Biodiv Sci ›› 2024, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (11): 24319.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2024319

• Special Feature: 2023 New Taxa Collection • Previous Articles     Next Articles

New taxa of extant Hymenoptera in 2023

Huanxi Cao1*, Qingsong Zhou2,3, Arong Luo2,3, Pu Tang4, Tingjing Li5, Zejian Li6, Huayan Chen7,8, Zeqing Niu2,3, Chaodong Zhu2,3   

  1. 1 National Animal Collection Resource Center, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    2 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

    3 State Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    4 College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    5 College of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China
    6 Scientific Research and Management Center of East China Medicinal Botanical Garden, Lishui Forestry Bureau, Lishui, Zhejiang 323000, China
    7 Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China

  • Received:2024-07-15 Revised:2024-09-27 Online:2024-11-20 Published:2024-12-15
  • Contact: Huanxi Cao

Abstract:

Aim: The order Hymenoptera encompasses rich biodiversity and provides essential ecosystem services. This study aims to catalogue and summarize new taxa of extant Hymenoptera based on published works in 2023.
Methods: We obtained and analyzed a total of 297 journal publications on the new taxa of extant Hymenoptera in 2023 by searching the available zoological databases.

Results: Across 297 journal articles, 957 new taxa were recognized, including 23 new genera, 7 new subgenera, 920 new species, 7 new subspecies, spanning 17 superfamilies, 51 families, and 313 genera. The superfamilies Ichneumonoidea, Apoidea, and Vespoidea display the highest number of new species, which accounts for approximately 31.1% (286/920), 19.8% (182/920), and 13.4% (123/920) of the total new species, respectively. In 2023, 57 journal articles detailing newly classified extant Hymenoptera taxa in China were published, comprising 151 new taxa. These include 4 new genera, 103 new species, as well as 2 newly recorded genera, 2 newly recorded subgenera and 40 newly recorded species. These taxa span 11 superfamilies, 26 families, and 62 genera. Notably, the superfamilies Ichneumonoidea, Chalcidoidea and Vespoidea account for the highest number of new species in Chinese extant Hymenoptera, contributing approximately 35.9% (37/103), 24.3% (25/103), and 17.5% (18/103) of the new Chinese species, respectively. Globally, Asia accounts for the highest number of newly described species with approximately 47.5% (437/920), and Southeast Asia leads the count at approximately 15.5% (143/920) of new species. At the national and regional administrative level, China contributed the highest number of new species, accounting for approximately 11.2% (103/920). Of the 297 articles published in 75 journals on the newly classified taxa of extant Hymenoptera, 295 were in English, 1 was in Chinese, and 1 in Spanish. Of these 297 articles, 295 reported the newly described species. In 2023, a total of 389 scholars contributed to naming Hymenoptera new species, including 69 scholars (17.7%) from China. Worldwide, 150 institutions preserved the holotypes of newly described Hymenoptera species, including 21 located in China, accounting for approximately 14.0% of the total.

Conclusion: Our results suggest China plays a key role in the global taxonomy of Hymenoptera.

Key words: Apocrita, Symphyta, new taxa, distribution of new taxa, China