Pristomerus Curtis

Rousse, Pascal, Villemant, Claire & Seyrig, Andre, 2011, Ichneumonid wasps from Madagascar. V. Ichneumonidae Cremastinae, Zootaxa 3118, pp. 1-30 : 17

Pristomerus Curtis

Body moderately slender, metasoma moderately to strongly compressed. Occipital carina usually complete. Females (often) and males (nearly always) with hind femur swollen and bearing a tooth on lower side or a little behind the middle. Front wing with areolet absent, vein Rs&M opposite or a little basal to vein cu-a, and vein rs-m basal to 2m-cu by at least its length. Hind wing with vein Cu1 spectral. Tergite I moderately slender, glymma hardly distinct. Lower edges of tergite I separated and parallel. Gastrocoelus transverse near base of tergite II. Epipleura of tergite II narrow, separated by a crease and turned under. Ovipositor tip sinuate. Apex of male gonosquama rounded. This is a large genus of worldwide distribution. Most species are tropical. Hosts include various small Lepidoptera living in tunnels, leaf rolls, buds and other hidden areas.

Only eight species have been described from the Ethiopian region, but examination of the collected material reveals the presence of at least twice as many more in Madagascar. The lone species known to date from the island was described by Fitton (Polaszek et al. 1994).