Cales (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea): morphology of an enigmatic taxon with a review of species

Abstract

Calesinae is a small group of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera) that are parasitoids of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). One species, Cales noacki Howard, has been introduced from South America into citrus‐growing regions of North America, the Mediterranean and Africa for biological control. The remaining species are found in Australia and New Zealand: a classic Gondwanan disjunction. The subfamily consists of a single genus, Cales, which is currently unplaced within Chalcidoidea. Its taxonomic position has historically been unstable, although most often Cales is associated with Aphelinidae. Here, we present a detailed morphological study of the group with an emphasis on Australian species. Although Cales shares many characteristics with Aphelinidae, especially Coccophaginae and Eretmocerus, more studies of character systems across Chalcidoidea are needed to determine which features may be synapomorphic. Consequently, we leave Cales incertae sedis within Chalcidoidea. We also describe a new species from New Zealand, Cales berryisp.n., reared from the whitefly Asterochiton pittospori on lemonwood, Pittosporum eugenioides, and we present a key and review the four known species of Cales.

Diverse Filters to Sense: Great Variability of Antennal Morphology and Sensillar Equipment in Gall-Wasps (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae)

“…For example, in some Chalcidoidea, SP have a different morphology than in Cynipoidea, being ridge-like with apices free and extending beyond apex of segment [82]. In other Chalcidoidea, however, SP are parallel to the surface and not attached to the antennal surface except proximally [83], similar to putative SP found in Platygastroidea (see below). On the contrary, SP are slightly flatter (though often still a bit more elevated than in Cynipoidea) in Ichneumonoidea, in some cases with longitudinal grooves similarly to those observed by us in some cynipids [26], [74], [75].…”

A phylogenetic analysis of the megadiverse Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera)

“…Basiconic peg sensilla have been called sensilla ampullacea (Voegelé et al., ), multiporous peg sensilla (Barlin et al., ), grooved peg sensilla (Bin et al., ), basiconic capitate peg sensilla (Amornsak et al., ; Onagbola et al., ; Mottern et al., ), type s4 sensilla (Gibson et al., ), and thermo‐hygroreceptive sensilla (van Baaren et al., ). Their shape is highly variable, ranging from long and thin to short and mushroom‐like (cps, Fig.…”

“…Chalcidoidea usually have state 1, but females of Cales (Fig. h) and some Trichogrammatidae have MPS parallel to the flagellomere surface and attached only basally (Mottern et al., ). Acanthochalcis (Chalcididae) and other taxa with sunken MPS (characters 14, 15) were coded as state 1 even though the distal end is not free but recessed into the surface, as for the rest of the sensillum (cf.…”

Survey on whiteflies and their parasitoids in cassava mosaic pandemic areas of Tanzania using morphological and molecular techniques

“…Cales is a small genus of whitefly parasitoids, currently placed in the family Aphelinidae. The species C. noacki has been introduced from South America into citrus‐growing regions of Africa for biological control against the woolly whitefly A. floccosus . In Tanzania, C. noacki was found to parasitise B. tabaci and B. afer.…”