Comparative Morphometric Studies of The Habrobracon hebetor-brevicornis and Bracon lefroyi-greeni Complexes of Braconid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae)

Authors

  • Longjam Roni Kumar Singh
     Zoological Survey of India, M- Block, New Alipore, Kolkata 700053
  • Dulal Chandra Ray
    Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar, Assam 788801

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v123/i2S/2023/172515

Keywords:

Biocontrol, parasitoid, biotypes, character, complex, identification, morphometrics.

Abstract

The accurate identification of parasitoids is of immense importance to biological control programs. Despite their economic importance and commonly occurring, the taxonomy of <i>Habrobracon hebetor-brevicornis</i> and <i>Bracon lefroyigreeni</i> complexes is difficult and currently confused being cryptic and occurring as distinct populations as well as groups of populations. Thus, there exists confusion in species recognition and the diagnosis of the appropriate host can dramatically affect the outcome of a biological control program. This study focuses on the morphometric variations in females of five biotypes in each complex associated with different hosts and localities. Statistical analyses, such as Unweighted Pair-Group Method Arithmetic Average (UPGMA) cluster analysis, Canonical Discriminant Analysis and Predictive Discriminant Analysis were used to analyse the complexes, and these also enabled the identification of taxonomically important characters in differentiating the population and grouping. The evidence presented here rationalizes the confusion between the species complexes, and the additional morphological characters brought out here will help to resolve the taxonomic complexity.

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Published

2023-07-01

How to Cite

Roni Kumar Singh, L., & Chandra Ray , D. (2023). Comparative Morphometric Studies of The <i>Habrobracon hebetor-brevicornis</i> and <i>Bracon lefroyi-greeni</i> Complexes of Braconid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae). Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 123(2S), 185–200. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v123/i2S/2023/172515

Issue

Volume 123, Issue 2S, Special Issue 2023

Section

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