Thelytoky in Taeniogonalos venatoria Riek (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with notes on its distribution and first record of the male sex

Abstract

The Trigonalyidae, which have previously been thought to reproduce arrhenotokously like most parasitic Hymenoptera, are added to the list of families from which thelytoky (true parthenogenesis) is recorded. This has been inferred for Taeniogonalos venatoria Riek on the basis of a male:female sex ratio in the field ranging from about 1:250 to 0:1500. The rare male of this species is described for the first time, and the known distribution of the species extended to include South Australia. The host range of T. venatoria, which parasitises widely dispersing pergid sawfly larvae, is proposed as a possible reason for its thelytokous mode of reproduction.