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A Synopsis of Knowledge of the Rhopalosomatidae (Hymenoptera) in Brazil: an Annotated Checklist of the Family in the Country, with a Revised Key to the Brazilian Genera

  • Systematics, Morphology and Physiology
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Abstract

This study is focused on the cricket leeches, Rhopalosomatidae, a family that is only poorly represented in entomological collections in Brazil. We provided a revised and updated key to the genera occurring in Brazil with the major traits of genera illustrated through high-resolution photomicrography. Also, we provided a synopsis of genera, a list of the species currently recorded from Brazil, the first country records for Rhopalosoma minus Townes, 1977 and Rhopalosoma breelandi Townes, 1977, which increases the diversity of these wasps in the country. Additionally, we provided information and a brief discussion about collection methods, flotation, and abundance of specimens collected. Maps with the geographical distribution of the studied species based on the previous and new records are also provided.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Volker Lohrmann and Dr. Bernardo Santos for revisions and comments on previous versions of the manuscript. Many thanks to all the curators and assistants for Rhopalosomatidae loan: N.W. Perioto, G.P. Camacho, C.R. Brandão, M. Tavares. F. Vaz-de-Mello and R.I.R. Lara for lending material. MLO (CNPq grant – Process number 305150/2020-0), Fapeam and Capes for funding the INPA graduate program. K. S. thanks the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP, grant 2020/16051-7). A. S. is supported by a Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq—Programa de Capacitação Institucional – PCI/INPA, process number 300740/2022-0).

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MMB, KS, AS Conceptualization, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors actively participated in the discussion of the results, they reviewed and approved the final version of the paper.

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Correspondence to M. M. Bulbol.

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Edited by Bernardo F Santos

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Bulbol, M.M., Schoeninger, K., Oliveira, M.L. et al. A Synopsis of Knowledge of the Rhopalosomatidae (Hymenoptera) in Brazil: an Annotated Checklist of the Family in the Country, with a Revised Key to the Brazilian Genera. Neotrop Entomol 52, 899–908 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-023-01066-w

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