Wesley Colombo

Federal University of Espírito Santo | UFES · Departamento de Ciências Biológicas

The flat wasps, Bethylidae, are cosmopolitan and one of the most diverse families of Chrysidoidea. Bethylidae have 2,920 described extant species and almost 90 fossil species. The oldest geological record of the family is the Lower Cretaceous, from Lebanese and Spanish ambers and Transbaikalian rock fossils. Here we describe and illustrate one new...

The bethylid genus Solepyris Azevedo (Scleroderminae) is studied and revised. Five species are recognized, including three previously described ones: †S. electromexicanus Brazidec and Perrichot, S. montuosus Azevedo, and S. unicus Azevedo. Additionally, two new species are described and illustrated: S. maleku sp. nov. from Costa Rica and S. pataxo...

We present taxonomic updates on Baeosega Krombein, formally reporting the genus from India for the first time. We describe and illustrate two new species, B. kimseyae Binoy, Mita & Girish Kumar, sp. nov. and B. krombeini Binoy, Mita & Girish Kumar, sp. nov. from the southern Western Ghats. A key for females of the currently known species is also pr...

The fl at wasp genus Megaprosternum (Scleroderminae) is studied and revised. Fifteen species are recognized, including fi ve previously described ones: M. cleonarovorum, M. longiceps, M. neolongiceps, M. norfolcensis, and M. pentagonal. Additionally, 10 new species are described and illustrated: M. aka sp. nov. and M. bayaka sp. nov. (both from the...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classification. In this context, the B Brazilian meg...

Despite significant advances in alpha level taxonomy in the past few decades, the higher-level phylogeny of flat wasps (Hyme-noptera, Bethylidae) remains poorly explored. Herein we provide the first phylogenomic assessment of the family based on data from ultraconserved elements for 96 species in 61 genera of the family, with material from 29 count...

The reduced temporal validity of species lists made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent the up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. The Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB), made publ...

The main goal of this paper is to revise the Dissomphalus genus within the Afrotropical region. Specimens were collected across seventeen countries: Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. A tot...

Rhabdepyris pallidipennis Kieffer, 1906 (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) is revised. In this study the species is reexamined , and its morphological and distributional patterns are discussed based on the original description. We propose to downgrade Trichotepyris syn. nov. to a junior subjective synonym of Rysepyris Kieffer, 1906, resulting in the new com...

A new Afrotropical genus (Ifrika gen. n.) and three new species (Ifrika mnyama sp. n., Ifrika nyigu sp. n. and Ifrika wadudu sp. n.) are described and illustrated. A fourth species, Ifrika pauculihirta comb. n., is transferred from Dissomphalus. The males of this genus are easily recognised among the other genera of Pristocerinae by having the foll...

Hymenopteran parasitoids of the black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera, Stratiomyidae), are recorded from southern India. Two new species, Calyoza hermetiae Binoy, & Colombo sp. nov. (Bethylidae, Epyrinae) and Eniacomorpha bouceki Binoy sp. nov. (Chalcididae, Dirhininae) are described and illustrated. Spalangia cameroni...

The epyrine genus Laelius Ashmead, consists of a total of 63 valid species recorded from all zoogeographic regions. Two of them, namely L. firmipennis (Cameron) and L. glossinae (Turner & Waterston), have been recorded from the Afrotropical region. In the present study, we revise all species of Laelius from the Afrotropical region by newly collecte...

The Gondwanan genus Chilepyris Evans, 1964 (Scleroderminae) is studied and revised. A new species from Oceanian region (New Caledonia) is described and illustrated, Chilepyris kanak sp. nov., and compared with the other two species of this genus, C. herbsti Evans, 1964 from Chile and C. platythelys Sorg & Walker, 1989 from New Zealand, based on an...

Nothepyris Evans, 1973 is revised. Six species are recognised, two being previously described species, Nothepyris brasiliensis Evans, 1973 and Nothepyris pretiosus Colombo & Azevedo, 2019, and four species described and illustrated as new, Nothepyris beedrill sp. nov., Nothepyris combee sp. nov., Nothepyris durant sp. nov. and Nothepyris vespiquen...

Pompilidae are a cosmopolitan family of aculeate parasitoid wasps with 24 extinct species. Here, we provide a new species description for an enigmatic species of Pepsinae: Paleogenia indomini Colombo & Waichert sp. nov. The new taxon is easily distinguished from congeners by having a long tibial spur, ~0.8× longer than the first tarsomere, and by t...

The genus Trissepyris Kieffer, 1905 (Chrysidoidea, Bethylidae) is revised. A new species from Afrotropical region (Ivory Coast) is described and illustrated: T. akan n. sp. It is differentiated from the only other species of this genus, T. ruficeps Kieffer, 1905, by having the mandible with five apical teeth, the dorsal pronotal area with small pun...

