Opheltes

Several hosts have been recorded for O. glaucopterus and the most reliable of these appear to be several species in the genus Cimbex and at least one species of Palaeocimbex (Cimbicidae). Cimbex is the only host listed by Townes (1970), though this is not immediately apparent since he used the unavailable name_Clavellarius_. There are several older records from lepidopterans including a lymantriid, lasiocampids, and sphingids but I regard these with some suspicion and all lepidopteran records should be verified. Sheng et al. (2004) more recently recorded a cimbicid host for O. japonicus in China.

clypeus (Fig 3) with ventral margin thick and bluntly rounded, without small lateral tooth or projection; ventral margin convex; epistomal sulcus present as a broad, shallow indentation, clypeus weakly protruding in profile. malar space (1, 2) distinct, at least half basal width of mandible. mandible short, broad, ventral and dorsal tooth of equal length. Ocelli large, lateral ocellus equal to or a little longer than distance between ocellus and eye. maxillary palp relatively long, slightly longer than head height; second palpomere, especially in female, unusually broad, cleaver-shaped; female antennae nearly as long as body; first flagellomere with no apparent tyloid (1). hypostomal carina joining occipital carina well above base of mandible; occipital carina complete. Dorsal end of epicnemial carina a little removed from anterior margin of mesopleuron (1, 2), terminating dorsally in rounded ridge that somewhat sharply delimits a median longitudinal furrow extending across the middle of the mesopleuron (1, 2) (Fig. 5). notaulus deeply impressed on anterior declivity but very short, rarely extending posteriorly as a weak impression to level of tegula. U-shaped groove (1, 2) large, distinct between propodeum (1, 2, 3) and metanotum in lateral view; pleural carina complete, well-developed; propodeum (1, 2, 3) with strongly elevated longitudinal carinae, the pair of median longitudinal carinae forming a narrow, anteriorly converging areola; transverse carinae varying from nearly absent laterally to well developed. Apical margin of mid tibia with distinct tooth similar to that on fore tibia in females, poorly developed in males; comb on hind tibia present, but not well developed; posterior hind tibial spur at least 7x longer than maximum width at base; tarsal claws completely pectinate. fore wing areolet nearly always present (Fig. 2), only rarely absent; stigma long, narrow, Rs+2r arising near base of stigma. hind wing (Fig. 2) with first abscissa of CU1 usually distinctly shorter than 1cu-a, more rarely only slightly shorter. T1 long, slender, usually without dorsal carinae; without median basal depression at dorsal tendon attachment; dorsal-lateral carina absent between spiracle and apex of T1; glymmae on each side meeting on the midline posterior to dorsal tendon attachment, large, deep, separated at midline by translucent partition. t2 thyridium present; laterotergite (1, 2) of t2 completely separated by crease, that of t3, sharply separated only at extreme base. ovipositor straight, short, broad, with deep subapical notch; ovipositor sheath (1, 2) straight, relatively narrow, bluntly rounded apically. Male parameres weakly excavated medially, attenuate apically to form slender, rounded projections, though these never as long, slender, and pointed as in Mesochorus and some Neurogenia_; 0000091">aedeagus rounded and weakly clubbed distally, without spines.

Opheltes contains the largest-bodied species in the Perilissini, comparable in size to some of the Australian Westwoodiini, which are the largest of the Ctenopelmatinae. In addition to the very large body size, a defining feature is the frontal carina (1, 2, 3) and associated lateral groove (1, 2) near the eye (Fig. 1), especially well-developed in the type species. Another interesting feature is the broad, cleaver-shaped second maxillary palpomere. The cerci are long and narrow, protruding in both sexes and 3-4 x longer than wide. As in Metopheltes_, the mesopleuron (1, 2) has a complete longitudinal groove (1, 2) (Fig. 2), the t2 thyridium is present, and a tyloid (1) is absent on the 0001148">first flagellomere. See additional discussion under the Metopheltes page.

The type species is widely distributed in the Holarctic Region, apparently overlapping the second known species in the eastern Palaearctic (China and Japan).

There are two valid species:
Opheltes glaucopterus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Opheltes japonicus (Cushman, 1924)

The latest treatments (such as Yu et al. 2005) list a number of synonyms as well as subspecies, somewhat complicating the ability to differentiate the taxa.

Opheltes Holmgren, 1859: 323. Type species: Ichneumon glaucopterus Linnaeus, 1758. Monobasic.

Nephopheltes Cushman, 1924: 16. Type species: Nephopheltes japonicus Cushman, 1924. Original designation. Synonymized by Townes (1945).

Opheltes adalah genus kumbang tanduk panjang yang tergolong famili Cerambycidae. Genus ini juga merupakan bagian dari ordo Coleoptera, kelas Insecta, filum Arthropoda, dan kingdom Animalia.

Larva kumbang dalam genus ini biasanya mengebor ke dalam kayu dan dapat menyebabkan kerusakan pada batang kayu hidup atau kayu yang telah ditebang.

Opheltes Holmgren, 1859 è un genere di imenotteri della famiglia degli Icneumonidi.

Opheltes is een geslacht van vliesvleugeligen uit de familie van de gewone sluipwespen (Ichneumonidae). De wetenschappelijke naam van het geslacht werd in 1859 gepubliceerd door Holmgren, en is later nogmaals ongeldig gebruikt als Opheltes Thomson, 1864, een niet langer geaccepteerde geslachtsnaam in de familie boktorren.