Two new species of aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) from the high arctic (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)

• Published in: Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology
• Main Authors: Chaubet, Bernard, Derocles, Stephane A. P., Hullé, Maurice, Le Ralec, Anne, Outreman, Yannick, Simon, Jean-Christophe, Tomanovic, Zeljko
• Other Authors: Institut de Génétique, Environnement et Protection des Plantes (IGEPP), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de Rennes (UR)-AGROCAMPUS OUEST, Fac Biol, University of Belgrade Belgrade, French Polar Institute (Institut Paul Emile Victor) 426, Serbian Ministry of Education and Science III43001
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: SP-N; EUROPE; INVERTEBRATES; GENE; LIFE-CYCLE; ACYRTHOSIPHON-SVALBARDICUM; Spitsbergen; New species; Aphid parasitoids; Insect biodiversity; Arctic environments; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Arctic; Svalbard; Svalbard Archipelago; Main Island
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01208642; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2012.03.001

International audience The high arctic Svalbard archipelago is characterized by a low insect species richness explained by both extreme living conditions and insularity. Here, we described two new species of Hymenopteran parasitoids found in Spitsbergen, the main island of Svalbard, using aphids as hosts. We named the first one Diaeretellus svalbardicum (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) because of morphological similarities with other European members of the Diaeretellus genus. D. svalbardicum parasitizes exclusively the aphid Acyrthosiphon svalbardicum, a species endemic to Svalbard. We also reported in D. svalbardicum a unique case of wing polymorphism with macropterous and micropterous forms in both genders. We named the second newly described parasitoid species Aphidius leclanti because of morphological similarities with other members of the Aphidius genus. Contrarily to D. svalbardicum, A. leclanti exploits the only two aphid species regularly found in Spitsbergen, A. svalbardicum and Sitobion calvulum. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.