Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) parasitoid of Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): first host record and new occurrence to Brazil

Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) parasitoide de Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): primeiro registro do hospedeiro e nova ocorrência para o Brasil

Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) parasitoid of Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): first host record and new occurrence to Brazil

Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) parasitoide de Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): primeiro registro do hospedeiro e nova ocorrência para o Brasil

Jober Fernando Sobczak; Ana Paula da Silva Loffredo; Luiza Figueiredo Camargo; Angélica M. Penteado-Dias

Departamento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luis, km 235, 13565_905 São Carlos-SP, Brasil. [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

ABSTRACT

Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Pimplinae) parasitoid of Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): first host record and new occurrence to Brazil. The species of the genus Hymenoepimecis occur only in Neotropical region, being recognized for using as their hosts spiders which build orbicular webs. That wasp was described occurring only in the Guyana. This work expands the geographical distribution of the species to Brazil and records the spider Araneus omnicolor (Araneae, Araneidae) as its host. Furthermore, it provides information about the natural history of this interaction.

Keywords: Host; parasitism; parasitoid of spider; Pimplinae; Polysphincta

RESUMO

Hymenoepimecis neotropica (Brues & Richardson) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) parasitoide de Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling) (Araneae, Araneidae): primeiro registro do hospedeiro e nova ocorrência para o Brasil. Espécies do gênero Hymenoepimecis ocorrem somente na região Neotropical, sendo reconhecidas por utilizarem, como hospedeiras, aranhas que constroem teias orbiculares. Essa vespa foi descrita ocorrendo somente na Guiana. Este trabalho amplia a distribuição geográfica da espécie para o Brasil e registra a aranha Araneus omnicolor (Araneae, Araneidae) como sua hospedeira. Além disso, fornece informações sobre a história natural desta interação.

Palavras-chave: Hospedeiro; parasitismo; parasitoide de aranha; Pimplinae; Polysphincta

The Polysphincta genus-group (sensu Wahl & Gauld 1998 or Polysphinctini sensu Towens 1969) comprises currently 22 genera with cosmopolitan distribution (Gauld & Dubois 2006; Palacio et al. 2007), where all species are koinobiont ectoparasitoids of spiders (Dubois et al. 2002; Gauld & Dubois 2006).

The genus Hymenoepimecis is a large-sized Polysphinctinae and can be characterized mainly by presence of a pocket-like structure on the pronotum (Gauld 1991). With distribution exclusively Neotropical, and currently 14 species described, having been collected from Mexico to the South of Brazil (Gauld 2000; Gauld & Dubois 2006; Loffredo & Penteado-Dias 2009; Sobczak et al. 2009). In Brazil, occur six species of the genus Hymenoepimecis, five of that with record of host. Hymenoepimecis bicolor (Brullé, 1846) attacks females of Nephila clavipes (Linnaeus, 1767) (Nephilidae) (Gonzaga et al. 2010); H. sooretama Sobczak et al. 2009 attacks females of Manogea porracea (C. L. Koch, 1838) (Araneidae) (Sobczak et al. 2009), H. japi Sobczak et al. 2009 is parasitoid of the spider Leucauge roseosignata Mello-Leitão, 1943 (Tetragnathidae) (Sobczak et al. 2009), H. silvanae Loffredo & Penteado-Dias, 2009, used as host the spider Araneus venatrix (Koch, 1838) (Araneae, Araneidae) (Sobczak et al. 2012) and H. jordanensis Loffredo & Penteado-Dias, 2009, with host unknown. H. veranii Loffredo & Penteado-Dias, 2009, is known as parasitoid of Araneus omnicolor (Keyserling, 1893) (Araneidae) (Gonzaga & Sobczak 2007) and Araneus orgaos Levi 1991 (Araneae, Araneidae) (Sobczak, unpublished data). Gonzaga & Sobczak (2007) described for the first time an interaction between wasps of the genus Hymenoepimecis and spiders in Brazil. In the interaction between A. omnicolor and H. veranii, they observed that spiders parasitized with a third instar larvae are induced to build modified webs, that are probably more resistant than the normal webs constructed by the spiders not parasitized (Gonzaga & Sobczak 2007). In addition, they observed an event of infanticide and also the whole sequence of attack and oviposition by the parasitoid.

