Taxonomic studies on the family Tiphiidae (Hymenoptera Vespoidea) of Kerala state

Abstract

Tiphiidae is a large, worldwide family of solitary wasps in 200 genera with more than 2,000 species placed in 7 subfamilies, namely, Anthoboscinae, Brachycistidinae, Diamminae, Methochinae, Myzininae, Thynninae and Tiphiinae. They are mostly external parasitoids of beetle larvae. The females in some subfamilies are wingless. The present study focusses to taxonomically identify Tiphiidae species from Kerala. The present investigation brought into light 40 species from 4 genera, representing 3 subfamilies from the study area. Ten species new to science namely, Methocha keralaensis Hanima & Girsh Kumar, Methocha krombeini Hanima, Girish Kumar & Binoy, Methocha paraceylonica Hanima, Girish Kumar & Binoy, Tiphia (Tiphia) bijui Hanima & Girish Kumar, Tiphia (T.) davidrajui Hanima & Girish Kumar, Tiphia (T.) kashmirensis Hanima & Girish Kumar, Tiphia (T.) kurumba Hanima & Girish Kumar, Tiphia (T.) novus Hanima & Girish Kumar, Tiphia (T.) rajeevani Hanima & Girish Kumar, Tiphia (T.) shajii Hanima & Girish Kumar were described and published from Kerala. Two species namely, Mesa keralaensis sp. nov. and Tiphia (T.) crassumpunctura sp. nov. are described as new in the thesis. Also 9 species such as Methocha taprobane Krombein, Methocha ubiquita Krombein, Tiphia (T.) consueta Smith, Tiphia (T.) flavipalpis Allen, Tiphia (T.) godavariae Allen, Tiphia (T.) lotharae Allen, Tiphia (T.) lyrata Magretti, Tiphia (T.) milleri Allen, and Tiphia (T.) nepa Allen, were newly recorded from India. This study also provides dichotomous key of all the Indian tiphiids and also illustrating all the species found from the Kerala. The distribution to species of all genera are produced using Online QGIS. The present study led to the publication of one monograph, six international papers, two book chapters, and one online publication.