Taxonomic studies on chalcid wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Chalcididae) of Goa, India, with an illustrated key to genera and species

ABSTRACT

This study on the chalcidid wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) reports 26 species belonging to 12 genera and four subfamilies from the state of Goa, India. Of these, 20 species and seven genera are newly recorded from Goa. An illustrated key, synonyms, brief description and habitus images are provided for all the species of Chalcididae found in Goa, India.

KEYWORDS:

• Insect diversity
• new records
• species distribution
• taxonomic diversity

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, and to the Director, ICAR – National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru, for research support and necessary facilities. SMG is thankful to Jain University, Bengaluru, the present study being part of his PhD thesis. We are thankful to Goa Forest Department for granting collection permits (No. 2-49-WL-Perm-Sanct/NP-FD-Vol VI/1526 and No. 2-66-WL-RESEARCH PROPOSALS-FD-Vol.I/3665). We are also thankful to Mr Paresh Porob (Range Forest Officer, Mollem National Park), Mr Atmaram Joshi and Mr Nitesh Joshi for their cooperation and support. SMG thanks Mr Hanuman Gawas for his support in conducting field work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, through a Senior Research Fellowship Direct grant (09/1109(0001)/2019-EMR-I). AG gratefully acknowledges support from the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, under the scheme CRG/2021/001523.