Species of the Pelecinidae Family (Insecta: Hymenoptera) as Parasitoids of Melolonthinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Larvae

Species of Pelecanidae have been reared on larvae of Melolonthinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), especially in species of Phyllophagous, and apparently Pelecinus polyturator (Drury, 1773) (Hymenoptera: Pelecanidae). It is a solitary koinobiont endoparasitoid of Phyllophaga anxia (LeConte, 1850), P. polyturator, Podischnus rugosa (Melsheimer, 1846) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Melolonthinae) and has been bred from Podischnus agenor (Olivier, 1789) (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Dynastinae). The structure and movements of the metasoma in the female of P. polyturator. The genus Pelecinus and recognize three species. Females introduce the ovipositor into the soil to reach the beetle larva, flies, green lacewings, and sawflies. The objective is to describe the Pelecinidae Family (Insecta: Hymenoptera) as parasitoids of Melolonthinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) larvae. The bibliographic search used the following databases: Biological Abstract (https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/biological-abstracts), Academia.edu (https://www.academia.edu   Researchgate (https://www.researchgate.net/) and Frontiers (http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/<DOI>). The articles were published from 2002 to 2022 in indexed scientific research, book scientific chapters, these banks, university dissertations, national and international scientific articles, scientific journals, documents and even in general journals when considered of interest.

The family Pelecinidae belongs to a superfamily Proctotrupoidea is a Hymenoptera superfamily containing seven extant families: Austroniidae (Australasian), Heloridae (Worldwide), Pelecinidae (Nearctic and Neotropical), Peradeniidae (Australasian), Proctorenyxidae (Eastern Oriental and Palaearctic), Proctotrupidae (Worldwide), Roproniidae (Nearctic and Palaearctic) Vanhorniidae (Nearctic, Oriental and Palaearctic). Though others have been recognized in the past, most of these have been removed to a recently erected superfamily Diaprioidea. Of the remaining families, only Proctotrupidae contains a substantial number of species, with over 400 described. The others are small, often relict groups. The superfamily is Proctotrupoidea endoparasitoids of the beetle larva (Coleoptera) or less commonly fly larva (Mycetophilidae: Diptera).

The biology of this genus is poorly understood, despite its present conspicuous size. Species of Pelecinidae have been reared on larvae of Melolonthinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), especially in species of Phyllophaga and apparently P. polyturator. It is a solitary coenobiont endoparasitoid of Phyllophaga anxia (LeConte, 1850).

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2.        Sousa AFA, Nascimento AC, Tavares MT, Fernandes DRR. New records of Pelecinus polyturator (Drury) (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea: Pelecinidae) for Brazil. Rev Chil Entomol. 2020; 46: 739-743.

3.        Lara RIR, Perioto NW. Seasonality of Pelecinus polyturator (Drury) (Hymenoptera, Pelecinidae) in the Atlantic Rainforest of São Paulo State, Brazil. Rev Bras Entomol. 2014; 58: 63-65.

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6.        Sobczak JF, Padua DG, Schoeninger K, Somavilla A, Bartolomay PR. List of wasps from Ceara, Fortaleza: Secretariat of the Environment of Ceará. 2021; 1.

7.        Soares AWA, Padua DG, Sobczak JF. First record of Pelecinus polyturator (Drury, 1773) (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae) from Ceara state, Brazil. Entomol Commun. 2022; 4.

8.        Shih C, Hua F, Chenxi Z, Ren Y, Dongb YR. Morphology, Phylogeny, Evolution, and Dispersal of Pelecinid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae) Over 165 million Years. Ann Entomol Soc Am.  2010; 103: 875–885.

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11.     Engel MS, Grimaldi DA, Ortega-Blanco J. Zoropelecinus zigrasi, a pelecinid wasp in mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae). Nov Palaeontol. 2013; 4: 1-10.

12.     Feng H, Shih C, Ren D, Liu C. New male pelecinid wasps (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae) from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning (China). Geol Carpat. 2010; 61: 463–468.

13.     Greenwalt D, Angel MS. A diminutive pelecinid wasp from the Eocene Kishenehn Formation of northwestern Montana (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae). Nov Palaeontol. 2014; 8.

14.     Liu C, Gao T, Shih C, Ren D. New pelecinid wasps (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea: Pelecinidae) from the Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning, China. Acta Geol Sin. 2011; 85: 749-757.

15.     Liu C, Shih C, Ren D. The earliest fossil record of the wasp subfamily Pelecininae (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea: Pelecinidae) from the Yixian Formation of China. Zootaxa. 2009; 2080: 47–54.

16.     Shih CC, Ren D. The earliest fossil record of pelecinid wasp: (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupoidea: Pelecinidae) from Inner Mongolia, China. Ann Entomol Soc Am. 2009; 102: 20–23.

17.     Jouault C. Mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber pelecinid wasps (Hymenoptera, Pelecinidae) support the hypothesis of an Asian origin of the family. Ann Palaeontol. 2021; 107.

18.      Feng H, Shih CRD, Liu CDL. New male pelecinid wasps (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae) from the Yixian Formation of western Liaoning (China). Geol Carpat. 2010; 61: 463–468.

19.     Guo LS, Li C, Long F, Ren D. New pelecinid wasps (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae) from Upper Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Cretac Res. 2016; 67: 84–90.

20.     Engel MS, Grimaldi DA. A Diminutive Pelecinid Wasp in Cretaceous Amber from New Jersey (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae). Northeast Nat. 2016; 13: 291-297.

21       Marchiori CH. Mutualistic relationship of the Agaonidae Family (Insecta: Hymenoptera) with Ficus sp. (Moraceae) contributing to diversity and sustainability in tropical forests. Int J of Sch Res in Sci and Tech, 2022; 01: 001–030.

22      Soares AWA, Padua SDG, Sobczak JS. First record of Pelecinus polyturator (Drury, 1773) (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae) from Ceará state, Brazil. Entomol Commun. 2022; 4.     

23   Sobczak JF, Vasconcellos JN. Families of Hymenoptera parasitoids in Serra do Japi, Jundiai, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Arq Inst Biol. 2015; 82: 1-4.