Pleistodontes Explained

Pleistodontes is a genus of fig wasps native to Australia and New Guinea, with one species (P. claviger) from Java. Fig wasps have an obligate mutualism with the fig species they pollinate. Pleistodontes pollinates species in section Malvanthera of the Ficus subgenus Urostigma.

In their revision of the Australian members of the genus, Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde and coauthors expressed the opinion that P. claviger did not belong in the genus.^[1]

Species

The Natural History Museum lists:^[2]

Pleistodontes addicotti Wiebes
Pleistodontes achorus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
Pleistodontes astrabocheilus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
Pleistodontes athysanus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
Pleistodontes blandus Wiebes
Pleistodontes claviger (Mayr)
Pleistodontes cuneatus Wiebes
Pleistodontes deuterus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
Pleistodontes froggatti Mayr
Pleistodontes galbinus Wiebes
Pleistodontes greenwoodi (Grandi)
Pleistodontes immaturus Wiebes
Pleistodontes imperialis Saunders
Pleistodontes longicaudus Wiebes
Pleistodontes macrocainus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
Pleistodontes mandibularis Wiebes
Pleistodontes nigriventris (Girault)
Pleistodontes nitens (Girault)
Pleistodontes plebejus Wiebes
Pleistodontes proximus Wiebes
Pleistodontes regalis Grandi
Pleistodontes rennellensis Wiebes
Pleistodontes rieki Wiebes
Pleistodontes rigisamos Wiebes
Pleistodontes schizodontus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
Pleistodontes xanthocephalus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook

Notes and References

Lopez-Vaamonde . Carlos . Dixon . Dale J. . Cook . James M. . Rasplus . Jean-Yves . 2002 . Revision of the Australian species of Pleistodontes (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) fig-pollinating wasps and their host-plant associations . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 136 . 4 . 637–83 . 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00040.x . https://archive.today/20110813114348/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118944298/abstract . dead . 2011-08-13 . free .
Web site: Universal Chalcidoidea Database: Taxonomic Tree. 2008-07-10. Natural History Museum.