A New Species of Aleiodes Wesmael (Braconidae, Rogadinae) with Potential for Biological Control of Spodoptera spp. (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), and Notes on the Definition of the gastritor, circumscriptus, and Related Species-Groups.

A new species of Aleiodes Wesmael in the gastritor Thunberg species-group is described and illustrated. The new species, Aleiodes ceres Shimbori sp.n., occurs in Southern Brazil and Argentina. It is a potential biological control agent of caterpillars in the genus Spodoptera Guenée, namely S. cosmioides (Walker), S. eridania (Stoll), and S. frugiperda (J.E. Smith), which are serious pests on major crops including maize and soybean. The position of the new species within Aleiodes is discussed in relation to existing proposals of subdivisions of the genus into species-groups. In agreement with recent publications, the gastritor species-group is treated as separate from the circumscriptus Nees/bicolor Spinola group, as evidence suggests the latter is absent in the New World. We also propose the provisional shakirae Shimbori & Shaw species-group, to accommodate a clade of Neotropical species with geometrid hosts and morphological features similar to the gastritor and circumscriptus groups. A key to Neotropical species in the gastritor group and similar species is provided, except for species recently named without a morphological description.

Revision of the endemic African genus Dinapsis (Dinapsini, Megalyridae, Hymenoptera) with description of seven new species.

The endemic Afrotropical genus Dinapsis is revised, and seven new species are described and illustrated: D.bicolor van Noort & Shaw, sp. nov., D.gamka van Noort & Shaw, sp. nov., D.igneus van Noort & Shaw, sp. nov., D.spinitibia van Noort & Shaw, sp. nov., D.taita van Noort & Shaw, sp. nov., D.tricolor Shaw & van Noort, sp. nov., D.zulu Shaw & van Noort, sp. nov. The distribution of the Central African Republican species D.centralis Shaw & van Noort, 2009 is extended to include Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda. Dinapsisturneri Waterston, 1922, previously only known from the poorly preserved holotype female, is redescribed based on newly collected specimens. The distribution of this Western Cape species is extended to include the Eastern and Northern Cape provinces of South Africa. Four distinct species groups within the genus are proposed and diagnosed. An illustrated identification key to all described species of Dinapsis is provided. Online interactive Lucid keys to Afrotropical megalyrid genera and Dinapsis species are available at http://www.waspweb.org.

A taxonomic study of Dinapsis Waterson, 1922 from Madagascar (Hymenoptera: Megalyridae, Dinapsini): crested wasps of the hirtipes species-group.

Five new species, Dinapsis albicauda, n. sp., D. cresta, n. sp., D. luteus, n. sp., D. planifrons, n. sp., and D. scriptus, n. sp. are described from the island of Madagascar. The Dinapsis hirtipes species-group is proposed based on D. hirtipes Hedqvist, 1967 and the five newly described species. A key to species of the D. hirtipes species-group is provided.

Revision of the genus Centistes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae: Centistini) of Costa Rica.

This paper provides the first taxonomic revision for the euphorine genus Centistes from a Neotropical country. Twenty-three new species are described: C. achterbergi sp. n., C. acuticaudatus sp. n., C. auricephalus sp. n., C. auristigma sp. n., C. bicaudatus sp. n., C. cabecares sp. n., C. cartagoensis sp. n., C. chorotegus sp. n., C. compactus sp. n., C. curvicaudatus sp. n., C. gauldi sp. n., C. hansoni sp. n., C. hirsutus sp. n., C. janzeni sp. n., C. laticaudatus sp. n., C. longicaudatus sp. n., C. marshi sp. n., C. muertensis sp. n., C. ornamentum sp. n., C. pilosus sp. n., C. puntarenensis sp. n., C. sergeyi sp. n., C. zurquiensis sp. n. A taxonomic key, including the two previously described species, C. epicaeri Muesebeck and C. gasseni Shaw, is presented. As a whole, the Centistes exhibit their highest diversity in the premontane cloud forests.

A review of the genus Orionis Shaw (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) and first records of the genus from South America and the Oriental Region.

Orionis is a small Neotropical euphorine genus, currently in the tribe Perilitini. Although the biology of the genus is unknown, Orionis eximius (Muesebeck) was described from a single female specimen reared from a cocoon associated with Lantana camara. Here, we present a taxonomic revision of Orionis and the first records of the genus from South America and Thailand, with descriptions of three new species: O. brasiliensis sp. nov., O. ecuadoriensis sp. nov. and O. orientalis sp. nov. We also report the first record of O. eximius from South America (Ecuador). A revised key for the described species is presented.

Four new species of the Aleiodes compressor Herrich-Schäffer species-group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) from South America / Cuatro especies nuevas del grupo de especies Aleiodes compressor Herrich-Schäffer (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) de Sudamérica

Four new species of the Aleiodes compressor (Herrich-Schäffer) species-group from the Neotropical Region are described and illustrated: Aleiodes segakiato sp. nov. and A. lamasi sp. nov. from Peru, A. macro sp. nov. from Argentina, and A. palmito sp. nov. from Mexico. With the addition of these new species, the compressor species-group has ten known species; two from Old World, two from Nearctic Region, and six from Neotropical Region. In addition to the descriptions of the new species, a key to known species is presented, and a new distribution record for A. mantiqueirensis Shimbori, Shaw and Penteado-Dias from Ecuador is reported.

