Cryptic diversity of Leurus wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Metopiinae), parasitoids of caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica
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.
Authors
- Alejandro Valerio
- Daniel H. Janzen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7335-5107)
- Ronald Zuñiga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5619-5279)
- Paul Hanson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7667-7718)
- Winnie Hallwachs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5166-809X)
- M. Alex Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8650-2575)
Institutions
- Universidad de Costa Rica (CR)
- Guanacaste Conservation Area (CR)
- Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería de Costa Rica (CR)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of Guelph (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zootaxa
- Published
- 2024-10-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5529.3.5
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Hymenoptera taxonomy and phylogeny
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.06