does anyone know where i could find the original descriptions of some of the more obscure aphidius species? especially A. montereyensis and ramithyrus
also A. adelocarinus, amphorophori, atropetiolatus, avenaphis, californicus, callipterinellae, confusus, crassicornis, erysimi, floridaensis, fumatus, glacialis, kakimiaphidis, liriodendrii, lipini, masonaphis, montanus, multiarticulatus, nigripes, ohioensis, polygonaphis, pseudoplatani, rosaphidis, rubifolii if anyone has access to any of those
I was able to rule out every other species of Aphidius for a specimen I found on Ovatomyzus stachyos, and I would love to have information on all of those to have a confident ID with others I find
GBIF gives the authors of species so that will give you a starting point for looking them up in e.g. Biodiversity Heritage Library. And for some species GBIF gives the full reference. For A. ramithyrus the source is
Smith, C.F. The Aphidiinae of North America (Braconidae: Hymenoptera). Contributions in Zoology and Entomology, No. 6. The Ohio State University. Columbus. U. S. A. 153 pp. (1944).
the problem is many of the old ones are hidden in old publications, not accessible except through larger university libraries. there was some effort to digitise some of it and it hink most things post 1960 is available somewhere, where exactly is difficult to establish; and often they are still hidden in university repositories.
For anything older than 1960, it becomes incresingly unlikely it is available digitised. Digitising is expensive (it usuall requires a person to physically photocopy a book, which takes time), and I have a feeling most efforts have been discontinued, unfortunately (just my feeling, maybe they are ongoing, but just slowed down).
If you need something old, and live in a place with a big university, that deals a lot with life sciences, I would ask the university if they have specific papers/scientific journals/books, if you cannot find them in public repositories (like: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org, but searching on those requires a lil bit of learning curve, they are not google).
For that one, Smith 1944, you could try the library of Ohio State University. Or look up if that university still has any entomologists on its staff. They might be persuaded to help you.
The campus library at Ohio State University might be a good contact. I’m certain they have that periodical in their collection and sometimes staff will be willing to scan an article for a researcher.