The genus Enicospilus Stephens, 1835 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Ophioninae) in Saudi Arabia, with twelve new species records and the description of five new species

Abstract

The species of the genus Enicospilus Stephens, 1835 in Saudi Arabia are reviewed. Six species have previously been recorded from Saudi Arabia: E. brevicornis (Masi, 1939), E. capensis (Thunberg, 1822), E. nervellator Aubert, 1966, E. perlatus Shestakov, 1926, E. psammus Gauld & Mitchell, 1978 and E. oculator Seyrig, 1935. Five new species are described and illustrated in this paper: Enicospilus arabicus Gadallah & Soliman sp. nov., E. mirabilis Soliman & Gadallah sp. nov., E. pseudoculator Gadallah & Soliman sp. nov., E. shadaensis Gadallah & Soliman sp. nov. and E. splendidus Rousse, Soliman & Gadallah sp. nov. Twelve species are newly recorded for the fauna of Saudi Arabia, thus raising the total number to 23 species: E. bicoloratus Cameron, 1912, E. divisus (Seyrig, 1935), E. dubius (Tosquinet, 1896), E. grandiflavus Townes & Townes, 1973, E. odax Gauld & Mitchell, 1978, E. oweni Gauld & Mitchell, 1976, E. pacificus (Holmgren, 1868), E. pallidus (Taschenberg, 1875), E. rundiensis Bischoff, 1915, E. senescens (Tosquinet, 1896), Enicospilus sp. 1 and Enicospilus sp. 2 cf. bicoloratus Cameron, 1912. The unknown male of E. odax is described for the first time. The COI barcodes of 17 specimens were sequenced, compared to the existing data and uploaded to the BOLD Systems database. An illustrated key and an annotated faunistic list of all species of Enicospilus in Saudi Arabia are also provided. Finally, we discuss the biogeographical and ecological significance of the Enicospilus fauna in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords

• Saudi Arabia
• Enicospilus
• systematic
• catalogue
• biogeography