Descriptions of Two New Species of Encarsia (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) and Mitochondrial Genome Analysis of Three Species of the Genus

TL;DR

This paper describes two new species of Encarsia wasps from China and analyzes their mitochondrial genomes to better understand their evolutionary relationships.

Contribution

The paper introduces two new Encarsia species and provides their mitochondrial genomes, enhancing genetic and taxonomic knowledge of the genus.

Findings

Two new Encarsia species, E. cinnamomi and E. ophiopogonis, were described from Fujian, China.

The mitochondrial genomes of the two new species and E. diaspidicola were sequenced and show a strong A + T bias.

Phylogenetic analysis supports Aphelinidae as a sister group to Torymidae.

Abstract

Species of Encarsia (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) are primary parasitoids of whiteflies and armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae, Diaspididae, respectively). Several species of Encarsia have been successfully employed in biological control programs against agricultural pests. As the largest genus within the family Aphelinidae, Encarsia currently comprises 473 described species worldwide, including more than 100 species recorded in China. To date, only three mitochondrial genomes have been reported within Aphelinidae, of Encarsia formosa, E. obtusiclava and E. agona. Here we describe two new Encarsia species from Fujian, China, document their host associations, and present the mitochondrial genomes of these two new species as well as E. diaspidicola.

Two new species of the genus Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), E. cinnamomi Wang & Huang, sp.n. and E. ophiopogonis Wang & Huang, sp.n., are described and illustrated from Fujian, China. The mitochondrial genomes of these two new species and E. diaspidicola are sequenced (14,049 bp, 14,746 bp and 14,849 bp, respectively), both showing a strong A + T bias (84.1%, 84.7% and 84.8% respectively). We infer the phylogenies of several Encarsia species of Aphelinidae and other family of Chalcidoidea based on PCG123 datasets using Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods. ML and BI analysis both support Aphelinidae formed a sister group to Torymidae.

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