Abstract
Pseudapanteles is a moderately diverse genus of Microgastrinae parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), endemic to the New World and with the vast majority of its species (including many undescribed) in the Neotropical region. We describe here 25 new species from Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), northwestern Costa Rica, based on 400 studied specimens. A key to all 36 known species of Pseudapanteles is provided (except for Pseudapanteles brunneus, only known from a single male), and species are placed in three newly created species-groups. Host records are known for only 25% of the species; most are solitary parasitoids of the caterpillars of several families of small Lepidoptera (Crambidae, Elachistidae, Gelechiidae, Incurvariidae, Sesiidae, Tineidae). DNA barcodes (part of the CO1 gene) were obtained for 30 species (83%), and provide a start for future study of the genus beyond ACG. Brief descriptions (generated by Lucid 3.5 software) and extensive illustrations are provided for all species. The following new taxonomic and nomenclatural acts are proposed: Pseudapanteles moerens (Nixon, 1965), comb. n., Pseudapanteles brunneus Ashmead, 1900, comb. rev., a lectotype is designated for Pseudapanteles ruficollis (Cameron, 1911), and the following 25 species nova of Pseudapanteles (all authored by Fernández-Triana and Whitfield): alfiopivai, alvaroumanai, analorenaguevarae, carlosespinachi, carlosrodriguezi, christianafigueresae, hernanbravoi, jorgerodriguezi, josefigueresi, laurachinchillae, luisguillermosolisi, margaritapenonae, mariobozai, mariocarvajali, maureenballesteroae, munifigueresae, oscarariasi, ottonsolisi, pedroleoni, raulsolorzanoi, renecastroi, rodrigogamezi, rosemarykarpinskiae, soniapicadoae, teofilodelatorrei.
Highlights
Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), in northwestern Costa Rica, has been inventorying all caterpillar taxa, their food plants, and their parasitoids since 1978 (Janzen et al 2009, 2012, Fernández-Triana et al 2014)
Microgastrinae wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) have been one of the most frequently reared and intensively studied groups of parasitoids in ACG, hundreds of species remain undescribed
Ashmead (1898) originally described the genus, but it was not until Mason (1981) reclassified Microgastrinae that Pseudapanteles became widely accepted as a distinct genus
Summary
Area de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), in northwestern Costa Rica, has been inventorying all caterpillar taxa, their food plants, and their parasitoids since 1978 (Janzen et al 2009, 2012, Fernández-Triana et al 2014). The species P. brunneus Ashmead, 1900, described from St. Vincent Island (Caribbean), is only known from the male holotype, and cannot be identified using this key; there are only two known species of Pseudapanteles from St. Vincent Island: P. brunneus, which is dark brown on most of the meso- and metasoma dorsally, and P. annulicornis, which is entirely orange-yellow].
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