A new species of Eucharissa Westwood (Eucharitidae) from South Africa, with an evaluation of the importance of pupae for assessing relationships in these ant parasitoids

Abstract

Eucharissa (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae) is an enigmatic genus within Chalcidoidea. Adults have at least 16 antennal segments, which is shared only by the closely related genus, Saccharissa, with some species of Eucharissa having as many as 22 antennal segments. At most, other Chalcidoidea have up to 14 segments. Phylogenetic analyses place Eucharissa within the poneromorph-ant attacking clade, but until now, the host and immature stages of this genus were unknown. Eucharissa insolita sp. nov. was discovered in two cocoons of Bothroponera granosa (Ponerinae) from South Africa; one a fully developed male and the other a second-instar larva. The larval exuviae present within the cocoons allowed for description of the life stages and comparison with other members of the poneromorph-attacking clade of Eucharitidae. Morphology of the pupa across Eucharitidae is reviewed, and synapomorphies of the immature stages are identified that support monophyly of the poneromorph-attacking clade within the tribe Eucharitini.