DNA barcoding for molecular identification of the genus Oxyscelio (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae) from southern China, with descriptions of five new species

Abstract

Species of the genus Oxyscelio Kieffer are egg parasitoids of Orthoptera. The genus is relatively diverse in China, with 34 described species. Some species of the genus are extremely morphologically similar and difficult to identify, especially in males. In this study, DNA barcoding based on sequences of the COI gene was used to discriminate Oxyscelio species from southern China. In total, 49 COI sequences belonging to 22 morphospecies were obtained. The COI sequences worked well for the identification of all the studied species, with intraspecific genetic distances ranging between 0 and 4.3%, while interspecific distances ranged between 7.1% and 19%. Based on both morphological and molecular analyses, five species are described as new: O. amalocarina Mo & Chen, sp. nov., O. apheles Mo & Chen, sp. nov., O. latheticus Mo & Chen, sp. nov., O. stenos Mo & Chen, sp. nov., and O. striae Mo & Chen, sp. nov.