can be used to define Alcochera as monophyletic.
According to the description and key in Townes (1970), the dorsal carinae on T! are absent or very weak, “seldom distinct as far back as the spiracle.” However, his figure 101 shows carinae distinctly extending past the spiracle. This is the only character used by Townes (1970: 109) to separate Alcochera from Otlophorus and yet the figures of T! for these two genera suggest the opposite, with the carinae more poorly developed in Otlophorus.
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 as part of a larger collaborative effort on the genera of Ctenopelmatinae. Page last updated May, 2015.
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 thank David Wahl of the American Entomological Institute and Andy Bennett of the Canadian National Collection for extended loans of the material used for this study. We also thank David Wahl for useful feedback throughout our study. 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. Heather Cummins, Caitlin Nessner, Karl Roeder, and Mika Cameron graciously assisted us with 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 and 0923134.
This material is based upon work at Texas A&M University supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DEB 0328922 with REU supplements DEB 0723663 and 0923134. 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.
