Tiny wasps, huge diversity – A review of German Pteromalidae with new generic and species records (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea)

Haas, Michael; Baur, Hannes; Schweizer, Tanja; Monje, Juan; Moser, Marina; Bigalk, Sonia; Krogmann, Lars (2021). Tiny wasps, huge diversity – A review of German Pteromalidae with new generic and species records (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea). Biodiversity Data Journal, 9 Pensoft Publishers 10.3897/BDJ.9.e77092

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Despite their ecological and economic importance, hymenopteran parasitoids are severely understudied. Even in countries with a long taxonomic history such as Germany, dating back to the 18th century and including prolific figures like Christian Gottfired Nees von Esenbeck and Otto Schmiedeknecht, those species-rich groups are seldom the subject of comprehensive research efforts, leaving their true diversity unknown. This is often due to their small size of a few millimetres on average, leading to difficulties in their identification and examination. The chalcidoid family Pteromalidae is no exception to this neglect. So far, 735 species have been reported from Germany. Estimating the diversity of this group is not possible, but it has to be assumed that many more species are still to be discovered in Germany.With this study, we improve the knowledge on pteromalid diversity and present new records of 17 genera and 41 species, previously unknown to occur in Germany. We also match and describe previously unknown sexes of two species, based on DNA barcode data. The results of this study were generated as part of the German Barcode of Life Project. The newly-recorded species are illustrated and notes on the biology and distribution are given. The ecological significance of Pteromalidae and potential value as indicators for nature conservation efforts are briefly discussed.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Review Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Terrestrial Ecology

UniBE Contributor:

Baur, Hannes

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
500 Science

ISSN:

1314-2828

Publisher:

Pensoft Publishers

Language:

English

Submitter:

Hannes Baur

Date Deposited:

16 Mar 2022 15:28

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:13

Publisher DOI:

10.3897/BDJ.9.e77092

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/166838

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/166838

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