The description of Euceroptrinae, a new subfamily of Figitidae (Hymenoptera), including a revision of Euceroptres Ashmead, 1896 and the description of a new species

Abstract

The figitid genus Euceroptres Ashmead has recently been determined to render the Thrasorinae, a subfamily where the genus is currently classified, paraphyletic. To maintain the monophyly of Thrasorinae, Euceroptres is here redescribed and placed in its own subfamily, Euceroptrinae. All known species are redescribed and a new species is described; a lectotype is designated for E. primus Ashmead, 1896. The phylogenetics of Euceroptrinae, Parnipinae, Plectocynipinae and Thrasorinae are discussed, and the hypothesis that ancestral lineages of figitids attacked gall-inducing Hymenoptera is supported. Agastoparasitism among these lineages appears to be plesiomorphic. Though branch support is relatively low for inferring the precise branching order of the gall-inducer parasite lineages, the classification of problematic species is much improved.