Abstract
A new species of microgastrine wasp, Cotesiacassina Salgado-Neto, Vásquez & Whitfield, sp. nov., is described from southwestern Colombia in Tumaco, Nariño. This species is a koinobiont gregarious larval endoparasitoid, and spins a common mass of cocoons underneath the host caterpillars of Opsiphanescassina (Felder & Felder) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae), feeding on oil palm trees (interspecific hybrid Elaeisoleifera × E.guineensis) (Arecaceae). While superficially similar, both morphologically and biologically, to C.invirae Salgado-Neto & Whitfield from southern Brazil, the two species are distinct based on DNA barcodes, host species, geographical range and morphological characters.
Highlights
The nymphalid butterfly Opsiphanes cassina Felder & Felder occurs from Mexico to the Amazon Basin (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) (Lamas 2004)
Opsiphanes cassina is considered a pest of oil palm trees (Arecaceae) in south-west Colombia (Genty 1978; Mexzón and Chinchilla 1996; Posada and Cárdenas 1996; Loría et al 2000; González 2011)
In southwestern Colombia, the occurrence of the subspecies O. cassina numatius Fruhstorfer was recorded by Martínez (1970)
Summary
The nymphalid butterfly Opsiphanes cassina Felder & Felder occurs from Mexico to the Amazon Basin (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) (Lamas 2004). We describe a new species of Cotesia Cameron, reared from O. cassina feeding on oil palms in southwestern Colombia.
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