Heterospilini Fischer

Marsh, Paul M., Wild, Alexander L. & Whitfield, James B., 2013, The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini, ZooKeys 347, pp. 1-474 : 12-13

Tribe Heterospilini Fischer

Heterospilini Fischer, 1981: 47 (as subtribe Heterospilina ).

Diagnosis.

Fore wing vein 2RS absent (Fig. 8A), at least partially, rarely indicated by infuscated line (nebulose vein) but not a distinct tubular vein; fore wing first subdiscal cell open at apex, vein 2cu-a absent (Fig. 8A); basal sternal plate (acrosternite) of first metasomal segment 1/4 length of tergum; hind coxa usually with antero-ventral tooth or tubercle at base (Fig. 10C), occasionally with weak tooth; hind wing of male usually with enlarged stigma near base.

The complete or near absence of the fore wing vein 2RS occurs in several other tribes of the Doryctinae . Belokobylskij (2006) presented a key to the World tribes and genera of Doryctinae with a reduced fore wing vein 2RS. A few apterous or brachypterous species of Heterospilus have been described including one from Costa Rica ( Kula 2013) and two in the Nearctic Region ( Kula 2011). In the present study of nearly 7,000 specimens, no apterous or brachypterous forms were found. Most of the specimens were collected in Malaise traps or by sweep nets but the specimens that were described by Kula were collected in pan traps. Undoubtedly, if more collecting in Costa Rica were to be done using pan traps, more specimens of wingless species would be found.

In Costa Rica, the tribe Heterospilini is composed almost entirely of the speciose genus Heterospilus but also includes three smaller genera which can be identified by the key below.

Very little is known about the biology of the species in the Heterospilini . The genus Heterospilus has the most diverse host range within the Doryctinae . Where records are known, species in Heterospilus parasitize a very wide range of endophytic, mostly stem-boring, hosts. In the Coleoptera , Heterospilus parasitizes the families Anobiidae , Bostrichidae , Bruchidae , Buprestidae , Cerambycidae , Curculionidae , Languriidae , Mordellidae and Scolytidae ; in the Lepidoptera , the families Gelechiidae , Incurvariidae , Pyralidae and Tortricidae are utilized; and two Mexican species were reared from the cotton boll weevil ( Marsh 2002). In Costa Rica, even less is known about the hosts of Heterospilus relative to the large number of species. One species, Heterospilus microstigmi Richards, has been reared from larvae of pemphredonine sphecid wasps of the genus Microstigmus ( Marsh and Melo 1999); another species, Heterospilus lapierrei sp. n., was reared from a weevil infesting Cecropia ( Hespenheide and LaPierre 2006); and Heterospilus sinuatus sp. n. has been reared from several species of bruchids ( Whitehead 1975). One record of Heterospilus attacking streblid bat flies needs to be confirmed ( Shockley and Murray 2006).

Key to the Genera of Heterospilini from Costa Rica