Buluka de Saeger, 1948, is a rare genus of the subfamily Microgastrinae, in this paper one new species of the genus, Buluka vuquangensis Long, sp. n., is described and illustrated. Additionally, the genus Buluka de Saeger is recorded for the first time for Vietnam. | TAP CHI SINH HOC 2015, New record of the37(3): genus282-287 Buluka DOI: NEW RECORD OF THE GENUS Buluka de Saeger (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) WITH DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES FROM VIETNAM Khuat Dang Long Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, VAST, khuatdanglong@ ABSTRACT: Buluka de Saeger, 1948, is a rare genus of the subfamily Microgastrinae, in this paper one new species of the genus, Buluka vuquangensis Long, sp. n., is described and illustrated. Additionally, the genus Buluka de Saeger is recorded for the first time for Vietnam. Keywords: Braconidae, Microgastrinae, Buluka, new record, new species, Vietnam. INTRODUCTION Buluka de Saeger, 1948 was originally described by de Saeger (1948) [6] and placed in the subfamily Sigalphinae (de Saeger, 1948) on the basis of a carapace-like gaster, a character known to occur convergently in a wide range of braconid subfamilies. However, Nixon (1965) [13] correctly recognized the form of the wing venation and antennae, among other characters, and placed the genus in the Microgastrinae. Since then, except for the works of Mason (1981) [12], Chou (1985) [5] and Austin (1989) [3], the genus has received no attention. The genus Buluka de Saeger until recently was very rarely collected, however, intensive collecting techniques, such as the use of Malaise traps, have yielded a significant number of specimens, which now allow for more critical assessment of this genus. Originally described from two specimens collected at Rutshuru, Belgian Congo (now Zaire) (de Saeger, 1948), B. straeleni was subsequently also recorded from South Africa (Nixon, 1965) [13]. The study, in which Chou (1985) [5] described a second species from Taiwan, revealed further non-African species. Further, Austin (1989) [3] described five species from the Indo-Australian region and gave a key to seven known species, in fact the present distribution of the genus strongly indicates an Indo-Pacific
