Dicladocerus belongs to the
Eulophini
due to the following characters: funicle 3-4 segmented, propleura
meeting posteriorly and covering prosternum, 2 pairs of scutellar
setae and 3 or more setae on submarginal vein, postmarginal vein
at least 1.5 times length of stigmal vein. Within the
Eulophini,
Dicladocerus is a relatively easy genus to recognise:
the combination of funicle 3-segmented in female and the male
antenna with 2 branches is not very common. Sometimes
Pnigalio
has a 3-segmented female funicle as well (
Yoshimoto,
1983), but the male funicle always has 3 branches.
Dicladocerus may be distinguished from the other
Eulophini
genera attacking leafmining flies using the following characters:
it has a pair of longitudinal lines on scutellum (absent in
Hemiptarsenus,
Pnigalio and
Sympiesis),
doesn’t have costula on the propodeum (present in
Pnigalio
and
Ratzeburgiola) and
doesn’t have 2 median carinae (H-or X-shaped) on the propodeum
(present in
Stenomesius).
Keys to
Dicladocerus are available for North American
(
Yoshimoto, 1976) and
for Indian species (
Khan, 1995).