Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
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: 82
PDF downloaded: 7

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.

 

References

  1. Alvarado, M. & Palacio, E. (2021) Forrestopius Gauld & Sithole, 2002 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Metopiinae) in South America. Zootaxa, 5040 (2), 265–282. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5040.2.6
  2. Brajković, M., Nikolić, Z., Ćurčić, S.B., Živić, I. & Stojanović, D. (2010) Morphological changes of the ovipositor in species of Cheloninae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in the course of adaptation to egg-larval parasitism. Archives of Biological Science, Belgrade, 62, 469–477. https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS1002469B
  3. Broad, G.R., Shaw, M.R. & Fitton, M.G. (2018) Ichneumonid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): Their Classification and Biology. Royal Entomological Society, St Albans, 417 pp. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781800625471.0000
  4. Cresson, E.T. (1868) Catalogue of a collection of Hymenoptera made by Prof. F. Smicrast near Cordova, Mexico. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 2, 1–38. https://doi.org/10.2307/25076191
  5. Cresson, E.T. (1916) The Cresson types of Hymenoptera. Memoirs of the American Entomological Society, 1, 1–141.
  6. Fernandez-Triana, J.L., Whitfield, J.B., Rodriguez, J.J., Smith, M.A., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W., Hajibabaei, M., Burns, J.M., Solis, M.A., Brown, J., Cardinal, S., Goulet, H. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2014a) Review of Apanteles sensu strictu (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, with keys to all described species from Mesoamerica. ZooKeys, 383, 1–565. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.383.6418
  7. Fernandez-Triana, J.L., Whitfield, J.B., Smith, M.A., Braet, Y., Hallwachs, W. & Janzen D.H. (2014b) Review of the neotropical genus Prasmodon (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with emphasis on species from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica. Journal of Hymenoptera Research, 37, 1–52. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.37.6748
  8. Gauld, I. (1991) The Ichneumonidae of Costa Rica, 1. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 47, 1–589.
  9. Gauld, I. & Sithole, R. (2002) The Ichneumonidae of Costa Rica, 4. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute, 66, 1–768.
  10. González-Moreno, A., Sanjuán, S.B. & Delfin-González, H. (2010) Metopiinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) de la Reserva Especial de la Biofera Ría Lagartos, México. Entomología Mexicana, 9, 212–215.
  11. Ivanova, N.V., DeWaard, J.R. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2006) An inexpensive, automation-friendly protocol for recovering high-quality DNA. Molecular Ecology Notes, 6, 998–1002. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2006.01428.x
  12. Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W., Blandin, P., Burns, J.M., Cadiou, J., Chacon, I., Dapkey, T., Deans, A.R., Epstein, M.E., Espinoza, B., Franclemont, J.G., Haber, W.A., Hajibabaei, M., Hall, J.P.W., Hebert, P.D.N., Gauld, I.D., Harvey, D.J., Hausmann, A., Kitching, I., Lafontaine, D., Landry, J., Lemaire, C., Miller, J.Y., Miller, J.S., Miller, L., Miller, S.E., Montero, J., Munroe, E., Rab-Green, S., Ratnasingham, S., Rawlins, J.E., Robbins, R.K., Rodriguez, J.J., Rougerie, R., Sharkey, M.J., Smith, M.A., Solis, M.A., Sullivan, J.B., Thiaucourt, P., Wahl, D.B., Weller, S.J., Whitfield, J.B., Willmott, K.R., Wood, D.M., Woodley, N.E. & Wilson, J.J. (2009) Integration of DNA barcoding into an ongoing inventory of complex tropical biodiversity. Molecular Ecology Resources, 9 (Supplement 1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02628.x
  13. Janzen, D.H. & Hallwachs, W. (2011) Joining inventory by parataxonomists with DNA barcoding of a large complex tropical conserved wildland in northwestern Costa Rica. PLoS ONE, 6 (8), e18123. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018123
  14. Moleiro, H.P., Onody, H.C., Camacho, G.P. Penteado-Dias, A.M., Alvarado, M., Ballón-Estacio, R.J. & Santos, A.D. (2023) Contributions to the taxonomy of the Brazilian Leurus Townes, 1946 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Metopiinae). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 63, e202363201. https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2023.63.021
  15. Ratnasingham, S. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2007) BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data System (www.barcodinglife.org). Molecular Ecology Notes, 7, 355–364.
  16. Shaw, M.R. (2017) Anatomy, reach and classification of the parasitoid complex of a common British moth, Anthophila fabriciana (L.) (Choreutidae). Journal of Natural History, 51 (19–20), 1119–1149. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2017.1315837
  17. Smith, M.A., Woodley, N.E., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2006) DNA barcodes reveal cryptic host-specificity within the presumed polyphagous members of a genus of parasitoid flies (Diptera: Tachinidae). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103, 3657–3662. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0511318103
  18. Smith, M.A., Wood, D.M., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2007) DNA barcodes affirm that 16 species of apparently generalist tropical parasitoid flies (Diptera, Tachinidae) are not all generalists. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 4967–4972. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0700050104
  19. Smith, M.A., Rodriguez, J.J., Whitfield, J.B., Deans, A.R., Janzen, D.H., Hallwachs, W. & Hebert, P.D.N. (2008) Extreme diversity of tropical parasitoid wasps exposed by iterative integration of natural history, DNA barcoding, morphology, and collections. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, 12359–12364. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0805319105
  20. Teder, T.T. (1998) Limited variability of genitalia in the genus Pimpla (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): inter or intraspecific causes? Netherlands Journal of Zoology, 48, 335–347. https://doi.org/10.1163/156854298X00039
  21. Townes, H. (1946) The generic position of the Neotropic Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera) with types in the Philadelphia and Quebec museums, described by Cresson, Hooker, Norton, Provancher, and Viereck. Boletín de Entomología Venezolana, 5, 29–63.
  22. Townes, H.K. & Townes, M. (1959) Ichneumon-flies of America north of Mexico: 1 Subfamily Metopiinae. United States National Museum Bulletin, 216 (1), 1–318. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.03629236.216.1