Estudo taxonômico do gênero Emersonella Girault, 1916 (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) em áreas de Mata Atlântica

Abstract

Eulophidae (Hymenoptera) shows a large diversity within the Chalcidoidea superfamily. It is known that most of the individuals belonging to this family are parasitoids. However, understanding their biology becomes, in most cases, a challenge, due to the difficulty in identifying species and the diversity of hosts which are parasitized by these organisms. They parasitize from eggs to adults of different organisms such as insects, mites and nematodes. The Emersonella Girault, 1916 genus has exclusively American distribution, with the largest number of species in the Neotropical Region. It consists mainly of species which mainly parasitize Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae eggs. The aim of this study was to know the Emersonella species in areas of the Atlantic Forest domain, describe and record new Brazilian species and, their hosts and elaborate a dichotomous identification key. We analyzed specimens obtained from different types of collection. The rated material consisted of 357 Emersonella specimens, which resulted in 17 species, eight of which are new to science. Six species were marked as new distribution record for Brazil: E. acidota, E. fuscipennis, E. mediofasciata, E. rotunda, E. palmae and E. planiscuta. New parasitoid / host associations were established: E. planiscuta [Mesomphalia retipennis, Stolas sp. (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae)] and E. pubipennis [Omaspides pallidipennis (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae)]. And finally, a dichotomous key was made in order to identify the species found.