BackgroundNumerous studies have investigated cospeciation between parasites and their hosts, but there have been few studies concerning parasitoids and insect hosts. The high diversity and host specialization observed in Anicetus species suggest that speciation and adaptive radiation might take place with species diversification in scale insect hosts. Here we examined the evolutionary history of the association between Anicetus species and their scale insect hosts via distance-based and tree-based methods.ResultsA total of 94 Anicetus individuals (nine parasitoid species) and 113 scale insect individuals (seven host species) from 14 provinces in China were collected in the present study. DNA sequence data from a mitochondrial gene (COI) and a nuclear ribosomal gene (28S D2 region) were used to reconstruct the phylogenies of Anicetus species and their hosts. The distance-based analysis showed a significant fit between Anicetus species and their hosts, but tree-based analyses suggested that this significant signal could be observed only when the cost of host-switching was high, indicating the presence of parasite sorting on related host species.ConclusionsThis study, based on extensive rearing of parasitoids and species identification, provides strong evidence for a prevalence of sorting events and high host specificity in the genus Anicetus, offering insights into the diversification process of Anicetus species parasitizing scale insects.

The oak red scale insect, Kuwania quercus (Kuwana), was described from specimens collected from the bark of oak trees (Quercus species) in Japan. More recently, the species has been identified from California and China, but Californian specimens differ morphologically from Japanese material and are considered here to be a new species based on both morphological and molecular data. In this paper, an illustrated redescription of K. quercus is provided based on type specimens consisting of adult females, first-instar nymphs and intermediate-stage females, and a lectotype is designated for Sasakia quercus Kuwana. The new Californian species, Kuwania raygilli Wu & Gullan, is described and illustrated based on the adult female, first-instar nymph and intermediate-stage female. A new generic diagnosis for Kuwania Cockerell based on adult females and first-instar nymphs, and a key to species based on adult females are included.