Abstract
Pellioditis koreana n. sp. was recovered from cadavers of Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae and is herein characterized using morphometric and DNA barcode data. P. koreana n. sp. is characterized by its lateral fields with four lines, anterior part of the pharynx longer than posterior part, hemizonid prominent, located adjacent to the middle or posterior part of isthmus, excretory pore located anterior to basal bulb or within the anterior part of basal bulb, tail cupola-shaped, with angular sides, with a slender spike, phasmids prominent, papilla-like, flanking the cupola part, male tail region with nine pairs of genital papillae with a 1 + (1 + 1) + 2 + 1 + 3 pattern, spicules 48.0-70.5 μm long, gubernaculum less than half of spicule length long, dauer juvenile with a long tail, and tapering to a filiform posterior end. The phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed using 18S-, 28S-, and ITS-rRNA gene sequences. The phylogenies showed that P. koreana n. sp. is a sister species to P. zhejiangensis. This species represents the first record of an entomo-parasitic relationship within this predominantly gastropod-parasitic genus.