Trigonalys maculifrons Sharp

Smith, David R., Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie & Smith, M. Alexander, 2012, Hyperparasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera, Trigonalidae) reared from dry forest and rain forest caterpillars of Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 29, pp. 119-144 : 133-134

Trigonalys maculifrons Sharp Figure 23

Trigonalys maculifrons Sharp 1895: 564, fig. 371.

Discussion.

This species is mostly yellow with various black maculations on the head and body ( Fig. 23 ). The specimens reared from Costa Rica resemble this species with very similar black markings on the head and mesosoma. The black on the metasoma, however, differs. It is possible this is species-level variation, but we do not have enough specimens to evaluate this, and it does not seem to justify the description of a new species. Trigonalys flavescens Bischoff 1951, described from Mexico, is similar, but it differs by the more weakly striped metasoma and lack of a triangular mark at the top of the gena.

As explained by Carmean and Kimsey (1998), Sharp (1895) illustrated Trigonalys maculifrons with the caption " Trigonalys maculifrons Cam., i.l. Mexico" prior to Cameron’s (1897) description of the species. The illustration clearly depicts the holotype specimen described in Cameron, and Sharp is therefore the author of the species.

The Trigonalys maculifrons DNA barcode is 13-17% different from other ACG Trigonalidae .

Distribution.

Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico ( Carmean and Kimsey 1998).

Specimens examined.

4; 4 DNA barcoded. Deposited in USNM, INBio.

Hosts and biology.

This striking species has been reared just three times, all in 2001 and in ACG dry forest (Sector Santa Rosa), from caterpillars of Euscirrhopterus poeyi Grote ( Noctuidae ) feeding on Pisonia aculeata L. ( Nyctaginaceae ) and primary parasitized by Lespesia posticaDHJ01 ( Tachinidae ).

Figures

Figure 23. Trigonalys maculifrons, female, dorsal view.