Jethsura Cameron, 1902

Claridge, Brandon, 2021, Revision of the genus Jethsura Cameron, 1902 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae: Phaeogenini), Zootaxa 5071 (2), pp. 223-241 : 224

Jethsura Cameron, 1902

Jethsura Cameron, 1902: 373 .

Type species: Jethsura ferruginea Cameron. Monotypic and original designation.

Generic diagnosis. Jethsura is distinguished by the combination of the following characters: 1) mandible slightly narrowed to moderately wide and nearly unidentate, with the ventral tooth greatly reduced and represented only by a small notch; 2) dorsal face of propodeum usually with carinae obsolete (moderately to weakly-developed in J. pyriformis ); 3) gastrocoelus and thyridium of T2 varying from subobsolete to moderately well-developed but always narrower than interthyridial interval; 4) males without tyloids; and most notably, 5) female with T6 anteriorly constricted. The latter character is unique among phaeogenine genera, and thus makes the females instantly recognizable. Males of J. pyriformis superficially resemble a few species of Stenodontus , particularly several undescribed species in Mexico and the southwestern U.S.A. Jethsura pyriformis males can be readily distinguished from these species by the broader, bidentate mandible as opposed to the narrower, sickle-shaped, unidentate mandible in Stenodontus .