Netomocera (Chalcidoidea: Diparidae)
A study in red. A palette of varying shades of red tending to orange in some places, to reddish brown in others. A beautiful little female wasp.
Netomocera is a genus in the family Diparidae. Until recently, Diparidae was placed as a subfamily (Diparinae) within the notoriously difficult family Pteromalidae, a repository for genera that, based on morphological characters, didn’t fit neatly into any of the other families in the great superfamily Chalcidoidea. And there Diparinae waited in taxonomic limbo until the advent of molecular methods for evaluating genetic relatedness were developed. These provided the means to separate the genera and subfamilies of Pteromalidae into natural groups. Many of the groups that were resolved through molecular analysis were until then subfamilies. These, and occasionally genera were elevated in rank to family level. The seminal publication cleaning up (mostly) the messy problem of the Pteromalidae was only recently published (2022), an important contribution to Hymenopteran taxonomy. To give you an idea of how vexing the mixed-up Pteromalidae was, the title of the paper in which this work was reported began thusly, “From hell’s heart I stab at thee!” (Captain Ahab to the great white whale – another vexing pursuit). Regarding the insect of the week, molecules don’t lie. Chemistry confirmed what had long been thought; the group known as the subfamily Diparinae became the new family Diparidae. What a difference a letter makes.
Until recently Netomocera had not been recorded from the Neotropical region (Central and South America). However, the noted Romanian taxonomist, Mircea-Dan Mitroiu, revised the genus (except for oriental species) and in doing so recognized 7 new species from the neotropics alone. This is a nice example of mining insect collections held in disparate universities and museums and the international cooperation among taxonomists required for its success. Mircea-Dan’s paper showed that, while not commonly collected, the genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.
Four species of Netomocera are known from the Afrotropical Region. Within Kenya, we collected 41 specimens of Netomocera from 18 different field sites. Previously, a single species was known from Kenya (in fact, from Nairobi). The newly collected specimens represent 3 and possibly 4 separate species. The specimen in the image was collected in Ngangao Forest in the Taita Hills, the Kenyan representative of the Eastern Arc Mountains, ancient non-volcanic mountains known for the high rates of endemism found in species of both plants and animals.
How to tell Netomocera females from those of other Diparidae genera.
Netomocera species;
- Are relatively short and stocky in appearance.
- Have strong black setae on the dorsal part of the head and thorax (arrows).
- Have long thin setae (hairs) just before the apex of the abdomen (arrow).
- Have an asymmetrical clava (the slightly swollen part at the end of the antenna (arrow)), in which one side is more or less convex while the other side is straight.
Credits: Dr Robert Copeland