Biodiversity Data Journal :
Taxonomic Paper
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Corresponding author: Jonah M Ulmer (jonah.ulmer@gmail.com)
Academic editor: Jose Fernandez-Triana
Received: 01 Feb 2018 | Accepted: 10 Apr 2018 | Published: 17 Apr 2018
© 2018 Jonah Ulmer, Istvan Miko, Andrew Deans
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Ulmer JM, Miko I, Deans AR (2018) Ceraphron krogmanni (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronidae), a new species from Lower Saxony with unusual male genitalia. Biodiversity Data Journal 6: e24173. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e24173
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Male genitalia phenotypes of Ceraphron (Jurine, 1807) are informative for species delimitation, but due to their minute size, these characters have not been used extensively. Recent developments in visualisation techniques, e.g. confocal laser scanning microscopy and high resolution bright field imaging, allow for more thorough examination of these minute anatomical structures and the development of a robust, male genitalia-based taxonomic system. We also establish a character set, a template, that will facilitate future revisions of these wasps.
Ceraphron krogmanni sp. nov. is described with outsized male genitalia and multiple diagnostic traits that are unique amongst Ceraphron species.
Ceraphron, morphology, taxonomy, genitalia
The family Ceraphronidae holds 302 species, classified in 14 genera. More than 90% of the species belong in two genera, Ceraphron (n=185) and Aphanogmus (n=94) (
The external morphology of Ceraphronoidea is monotonous relative to other microhymenoptera (e.g. other taxa in Proctotrupomorpha;
After decades of dysfunction in Ceraphron taxonomy (the last species, C. bestiola, was described 22 years ago, based on a single female specimen from Switzerland by
Specimens were examined and dissected under an Olympus SZX16 stereomicroscope, with an Olympus SDF PL APO 1× PF objective (115×) and an SDF PL APO 2× PFC Objective (230×). Dissections were performed using #2 insect pins and Rubis 5A-SA forceps. Genitalia were removed and placed on to a separate concave slide in glycerol. Diagnostic measurements were performed on the specimens and genitalia using a KR 851 stage micrometer attached to the examination stereomicroscope.
Bright field images were taken with an Olympus ZX41 compound microscope and attached Olympus DP71 digital camera. Genitalia were imaged in glycerol and specimens, including dissected segments, were imaged on Bostik Blu-Tack Reusable Adhesive (Ellsworth Adhesives, Germantown, WI, USA) to stabilise and position for imaging. Images were aligned using Zerene Stacker Version 1.04 Build T201404082055. Annotation and colour correction was performed in Adobe Photoshop CS4.
Genitalia were imaged using an Olympus FV10i Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM) following the protocol from
Specimen data, including figures and character states were imported to MX (http://mx.phenomix.org). The diagnostic characters, description and materials examined were autogenerated by the same content management system. Morphological terms used in the description and diagnosis are derived from phenotype class based ontologies.
All phenotypic descriptions were expressed as semantic statements using Protégé Version 5.0.0 (Build beta 17) using the method provided by
The holotype is deposited at the State Museum of Natural History (SMNS) in Stuttgart, Germany and the paratype will be retained at the Pennsylvania State University Frost Entomological Museum (PSUC).
Body length universal: 0.9—1.1 mm.
Colour hue pattern female: NOT CODED. Colour intensity pattern female: NOT CODED. Colour hue pattern male: brownish, legs yellowish, fore wing brown, with a transverse discoloured band at level of stigmal vein. Colour intensity pattern male: flagellum, tibiae and tarsi lighter than scape, pedicel, mandible, tegula, coxae and femora.
Foveolate sculpture on body count: present on mesosoma and frons. Head width vs. head height: HW:HH=0.9—1.0. Head width vs. interorbital space (HW/IOS) Female: NOT CODED. Head width vs. interorbital space (HW/IOS) Male: 1.4—1.5. Head width vs. head length lateral view (HW / HL): 1.6. Maximum eye diameter vs. minimum eye diameter: 1.1—1.2. Dorsal carina of occipital depression presence: absent. Dorsal carina of occipital depression medial continuity: NOT CODED. Occipital carina sculpture: smooth (Fig.
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM) image of male genitalia.
Mesosoma shape: not compressed laterally, as wide as high or wider than high (Fig.
Median conjunctiva of male T9 count: absent. Row of short setae delimiting apical, cercus-bearing area of male T9: present. Male T10 shape: folded along median weakly sclerotised line. Median part of male S8 structure: not constricted medially, distal margin concave. Anterior margin shape of male S9: concave. Proximal margin part of male S9 shape: concave. Male S9 distal setal line / setal patch count: distal setae composing transverse setiferous line(s). Distomedian, hairless area (interrupting transverse row of setae or patch) on abdominal sternum 9 count: present (distal setiferous patch / line separated medially). Distal margin of male S9 shape: straight. Proximolateral corner of male S9 shape: acute. proximal lobe of vas deferens: NOT CODED. Distodorsal margin of cupula shape: straight (Fig.
Flagellar scrobe of the scape count: absent. Male flagellomeres shape: cylindric. 6th male flagellomere length vs. width, "sensillar" view: short, 1—1.4 times as long as wide. Length of setae on male flagellomere vs. male flagellomere width: setae shorter than width of flagellomeres. Male F1 length vs. pedicel length: 2.5—3.0. Male scape length vs. combined length of F1+F2: longer or equal. Whorled rows of erect, elongate setae on male flagellomeres count: absent. Male F6 length vs. combined length of F7+F8: Shorter than length of flagellomere 7+8. Male F1 length vs. male F2 length: 1.2—1.4. Male scape length vs. pedicel length: 4.1—4.3. Number of flagellomeres with male specific ventral sensilla: F5—9. Multiporous plates on male flagellomeres count: present. Male flagellomere branches count: None (Fig.
Based on the presence of sickle-shaped sensilla on the male flagellomeres and the dorsoventrally compressed mesosoma (wider in dorsal view and high in lateral view), the new species belongs to the genus Ceraphron. Ceraphron krogmanni differs from all other Ceraphron species by the presence of a proximomedial harpal brush (mhb:Fig.
The species epithet is a patronym, honouring Lars Krogmann, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, who collected the specimens observed in this study.
We thank Lars Krogmann, Naturkunde Museum Stuttgart for making this material available for study, Missy Hazen (Penn State Huck Institute of the Life Sciences, Microscopy and Cytometry Facility) for her assistance in Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy and James Balhoff for his help in generating semantic statements in OWL and Matthew J. Yoder for his assistance with MX and the HAO portal. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, under Grant Numbers DBI-1356381 and DEB-1353252. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.