PROC. ENTOMOL. SOC. WASH. 92(2). 1990, pp. 177-187 A SYNOPSIS OF THE SEED-FEEDING GENUS BEPHRATELLOIDES (CHALCIDOIDEA: EURYTOMIDAE) E. E. Grissell and M. E. Schauff Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, PSI, % U.S. National Museum NHB 168, Washington, D. C. 20560. Abstract. Sptc'xes of Bephratelloides are phytophagous in seeds of Annona. Species included in the genus are: cubensis (Ashmead), paraguayensis (Crawford), pomorum (Fa-bricius) (n. comb, from Chalets), and petiolatus Grissell and Schauff (new species); B. Diaciilicollis (Cameron) is synonymized under pomorum; unrecognized species are limai (Bondar) and melleus (Westwood) (n. comb, from Eurytoma) whose types are lost. Six species previously placed in this genus are removed to other eurytomid genera as follows: Bephratu consobnna Girault becomes Bephratoides consobrimts (Girault) (n. comb.) (with Bcphratoides longigastcr Subba Rao a new synonym); Bephrata fuhiscapus Girault and Bephrata bicolor Girault are transferred to Eurytoma (n. combs.) (Eurytoma bicolor (Gi-rault) is renamed girault i Grissell and Schauff to avoid homonomy with Eurytoma bicolor Walsh); Bephrata aristidae Risbec, Bephrata decaryi Risbec, and Bephrata tananarivensis Risbec are all transferred to the genus Tetramesa. An illustrated key is given to the valid species of Bephratelloides and all known host and distribution data are summarized. Key Words: phytophagous, Annoiia. chalcidoidea, Eurytomidae Bephratelloides is a genus of Neotropical wasps that are phytophagous in seeds of the genus An nana from which they emerge and damage ripening fruit. Species of Bephra-telloides have been reported from Africa (Burks 1971), but we remove them to other genera as explained below. Several species of Annona grow naturally in Africa (Palmer and Pitman 1972), so it is possible that Bephratelloides occurs there either naturally or as introductions. There is, however, no current evidence that these wasps occur in Africa. In the Nearctic. Annona glabra L. occurs in the southern lip of Florida. Bephratel-loides cubensis (Ashmead) was reported from this area in the early 1920's (Bruner and Acuna 1923), where it was reared from ex-otic annonas. According to Hannah Nadel (pers. comm.) Annona glabra serves as a host for Bephratelloides cubensis but only around plantings of exotic annonas. We be-lieve, therefore, that Bephratelloides occurs in the Nearctic as the result of introductions of exotic annonas. Recently the genus has been introduced into new Annona-grov/ing areas in Hawaii (Heu 1988), and it might be expected that as more Annona is grown commercially there will be more introduc-tions of Bephratelloides. We undertook this study of Bephratel-loides because of its great economic impor-tance to Annona fruit production, because of the recent movement and introduction of these pest species by man, and because the generic placement and specific identity of almost all of the known species was un-certain. No revision of the genus has been previously undertaken. The known hosts of the genus include 7
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