S«3 SOCIETy Journal of Hymenoptera Research Volume 12, Number 1 ril 2003 3N #1070-9428 CONTENTS A. B. DEANS, R., J. WHITFIELD, and D. H. JANZEN. Taxonomy and natural history of the microgastrine genus Alphomelon Mason (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) 1 JANZEN, D. H., A. K. WALKER, J. B. WHITFIELD, G. DELVARE, and I. D. GAULD. Host- specificity and hyperparasitoids of three new Costa Rican species of Microplitis Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae), parasitoids of sphingid caterpillars 42 T. HUBER, J. Review of Chaetomymar Ogloblin, with description of a new species in the Hawaiian Islands (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) 77 KIMSEY, L. S. A peculiar new genus of locally abundant Australian Thynninae (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae) 102 LOPEZ PEREZ, M. A preliminary list of the Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) of Cuba, with descriptions of two new species 125 ROIG-ALSINA, A. The bee genus Doeringiella Holmberg (Hymenoptera: Apidae): a revi- sion of the subgenus Pseudepeolus Holmberg 136 SMITH, D. R. A synopsis of the sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) of America south of the United States: Tenthredinidae (Allantinae) 148 SMITH, D. R. and D. H. JANZEN. Food plants and life histories of sawflies of the family Argidae (Hymenoptera) in Costa Rica, with descriptions of two new species . 193 INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF HYMENOPTERISTS Organized 1982; Incorporated 1991 OFFICERS FOR 2003 Lynn Kimsey, President Denis Brothers, President-Elect James B. Woolley, Secretary John T. Huber, Treasurer E. Eric Grissell, Editor Subject Editors Symphyta and Parasitica Aculeata Biology: Mark Shaw Biology: Sydney Cameron Systematics: Donald Quicke Systematics: Wojciech Pulawski All correspondence concerning Society business should be mailed to the appropriate officer at the following addresses: President, Bohart Museum of Entomology, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; Secretary, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843; Treasurer, Eastern Cereal & Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture Canada, K. W. Neatby Building, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0C6; Editor, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, P.O. Box 37012, % National Museum of Natural History CE 520, MRC 168, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012. Membership. Members shall be persons who have demonstrated interest in the science of ento- mology. 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Location of Office of Publication, Business Office of Publisher and Owner: International Society of Hymenopterists, % Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, 10th and Constitution NW, Washington, D.C. 20560-0168, U.S.A. Editor: E. Eric Grissell, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, % National Museum of Nat- ural History, 10th and Constitution NW, Washington, D.C. 20560-0168. U.S.A. Editor Managing and Known Bondholders or other Security Holders: none. This issue was mailed 2 April 2003 J. HYM. RES. Vol. 12(1), 2003, pp. 1-41 Taxonomy and Natural History of the Microgastrine Genus Alphomelon Mason (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) Andrew R. Deans, James B. Whitfield, and Daniel H. Janzen (ARD, JBW) Department of Entomology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA, email: [email protected], [email protected]; (DHJ) Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA, email: [email protected] Abstract. —The New World endemic genus Alphomelon Mason (Braconidae: Microgastrinae) is revised for the first time. This revision includes a redescription of the genus, redescriptions of its named species and descriptions of new species with illustrations of diagnostic characters, an illustrated key to Alphomelon species, and a summary of their natural history as parasitoids of four of hesperiid caterpillars. Alphomelon is a monophyletic group containing seventeen species, A. ni- which were previously described: Alphomelon disputabile (Ashmead) (Argentina to U.S.A.), A. griceps (Ashmead) (Caribbean islands and surrounding countries), talidicida (Wilkinson) (Brazil to Costa Rica), and A. conformis (Muesebeck) (Venezuela to Costa Rica). Thirteen species are described as new: Alphomelon arecaphile Deans (Brazil to Costa Rica), A. brachymacher Deans (Brazil and Peru to Costa Rica), A. bromeliphile Deans (Costa Rica to Mexico), A. citroloma Deans (Argentina to Costa Rica), A. crocostetlius Deans (Brazil to Colombia), A. melanoscelis Deans (Brazil to Mexico), A. nanosoma Deans (Brazil to Mexico), A. panrogetium Deans (Argentina and Chile), A. rhyssocerms Deans (Argentina to Panama), A. simpsononim Deans (Paraguay to Costa Rica), A. pyrrhogluteum Deans (Argentina), A. winnieivertzae Deans (Costa Rica to Canada), and A. xestopyga Deans (Costa Rica). Distributed throughout most of the tern- Ashmead described two species of Al- island of St. perate and tropical New World, the mem- phomelon in 1900 from the bers of the genus Alphomelon Mason par- Vincent in the Caribbean as Urogastcr ni- asitize skipper larvae (Hesperiidae) and griceps Ashmead and Urogaster disputabilis are frequently collected and often reared. Ashmead. In 1920 Muesebeck synony- Although members of this genus are easy mized Urogaster under Apanteles Forster to recognize due to the white coloration and reassigned nigriceps and disputabilis Since on their genae (which gives the genus its (renamed disputabile) accordingly. name), identification at the species level then only two other species have been de- has remained difficult owing to the ab- scribed: Apanteles talidicida Wilkinson from sence of keys, adequate descriptions, and Guyana (Wilkinson 1931) and Apanteles illustrations. This revision updates the conformis Muesebeck from Venezuela classification of the species within Alpho- (Muesebeck 1958). Mason's (1981) reclas- melon, and includes a brief discussion of sification of Apanteles led to his creation of dis- its taxonomic history, biology, and distri- the new genus Alphomelon comprising bution together with descriptions of thir- putabile, nigriceps, and talidicida. Mason ap- reas- teen new species, redescriptions of four parently overlooked conformis when color previously named species, illustrations of signing species, but morphology, it also diagnostic characters, and a key to all spe- patterns, and biology suggest that cies known to date. belongs in Alphomelon. Journal of Hymenoptera Research to ex- Collections often contain many speci- basitarsus; see Figure 6a,b) long (the as the hind mens of Alphomelon, particularly if they serted portion as long tibia) of curvature. More are rich in New World malaise trap sam- with varying degrees half the are with a ples. However, due to the paucity of mi- than species equipped of crogastrine taxonomists and a lack of il- "typical" ovipositor medium length lustrations or keys these specimens are and medium curvature (Fig. 6c), including also usually located in the "unsorted" drawers most of the reared species. Species to the number of or lumped with Apanteles. This lack of ex- differ with respect spines to the tarsal claws pertise, in combination with the large in- (from one four) on (Fig. larvae live in flux of specimens from Janzen's caterpil- 3). Since skipper typically fur- lar-parasitoid rearing project in north- leaf-rolls lined with silk (Hogue 1993), western Costa Rica (Janzen and Hallwachs ther exploration of their ovipositors and 2002, Schauff and Janzen 2001, Burns and tarsal claws may provide clues into ovi- Janzen 2001), clarified the need for a tax- position behavior, host species escape bi- onomic revision of Alphomelon. ology, and the host environment. This occurs only in the New NATURAL HISTORY AND genus World (Mason 1981). The highest concen- DISTRIBUTION OF ALPHOMELON tration of species are in Amazonia and Host records for the few reared speci- southern Central America where hesper- mens in major collections indicate that iids are also extremely speciose (Hogue species of Alphomelon invariably parasitize 1993). hesperiine skipper larvae (Lepidoptera: on monocots. PHYLOGENETIC PLACEMENT OF Hesperiidae) feeding mostly ALPHOMELON There is one doubtful rearing record from a dicot-eating caterpillar: DHJ voucher 98- Mason (1981; also Walker et al. 1990) SRNP-4564 (Janzen and Hallwachs 2002). used morphological characters to place Al- The majority of museum records are from phomelon in the Apanteles genus-group skipper larvae feeding on agricultural (Apanteles, Papanteles, Alphomelon, and crops such as corn, sugar cane, bananas, Dasylagon) within the tribe Apantelini. Re- and canna. Two of these hosts, Lerema sp. analysis of morphology combined with and Calpodes ethlius, are also reported to molecular data (Mardulyn