Apocrypta
{{Short description|Genus of wasps}}
__NOTOC__
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Apocrypta guineensis, volw-wyfie op F sur, Manie vd Schijff BT, a.jpg
| image_caption = Female A. guineensis wasp on Ficus sur showing elongate external ovipositor
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Apocrypta
| authority = Coquerel, 1855
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
| type_species = Apocrypta perplexa
| type_species_authority = Coquerel, 1855
}}
Apocrypta is an Old World genus of parasitic fig wasps in the family Pteromalidae. They are parasitoids of gall-wasps in the Sycophagini tribe, and especially Ceratosolen species, pollinators of the Sycomorus, Sycocarpus and Neomorphe sections of Ficus.{{cite journal |last1=Zhen |first1=Wen-Quan |last2=Huang |first2=Da-Wei |last3=Xiao |first3=Jin-Hua |last4=Yang |first4=Da-Rong |last5=Zhu |first5=Chao-Dong |last6=Xiao |first6=Hui |title=Ovipositor length of threeApocrypta species: Effect on oviposition behavior and correlation with syconial thickness |journal=Phytoparasitica |date=April 2005 |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=113–120 |doi=10.1007/BF03029967 |bibcode=2005Phyto..33..113Z |s2cid=35479915 |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources/research-curation/projects/chalcidoids/pdf_X/ZhenHuXi2005.pdf |accessdate=5 October 2015}} They seem to be fig species-specific.
Biology
They parasitize certain species of the fig wasp genera Apocryptophagus and Ceratosolen.{{cite web|last=Van Noort |title=Apocrypta Coquerel |url= http://www.figweb.org/Fig_wasps/Pteromalidae/Sycoryctinae/Apocryptini/Apocrypta/index.htm |work=Figweb |publisher=iziko museums |accessdate= 9 July 2014 |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140714193310/http://www.figweb.org/Fig_wasps/Pteromalidae/Sycoryctinae/Apocryptini/Apocrypta/index.htm |archivedate=14 July 2014 }} The long ovipositor is pierced through the fig wall to infect the fig wasp larvae during their development inside the flower galls.{{cite journal |last=Van Noort |first=Simon |author2=Van Harten, Antonius |title=The species richness of fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Agaonidae, Pteromalidae) in Yemen |journal=Fauna of Arabia |date=2006-12-18 |issue=22 |pages=449–472 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230600455 |accessdate=1 January 2013}} Penetration of the syconium wall may last from 6 to 55 minutes, depending on the wasp and fig species.
Ceratosolen wasps are key pollinator species, and their production is consequently reduced.{{cite journal|last1=Harrison|first1=Rhett D. |title=Evolution of Fruit Traits in Ficus Subgenus Sycomorus (Moraceae): To What Extent Do Frugivores Determine Seed Dispersal Mode? |journal=PLOS ONE |date=5 June 2012 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0038432 |display-authors=etal |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=e38432 |pmid=22679505 |pmc=3367955|doi-access=free |bibcode=2012PLoSO...738432H }} Apocryptophagus wasps are however gall forming non-pollinators. Some differences in Apocrypta behaviour and morphology reflect the variety in fig inflorescence morphology.
Morphology
The adult female has an elongate external ovipositor, some 2 to 5 mm long, which reflects the thickness of the syconium wall of the host fig species. To stabilize the long ovipositor during oviposition, the proximal gastral segments can telescope outwards as the abdomen is lifted up, which in some species leans forward beyond the head. The ovipositor is enclosed and guided by a flexible ovipositor sheath. As in several genera of parasitic wasp, the highly flexible sheath supports the ovipositor's tip during the initial stages of oviposition.{{cite journal |last1=Vilhelmsen |first1=L. |title=Flexible ovipositor sheaths in parasitoid Hymenoptera (Insecta). |journal=Arthropod Structure & Development |date=October 2003 |volume=32 |issue=2–3 |pages=277–87 |pmid=18089012 |doi=10.1016/s1467-8039(03)00045-8|bibcode=2003ArtSD..32..277V }} In some species, such as Apocrypta westwoodi, the ovipositor has zinc-hardened drill bits.{{Cite news|url=https://entomologytoday.org/2014/05/29/zinc-hardened-drill-bits-allow-parasitic-fig-wasps-to-bore-holes-to-lay-eggs/|title=Zinc-hardened Drill Bits Allow Parasitic Fig Wasps to Bore Holes to Lay Eggs|date=2014-05-29 |work=Entomology Today |access-date=2017-10-15|language=en-US}}
Species
There are some 27 described species which include:
- Apocrypta acaeta Ulenberg, 1985
- Apocrypta bakeri (Joseph, 1952) – host fig F. hispida, host C. solmsi Mayr
- Apocrypta brachycephala Grandi, 1916
- Apocrypta caudata (Girault, 1915)
Gallery
File:Apocrypta guineensis, volw-wyfie op F sur, Manie vd Schijff BT, l.jpg|Ovipositing female positioning her flexible ovipositor sheath
File:Apocrypta guineensis, volw-wyfie op F sur, Manie vd Schijff BT, c.jpg|Ovipositor protruding from tip of ovipositor sheath
File:Apocrypta guineensis, volw-wyfie op F sur, Manie vd Schijff BT, f.jpg|Females congregating on a young fig
References
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Reflist| refs=
{{Cite journal| title=From hell's heart I stab at thee! A determined approach towards a monophyletic Pteromalidae and reclassification of Chalcidoidea (Hymenoptera)
|display-authors=3
|first1=Roger|last1=Burks|first2=Mircea-Dan|last2=Mitroiu|first3=Lucian|last3=Fusu|first4=John M.|last4=Heraty|first5=Petr|last5=Janšta|first6=Steve|last6=Heydon|first7=Natalie|last7=Dale-Skey Papilloud|first8=Ralph S.|last8=Peters|first9=Ekaterina V.|last9=Tselikh|first10=James B.|last10=Woolley|first11=Simon|last11=van Noort|first12=Hannes|last12=Baur|first13=Astrid|last13=Cruaud|first14=Christopher|last14=Darling|first15=Michael|last15=Haas|first16=Paul|last16=Hanson|first17=Lars|last17=Krogmann|first18=Jean-Yves|last18=Rasplus
|journal=Journal of Hymenoptera Research|date=2022
|volume=94
|pages=13–88
| doi=10.3897/jhr.94.94263
|doi-access=free
|url=https://jhr.pensoft.net/article/94263/download/pdf/| access-date=2024-08-09
}}
}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q13430241}}
Category:Taxa named by Charles Coquerel
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