o_19ko2dt161ng2j4e1tgnoqv1s45a.pdf

THE STATUS OF RESEARCH ON HYMENOPTERA IN MALAYSIA
Achterberg, pers. comm.). In Malaysia, inventory work has just begun on braconids and, to
date, there are c. 7,000 braconid specimens from 22 subfamilies in the collection of the Centre
for Insect Systematics (CIS), UKM. Postgraduate collaboration with the Natural History
Museum in Leiden, Holland and the University of Leiden, is on-going.
2. Ichneumonidae
Ichneumonidae is the largest family in the order Hymenoptera and the second largest family
in the Animal kingdom. The number of species in the family exceeds the total number of
vertebrate species and is greater than the number of species from any other insect family, with
the exception of the Cucurlionidae (weevils), which is the most speciose insect family in the
world (LaSalle & Gauld 1993, Romoser & Stoffolano 1998). It is estimated that Ichneumonidae
comprises 5–8% of the total number of described insect species on earth (Gaston 1993). In
1969, Townes reported that 16,032 ichneumonid species had been described worldwide and
that, of these, 2,579 species were from the Indo-Australian region. Based on this, he estimated
that the total number of ichneumonid species worldwide could be more than 60,464.
a. Systematics and Taxonomic Studies
The earliest studies on Ichneumonidae were conducted by Gravenhost in 1829. In Malaysia,
studies were initiated by Smith (1858), who first described Pimpla punctata (Pimplinae),
Sketia croceipes (Cryptinae) and Enicospilus giganteus (Ophininae) from Sarawak (East
Malaysia). In 1903, Cameron (1903) described Camptotypus rugosus (Pimplinae) from
Peninsular Malaysia. Since then, many species have been described or recorded from Malaysia.
Despite this, there have been no concerted efforts to collect and inventorise or to work on the
taxonomy, systematics, zoogeographical distribution and phylogenetic relationships of
Malaysian ichneumonids. In view of this, a study on Malaysian ichneumonids was initiated
by the author in late 1997. To begin with, the genera Goryphus (Cryptinae) and Xanthopimpla
(Pimplinae) were extensively studied. New species were described and new records made.
Xanthopimpla is a very large tropicopolitan genus, with most species occurring in the Indo-
Papuan archipelago, while the genus Goryphus is one of the commonest genera of Cryptinae
and is highly abundant in the tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World. Both groups are
poorly known. Studies on the genera Theronia (Pimplinae) and Enicospilus (Ophininae) have
just begun in early 2005.
Eight years ago, the CIS had about 300 specimens of Ichneumonidae. Today it has over 20,000
specimens, accumulated over a period of seven to eight years of study. Of these, 20 specimens
are types or paratypes. A total of 28 out of the 35 ichneumonid subfamilies world-wide, and
21 out of the 22 ichneumonid subfamilies in the Indo-Australian region (Yu & Horstmann
1997a, 1997b, Goulet & Huber 1993), have been collected. Among the subfamilies collected
were Agriotypinae, Tersilochinae, Cylloceriinae, Micropleptinae, Orthopelmatinae and
Tatogastrinae, which are new records for tropical Asia. A total of 140 genera were identified
and, of these, at least 20 genera were new records for Malaysia. For Goryphus (Cryptinae), 20
species were recorded for Malaysia (up from only 8 prior to this study), including six new
records and five new species (Yu & Horstmann 1997a). A total of 58 species of the genus
Xanthopimpla were also recorded, of which five species were new to science and nine species
were new records for Malaysia. This represents a 40% increase in the number of species
recorded from Malaysia. To date we have already successfully identified one species of
Enicospilus, that is, E. lietincki, as a new record for Malaysia.
154