How to translate text using browser tools
1 July 2012 DNA Barcodes and Targeted Sampling Methods Identify a New Species and Cryptic Patterns of Host Specialization Among North American Coptera (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae)
Andrew A. Forbes, Serdar Satar, Gabriela Hamerlinck, Amanda E. Nelson, James J. Smith
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Fewer than half of the 80–100 North American species in parasitoid genus Coptera Say (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae) have been described. Hosts are known for just nine of these. The taxonomy of Coptera has been complicated by its cryptic morphology and a life history that includes parasitism of pupae beneath the surface of soils. Here, we describe collections targeting the host genus with which Coptera have most frequently been associated: flies in genus Rhagoletis (Loew) (Diptera: Tephritidae). DNA barcodes, morphology, and ecology (host associations) were used to understand species limits for Coptera collected from Rhagoletis. Four species of Coptera were recovered from five species of Rhagoletis, including a new species: Coptera n. sp. 1. Two of the associations with particular species of Rhagoletis were previously unknown, and no two species of Coptera were found to be attacking the same host, suggesting these four Coptera are specialist parasites. As several of the 25 North American species of Rhagoletis are agricultural pests, a better understanding of their natural associations with Coptera may prove valuable to biological control efforts.

© 2012 Entomological Society of America
Andrew A. Forbes, Serdar Satar, Gabriela Hamerlinck, Amanda E. Nelson, and James J. Smith "DNA Barcodes and Targeted Sampling Methods Identify a New Species and Cryptic Patterns of Host Specialization Among North American Coptera (Hymenoptera: Diapriidae)," Annals of the Entomological Society of America 105(4), 608-612, (1 July 2012). https://doi.org/10.1603/AN12012
Received: 24 January 2012; Accepted: 1 April 2012; Published: 1 July 2012
JOURNAL ARTICLE
5 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
biological control
cryptic species
genetic barcode
parasitoid
Rhagoletis
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top