The present study documents novel egg parasitoid-host associations between two genera of baeine wasps and a myrmecomorph spider, Myrmaplata plataleoides (O. Pickard-Cambridge) from West Bengal, India. Until now, no egg parasitoids have been reported from any myrmecomorph spiders. Of the two species, Idris bharati Debnath and Rajmohana sp. nov. is described as new, while Odontacolus markadicus Veenakumari is reported for the first time from the eggs of M. plataleoides. The mt COI DNA barcode sequences for these two species are the only sequences of baeine wasp species from India. Additionally, a preliminary phylogenetic tree has been provided for the members of Idris. Some interesting observations on the nesting behaviour and maternal care of M. plataleoides are also provided.
Debnath, R., Rajmohana, K., Sen, S., Shabnam, A., & Dinesh, K. (2024). On baeine wasps (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) as egg parasitoids of myrmecomorph spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from India, along with description of a new species of Idris Förster. Zoologischer Anzeiger. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2024.02.001