Rediscovery of Neotypus coreensis (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Japan, a parasitoid of the endangered butterfly Niphanda fusca (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

The Darwin wasp Neotypus coreensis Uchida, 1930 (Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae) is rediscovered. A female was reared from a pupa of the endangered lycaenid Niphanda fusca (Bremer & Grey, 1853) collected in Oita Prefecture, Kyushu. This represents the first confirmed record of this species from Japan since the records reported by Hirukawa (1985) and the first record from Kyushu. DNA barcoding (658 bp of mt COI ) confirmed the identification and showed close similarity to Neotypus melanocephalus . Although the Japanese and European populations of N. coreensis are morphologically identical, they parasitize different hosts: Niphanda in Japan and Maculinea in Europe. The rediscovery highlights the importance of parasitoids in understanding and conserving endangered insect–parasite interactions.