The flat wasps Bethylidae are the largest family of Chrysidoidea. Because of their undeniable ecological contribution, these insects are also important due to their potential use as biological controllers of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera that act as agricultural pests. This is the first study focused on the diversity of Bethylidae in Uruguay and the a...

We provide a Neotropical synopsis of the genus Sclerodermus Latreille. The genus is recognized by having the antenna with 11 flagellomeres, the head globoid or nearly so, the eyes present and flat, and the clypeal median lobe strongly angled and deeply separated from the lateral lobes. The strong polymorphism of having wings is an intra-and interge...

The Afrotropical pristocerine genus Pristonesia is revised. Seven species are recognized, one previously described species, P. nyamuragira (Benoit), and six species are described and illustrated as new: P. oracil sp. nov., P. parcetil sp. nov., P. querfil sp. nov., P. sicril sp. nov., P. tainatril sp. nov., and P. uvenil sp. nov. A key to the Afrot...

Here we describe the flat wasp genus Glutodon gen. nov., and its single species G. mikeaensis sp. nov. from Madagascar. The males of this genus are easily recognized among the other genera of Pristocerinae by having the metasoma with a conical flap expansion on the sternum VIII and the hypopygium with the anterolateral apodeme very thick along its...

We apply integrative taxonomy to solve a historical taxonomic impasse in a flat wasp group (Hymenoptera, Bethylidae). The phylogeny of Epyrinae is inferred with parsimony analyses under equal and implied weights, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference using the nuclear markers 18S and 28S, the mitochondrial genes 16S, cytochrome oxidase subunit...

Alongatepyris is a South American genus, known only from two species: A. platunissimus and A. ingens. It is a Scleroderminae genus by having the body extremely flattened and the forewing with the first cubital cell very reduced. The first extinct sclerodermine from Dominican amber and first extinct species of Alongatepyris, †A. pedrocai Colombo & A...

A new extinct bethylid wasp attributable to the subfamily Scleroderminae is described from upper Eocene amber found at the Voronki mine in the Vladimirets District of the northwestern Rovno region, western Ukraine. The distribution of Scleroderminae in tropical and temperate regions is discussed. Three species of Bethylinae, seven species of Epyrin...

A new extinct genus and species of Pristocerinae, † Archeonesia eocena Tribull, Pankowski & Colombo, gen. et. sp. nov. , are described from upper Eocene Baltic amber from the Yantarny amber mine in the Kaliningrad region, Russia. Descriptions, remarks, illustrations, and comparisons to all extinct and extant Pristocerinae are provided. † Archeonesi...

The types specimens of many taxa described by Chandy Kurian were considered lost for many years, which prevented the recognition of the species delimited by him. Fifty holotypes have been rediscovered in the National Forest Insect Collection of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Forty-five types belong to Bethylidae (Cephalono...

The types specimens of many taxa described by Chandy Kurian were considered lost for many years, which prevented the recognition of the species delimited by him. Fifty holotypes have been rediscovered in the National Forest Insect Collection of Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Forty-five types belong to Bethylidae (Cephalono...

The subfamily Epyrinae is the most common in the bethylid fossil record. Its geological history ranges from the Eocene to the Pleistocene, and it is the only subfamily that has no records in the Cretaceous. Here we revise, diagnose and illustrate known epyrine fossil wasps. A new genus is proposed, †Gloxinius Colombo & Azevedo gen. nov., to contain...

The fauna of Epyrinae from Papua New Guinea is revised by using molecular, the Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit I (COI) mitochondrial gene and morphological data. This study is based on the observation of 115 specimens of Epyrinae from Mount Wilhelm and Wanang Conservation Area. Twenty-one species of Chlorepyris, six species of Epyris and nine species...

The dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are predatory insects that need water to reproduce. The males, sexually active, seek to live near to aquatic environments, and females visit the water, usually for copulation (mating) and laying (egg release). Biological collections are important sources of information. So that collections can, for example,...

The first comprehensive phylogenetic study of Scleroderminae with all 30 valid genera is presented. It is based on 138 morphological characters. Phylogenetic analyses support the monophyly of the subfamily Scleroderminae. All genus-level clades are monophy-letic, except Cephalonomia. The extensive homoplasy across the topology is regarded as eviden...

In this paper, we provide taxonomic updates on the genus Leptagrion Selys: the females of L. acutum Santos and L. porrectum Selys are illustrated and diagnosed for the first time. We also add to the original description of L. acutum based on a male collected in the Atlantic Forest. A key for females is also provided for the currently known species...

The genus Acephalonomia Strejček, 1990 is revalidated and its single species, Acephalonomia cisidophaga Strejček, 1990, from Czech Republic and Slovakia is restituted in the original combination. The revalidation is based on distinct characters: antennae with eight fl agellomeres and prestigmal abscissa of R1 vein dilated. The intraspecifi c polymo...

