Simon van Noort
(Research and Exhibitions Department, Iziko Museums of South Africa)
The parasitoid wasp family Chalcedectidae has been recorded for the first time from the Afrotropical and Oriental regions. The discovery was a result of a taxonomic revision covering the faunas of the Afrotropical, Oriental and Palaearctic regions where 11 new species were described in the genus Chalcedectus. The description of these new species represents a 50% increase in the number of described world species of Chalcedectus. Eleven previously described species were known from Australia and the Americas.
https://www.waspweb.org/Chalcidoidea/Chalcedectidae/Chalcedectus/index.htm
Very little is known about the biology of the species, but Chalcedectus schroderae was reared from Phoracantha semipunctata infested Eucalyptus logs in South Africa, and has potential as a biocontrol agent of this pest beetle. This beetle species, the Eucalyptus longhorn borer (family Cerambycidae) was introduced from Australia into South Africa around the turn of the last century. Along with another introduced Australian beetle species, Phoracantha recurva, it has become a widespread pest of Eucalyptus trees in South Africa. The larva of these parasitoid wasps attack and feed on the wood-boring beetle grubs, eventually killing them, and are potential natural biocontrol agents reducing the need for use of pesticides in our forestry industry.
These new wasp species were described in a recently published scientific paper: van Noort S, Gibson GAP, Ranjith AP, Mitroiu M-D. 2026. Revision of Chalcedectidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) from the Afrotropical, Oriental and Palaearctic regions with description of eleven new species. Zootaxa 5781: 1-106. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5781.1.1
Simon van Noort is Curator of Entomology having conducted research on wasp systematics and evolution at Iziko since 1992.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simon_Noort
https://www.iziko.org.za/researcher/simon-van-noort
http://www.figweb.org/Research/Laboratories/van_Noort/index.htm