Cuatro especies nuevas del grupo de especies Aleiodes compressor (Herrich-Schäffer) de la Región Neotropical son descritas e ilustradas: Aleiodes segakiato sp. nov. y A. lamasi sp. nov. de Perú, A. macro sp. nov. de Argentina y A. palmito sp. nov. de México. Con la incorporación de las especies nuevas, el grupo de especies compressor tiene diez especies conocidas, dos de ellas son del viejo mundo, dos de la Región Neártica y seis de la Región Neotropical. Además de la descripción de las especies nuevas, se presenta una clave de especies y se reporta el nuevo registro de distribución de A. mantiqueirensis Shimbori, Shaw y Pendeado-Dias en Ecuador.

Eleven new species of Athacryvac Braet & van Achterberg from the Neotropical Region (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae).

The neotropical genus Athacryvac Braet & van Achterberg was recently described based on two species from French Guiana. Despite the resemblance of these species with the diverse and widespread genus Aleiodes, the authors opted to erect the new genus based on several synapomorphies. With the analysis of more comprehensive morphological and geographical variation we propose reclassifying Athacryvac as a subgenus within Aleiodes. In this paper we describe 11 new neotropical species of the subgenus Athacryvac: Aleiodes (Athacryvac) achterbergi Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) amazoniensis Shimbori & Almeida sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) braeti Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) choco Shimbori sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) donaldquickei Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) gonzalezi Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) paradoxus Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) soaresi Shimbori & Penteado-Dias sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) tico Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) torresi Shimbori & Shaw sp. nov., Aleiodes (Athacryvac) zaldivari Shimbori & Almeida sp. nov. We also provide new morphological and distributional data for the previously described A. alternatus and A. fuscatus, as well as the description of the male of the later species. The 13 known species of Aleiodes (Athacryvac) stat. nov. are restricted to the Neotropical Region, ranging from southern Mexico to southern Brazil. With our current results, there are 104 described neotropical Aleiodes species.

An illustrated key to Neotropical species of the genus Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae).

A comprehensive key for 75 species of Meteorus distributed across 15 Neotropical countries is presented. Eleven new species from Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador are described: Meteorusalbistigma, Meteoruscarolae, Meteoruseurysaccavorus, Meteorusfallacavus, Meteorusflavistigma, Meteorushaimowitzi, Meteorusmagnoculus, Meteorusmartinezi, Meteorusmicrocavus, Meteorusnoctuivorus and Meteorusorion. Expanded range distributions are recorded for Meteorusandreae, Meteorusfarallonensis, Meteorusguineverae, Meteorusjerodi, Meteoruskraussi, Meteoruspapiliovorus and Meteorusquimbayensis. The host of Meteorusjerodi is reported for the first time: a noctuid larva feeding on Asteraceae. Meteoruspapiliovorus is recorded attacking Papilionidae larvae in Ecuador, therefore displaying a similar host family preference as formerly documented from Costa Rica and Colombia.

Twenty-four new species of Aleiodes Wesmael from the eastern Andes of Ecuador with associated biological information (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae).

Aleiodes Wesmael is the most diverse rogadine genus worldwide, with specialized koinobiont endoparasitic development in Lepidoptera caterpillars resulting in mummification of the host remains. This paper focuses on describing new Aleiodes species from the Yanayacu Biological Station, with special interest in those with biological information. We describe 24 new species (Aleiodes albidactyl sp. n., Aleiodes albigena sp. n., Aleiodes albiviria sp. n., Aleiodes bimaculatus sp. n., Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n., Aleiodes colberti sp. n., Aleiodes delicatus sp. n., Aleiodes dyeri sp. n., Aleiodes elleni sp. n., Aleiodes falloni sp. n., Aleiodes frosti sp. n., Aleiodes kingmani sp. n., Aleiodes longikeros sp. n., Aleiodes luteosicarius sp. n., Aleiodes marilynae sp. n., Aleiodes mirandae sp. n., Aleiodes napo sp. n., Aleiodes nubicola sp. n., Aleiodes onyx sp. n., Aleiodes shakirae sp. n., Aleiodes stewarti sp. n., Aleiodes townsendi sp. n., Aleiodes tzantza sp. n., and Aleiodes yanayacu sp. n.) from Napo Province in Ecuador, 16 of which were reared from host caterpillars. With these results 89 species of Neotropical Aleiodes are now known, with 41 of them having host records. The most commonly reared species were in the circumscriptus/gastritor species-group, and mostly associated with Geometridae hosts (six of ten species). Three species of seriatus species-group, in contrast, were each reared from a different family. One of these species (i.e. A. frosti sp. n.), reared from Notodontidae, cuts a posterior radial opening in the mummy for emergence, a unique behavior in Aleiodes, recorded here for the first time. A. luteosicarius sp. n. is the first described species from Ecuador in the pallidator species-group. Differing from previously described pallidator species, which attack only Lymantriinae larvae, A. luteosicarius sp. n. attacks several species of Arctiinae larvae, being both subfamilies within Erebidae with densely setose caterpillars. We also describe new species of the gressitti and pulchripes species-groups.