Integrative Taxonomy of Centrodora Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) from a University Campus in Jiangxi, China: Description of a New Species, Two Provincial Records, and DNA Barcodes
University campuses may harbour considerable, but poorly documented, insect diversity. Here, we investigate species of Centrodora Förster (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) collected at Shangrao Normal College in Jiangxi Province, China, using morphological examination and DNA barcoding of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear 28S ribosomal DNA (28S rDNA). Three species are identified. Centrodora raoshiensis Geng & Chen sp. nov. is described as new to science, whereas C. pellucida Li & Chen and C. lineascapa Hayat are recorded from Jiangxi Province for the first time. The male of C. pellucida is described and illustrated for the first time. Males of the new species and C. pellucida are associated with females based on molecular, morphological, and collection data. An updated identification key to the Chinese species of Centrodora is provided. Six newly generated COI sequences are analysed, together with 176 publicly available sequences. The resulting genetic distances and maximum-likelihood analysis support the distinctiveness of the three morphologically identified species. DNA barcodes for all three species were deposited in GenBank. This study contributes new taxonomic, distributional, and molecular data for Centrodora and highlights the value of urban university campuses for documenting parasitoid wasp diversity.
Authors
- Sizhu Liu
- Hui Geng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7290-4055)
- Ye Chen
- Weiyong Wu
Institutions
- Shangrao Normal University (CN)
- Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications (CN)
- Langfang Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Insects
- Published
- 2026-11-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/insects17111152
- Primary Topic
- Hymenoptera taxonomy and phylogeny
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00