In this study, we reported the second case of parasitism in A. omnicolor by wasps of the genus Hymenoepimecis, and recorded the first occurrence of H. neotropica to the Brazil, expanding the geographical distribution of this species, described as only from the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

One female of A. omnicolor parasitized by the third instar larva of H. neotropica was photographed and collected in March of 2011 in Serra do Japi (23°15' S, 46°57' W), a subtropical humid forest reserve located in Jundiaí, state of São Paulo, Brazil. The spider parasitized was collected and kept in a plastic container (30 x 25 x 25 cm) fed daily with adults of Drosophila sp. and kept in the laboratory to obtain the adult wasp. Voucher specimens of H. neotropica were deposited in the collection of Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos (DCBU) (curator A. M. Penteado-Dias) and spiders were deposited in collection of the Instituto Butantan, São Paulo (curator A. D. Brescovit).

In this interaction, the larva of H. neotropica was found attached in the front of the abdomen of a sub-adult female of A. omnicolor (Fig. 1) and feeds itself with the hemolymph of the spider through small holes, a behavior already observed in other species of the Polysphincta genus-group. After consuming the abdomen of the spider, the larva discards the remains of the host through movements of stretch and contraction of the body. Soon after, the larva begins the constructing of the cocoon, taking approximately 24 hours to complete its construction. This cocoon built by the larva is white, with 16mm length by seven mm width and surrounded by threads of silk (Fig. 2). After 12 days a female of H. neotropica emerged from the cocoon (Fig. 3), cutting the side of the cocoon with the help of the mandibles. The time of development of H. neotropica within of the cocoon is very similar to the observed in others species of Hymenoepimecis where the cycle of life is known.

The species, H. neotropica and H. veranii occur in simpatry in Serra do Japi, and use A. omnicolor as host. However, female of H. veranii lays its egg on the mid part to the end portion of the abdomen, while H. neotropica lays its egg on the anterior portion of the abdomen of the spider. In another interaction, also involving species of genus-group Polysphincta, Matsumoto and Konishi (2007) observed that Reclinervellus tuberculatus (Uchida, 1932) and Reclinervellus masumotoi Matsumoto & Konishi 2007 use a single host, the spider Cyclosa octotuberculata Karsch 1879 (Araneae). They observed that R. tuberculatus lays the egg on the anterior part of the abdomen, while R masumotoi deposited the egg on the posterior end of the host. Besides laying eggs on different places of the host, the two species avoid competition by maturing at different times (Matsumoto & Konishi 2007). Probably the oviposition on different places of host body by wasps H. neotropica and H. verani, is a mechanism employed to avoid direct competition in these two species during the larval instar. In this work, the larva of third instar of H. neotropica was not able to change the behavior of its host, inducing the building of a modified web as observed in A. omnicolor when parasitized by H. veranii.

Further studies are needed to understand if there is competition between larvae consuming the same host and if there are differences between the growth time in larvae of H. neotropica and of H. veranii as well as to check if the spiders with larvae of third instar are induced to build modified webs.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We were supported financially by Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia dos Hymenoptera Parasitoides da Região Sudeste Brasileira (HYMPAR/Sudeste CNPq/FAPESP/CAPES), CNPq (research grants to J. F.Sobczak, A. P. S. Loffredo, L. F. Camargo and A. M. Penteado-Dias). Also thank to Prefeitura Municipal de Jundiaí the staff Base de Estudos de Ecologia e Educação Ambiental da Serra do Japi.

Received 26/9/2011; accepted 6/7/2012

Editor: Kleber Del Claro

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  02 Oct 2012
• Date of issue
  Sept 2012

History

• Received
  26 Sept 2011
• Accepted
  06 July 2012