Rec. zool. Surv. India: Vol. 118(4)/ 337-349, 2018 ISSN (Online) : (Applied for) DOI: 10.26515/rzsi/v118/i4/2018/119059 ISSN (Print) : 0375-1511 Taxonomic studies on Wasps of Kottooli and Thalassery- Dharmadam Mangroves of Kerala (Insecta: Hymenoptera) P. Girish Kumar1* and K. Rajmohana2 1Western Ghat Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode - 673006, Kerala, India;
[email protected] 2Zoological Survey of India, M- Block, New Alipore, Kolkata – 700053, West Bengal, India;
[email protected] Abstract A detailed systematic account of wasps of Kottooli and Thalassery-Dharmadam mangroves of Kerala are reported Antepipona brunnipes brunnipes A. sibilans Antodynerus punctatipennis for the Apodynerusfirst time. Nineteen troglodytes species troglodytes of wasps (Vespidae - 16 species;Indodynerus Sphecidae capitatus - 3 species) were reported.Paraleptomenes The species miniatus mephitis (Fabricius,Phimenes 1804), flavopictum (Cameron, 1903),Ammophila clavus (de Saussure,Sphex 1853),argentatus (de Saussure, 1855), Gusenleitner,A. brunnipes2008, brunnipes is (Cameron, 1901), (Blanchard, 1845), Fabricius, 1775 and Fabricius, 1787 are recorded for the first time from mangrove ecosystem. The species Keywords: recorded for the first time from India. Bees, Hymenoptera, Mangrove Ecosystem, Wasps Introduction Material and Methods Wasps plays significant role in our ecosystem. Most of The present study is based on collection made from the wasps are effective predators which help to control Kottooli and Thalassery-Dharmadam mangroves. The the population of many pest insects and spiders. Many specimens were collected by using sweep net. Most of of the wasps are parasitic in behaviour and act as effective the vouchered specimens are deposited in the “National bio-control agents. Wasps also play as minor pollinators Zoological Collections” of the Western Ghats Regional (Naumann, 1991).