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Issue: Vol. 5529 No. 3: 29 Oct. 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-10-29
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5529.3.5
Page range: 511-531
Abstract views: 185
PDF downloaded: 13

Cryptic diversity of Leurus wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Metopiinae), parasitoids of caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund; Sector Santa Rosa; Area de Conservación Guanacaste; Costa Rica. PO Box 2195-1000; San José; Costa Rica
PO Box 2195-1000; San José; Costa Rica.
Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Ecología Tropical; Escuela de Biologia; Universidad de Costa Rica; San Pedro; 11501– 2060; San José; Costa Rica
Department of Integrative Biology and the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario; University of Guelph; Guelph; ON N1G 2W1 Canada
Department of Biology; University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia; PA 19104; USA
Department of Biology; University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia; PA 19104; USA
Hymenoptera DNA barcoding cryptic species parasitoid host records wasp ecology Crambidae

Abstract

As a consequence of COI barcoding hundreds of reared specimens of what appeared to be Leurus caeruliventris, a parasitoid of leaf-rolling Crambidae (Lepidoptera) from the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, and matching them with their host caterpillars and morphological traits, we describe ten new sympatric species and redescribe L. caeruliventris. The new species, authored by Zuñiga & Valerio, are: Leurus billeberhardi, L. henrytownesi, L. hugokonsi, L. iangauldi, L. jesusugaldei, L. marjorietownesae, L. maryjanewestae, L. pammitchellae, L. sondrawardae, and L. wahli. We also provide an illustrated key to the eleven species and an ecological glimpse into the lives of these very similar wasp species.

 

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