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Title: Review of Ilatha Fischer (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae), including descriptions of six new species and a key to species

Author
item Kula, Robert
item DIX-LUNA, O. - National University Of Colombia
item SHAW, S. - University Of Wyoming

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/12/2012
Publication Date: 8/2/2012
Citation: Kula, R.R., Dix-Luna, O., Shaw, S.R. 2012. Review of Ilatha Fischer (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae), including descriptions of six new species and a key to species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 114(3):293-328.

Interpretive Summary: Parasitic wasps attack pest insects that cause billions of dollars of damage annually. They also attack parasitic and predatory insects, and this can have a positive or negative impact on biological or natural control. The wasps treated in this paper attack flies parasitic on caterpillars feeding on tropical plants in the Western Hemisphere, including a plant listed as nearly threatened. Increased knowledge of these wasps helps determine how interactions among wasps, flies, and caterpillars affect plant populations. Hosts are reported for the wasps for the first time. Six new species are described, 13 new distribution records are reported, and a key for identifying 11 species is provided. This paper will be useful to scientists conducting research in the tropics, as well as personnel involved in plant conservation.

Technical Abstract: The following new species from the Neotropical Region are described: Ilatha buffingtoni Kula, Dix-Luna, and Shaw; Ilatha cloptoni Kula, Dix-Luna, and Shaw; Ilatha dasygaster Kula, Dix-Luna, and Shaw; Ilatha henospilota Kula, Dix-Luna, and Shaw; Ilatha plaumanni Kula, Dix-Luna, and Shaw; and Ilatha stiremani Kula, Dix-Luna, and Shaw. Diagnoses are provided for differentiating all species of Ilatha Fischer, as is a key. Ilatha dasygaster is reported as a parasitoid of Calolydella geminata Townsend (Tachinidae: Exoristinae) parasitizing Actinote stratonice Latrille (Nymphalidae: Acraeinae) on Munnozia pinnatipartita (Hieron.) H. Rob. & Brettell (Asterales: Asteraceae). Ilatha stiremani is reported as a parasitoid of an undetermined species of Tachinidae parasitizing and undetermined species of Geometridae on Diplazium costale var. robustum (Sodiro) Stolze (Polypodiales: Dryopteridaceae). The aforementioned new host records are the first for any species of Ilatha. Also, A. stratonice is a new host record and the first for any species of Calolydella Townsend. The following new distribution records at the country level are reported: Ilatha erythrogaster (Cameron) from Argentina and Colombia; Ilatha longicornis (Cameron) from Mexico; Ilatha pulchripennis (Cameron) from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru; and Ilatha xanthoptera (Cameron) from Costa Rica. New distribution records for Ilatha are reported from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Venezuela based on new and previously described species treated in this research.