The flat wasps Bethylidae are a cosmopolitan family of aculeate ectoparasitoid of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera larvae. There are only 73 fossil species so far. Here, we provide a synopsis of the fossil pristocerine, which are those with strongly sexual dimorphism. Comments for all earlier described species are given. Two new genera and two species fr...

We provide a synopsis of the genus Discleroderma, which is known only from females. The genus is easily recognized by having tubercles on metasomal tergites III-V. In this synopsis we recognized D. gundari Terayama, D. indiensis Lanes & Azevedo, D. tuberculatum Magretti, and D. yemenensis Lanes & Azevedo as valid species. Additionally we discovered...

A synopsis of the fossil flat wasps sclerodermine is provided. Four new species and one new genus from Baltic amber are described and illustrated, Archaeonoxus Colombo and Azevedo gen. nov., Archaeonoxus scintillatus Colombo and Azevedo sp. nov., Allobethylus bei Colombo and Azevedo sp. nov., Glenosema electrum Colombo and Azevedo sp. nov., and Not...

The flat wasp family Bethylidae Haliday lacks global scale literature on their alpha taxonomy. The only world revision for the family was by Kieffer in 1914 and is fully out of date and somewhat useless; the only catalog for the family was made by Gordh & Móczár in 1990 and does not include hundreds of changes made since then; and the most recent w...

The main goal of this paper is to study the Dissomphalus material deposited at the Coleção Zoológica do Maranhão (Maranhão, Brazil). The material was collected in six parks: Parque Nacional Chapada das Mesas, Parque Estadual do Mirador and Reserva Ecológica do Inhamum in the state of Maranhão; Parque Nacional Serra das Confusões and Parque Nacional...

The main goal of this paper is to update the taxonomic information of the pairs of Pristocera Klug collected in Madagascar by A. Seyrig. Within this material twelve species are recognized, ten are new to science, all based on pairs collected in copulation, which are described and illustrated: P. melmani sp. nov., P. alexi sp. nov., P. martyi sp. no...

Ageniella Banks is the second most diverse genus in the tribe Ageniellini (Pompilidae: Pepsinae) with about 200 valid names. Ageniella is known to be paraphyletic; yet, no revision has been made. Lack of a taxonomic catalogue and of identification keys has further delayed taxonomic studies. Additionally, many of the currently valid names should be...

In this work, we carried out an ethnoarachnological study with elementary school students from four schools in Santa Teresa and São Roque do Canaã cities, in the state of Espírito Santo (ES). We aimed to record the students’ perceptions on scorpions. We interviewed 134 students, ranging from 10 to 17 years old, from all final grades of Elementary S...

It is difficult to make reliable sex associations in several species of Hymenoptera due to sexual dimorphism. Only a few species of the flat wasp genus Dissomphalus Ashmead, 1893 have had their sexes associated, since females are rarely collected and differ morphologically from their conspecific males. Collecting couples during their phoretic copul...

We report the rediscovery of the holotype of Pristocera masii Soika, 1933 (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae: Pristocerinae), originally described from a single male from Venice, Italy. The holotype was considered lost but during a scientifi c visit at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “Giacomo Doria” in Genova, Italy we were able to fi nd the holotype. He...

Forty-two species of Dissomphalus Ashmead, 1893 are reviewed, 21 of them are described and illustrated: Dissomphalus botocudus sp. nov., D. fredi sp. nov., D. tupinikim sp. nov., D. guarani sp. nov., D. congo sp. nov., D. rosangelae sp. nov., D. w-aedeagus sp. nov., D. amana sp. nov., D. potyra sp. nov., D. pyata sp. nov., D. clovisi sp. nov., D. k...

Scorpions are well-known and well-distributed animals throughout Brazil, in addition to their medical and health importance .This study was aimed at quantifying and qualifying the influence that blocking the chela has on the behavioral repertoire of the scorpion Tityus serrulatus. We studied 16 individuals in captivity from October to November 2012...

Although common in Brazil and with great medical and sanitary importance scorpions have yet understudied behavior. Here we describe the ethogram of Tityus serrulatus comparing with the existing literature. We analyzed 41 individuals, six adults and 35 puppies in the period April-June 2011. The study was conducted entirely in captivity. Were perform...

Foram examinados dissertações e teses abordando o tema ensino de Biologia Celular a partir das informações contidas no Banco de Teses da CAPES, publicadas no período de 1987 a 2011, embora o estudo tenha apontado para uma maior produção realizada nos últimos dois anos, isto é, em 2010 e 2011. Foram identificadas dez trabalhos de tese de doutorado e...

Ensinar Ciências implica estabelecer pontes entre o conhecimento que os cientistas expressam e o conhecimento que os alunos deverão construir. A Classe Arachnida foi escolhida por ser representada, principalmente, pelas aranhas e escorpiões, animais estes, de grande interesse médico. Raros são os trabalhos que buscam evidenciar e abordar as múltipl...