First record of Nesomesochorinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from America north of Mexico with descriptions of two new species of Nonnus Cresson.

The subfamily Nesomesochorinae is recorded for the first time from America north of Mexico. Two new species of Nonnus (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Nesomesochorinae) are described, both from Arizona, USA and Mexico. Diagnostic characters and figures are provided to distinguish these two new species from congeners in North and Central America.

Stenarella domator (Poda) [Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae], a newly introduced species to the Nearctic, and a summary of adventive Nearctic species of Ichneumonidae.

The western Palaearctic ichneumonid Stenarella domator (Poda) is newly recorded for the Nearctic. Photographs and a new key to the genera of Nearctic Osprynchotina (Cryptinae: Cryptini) are provided. Like other species in the Osprynchotina, S. domator is an ectoparasitoid of aculeate Hymenoptera which use mud/earth in their nests. The 25 species of adventive Nearctic ichneumonids are reviewed, and the implications of their biologies for Nearctic host ranges are discussed.

The mature larva of Poemenia albipes Cresson (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Poemeniinae) and a review of the biology of Nearctic Poemenia.

The mature larva of Poemenia albipes is figured and described, providing the first knowledge of the larval morphology of this genus. Poemenia is considered to be an ectoparasitoid on the basis of this information. The implications for the larval morphology of the Poemeniinae are discussed. The biology of Nearctic Poemenia is reviewed, with the conclusion that the genus is parasitic upon small xylophilous Apoidea that either make their tunnels or utilize those made by other insects.

Biology, early stages and description of a new species of Adelognathus Holmgren (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Adelognathinae).

Adelognathus leucotrochi Shaw & Wahl sp. nov. is described from Britain where it is a univoltine slightly gregarious koinobiont ectoparasitoid of late stage larvae of the tenthredinid sawfly Nematus leucotrochus Hartig feeding on Ribes uva-crispa. Defensive reactions by the host to prospecting females are described. The developmental biology of A. leucotrochi is described in detail: the host is only temporarily paralysed by the injection of a venom that has no other effect on the host, and eggs are laid on the host's dorsum without involvement of the ovipositor-that is, the egg issues direct from the genital opening. Prior to oviposition the adult female parasitoid prepares the site by spreading an adhesive substance from her ovipositor. Host-feeding by adult females occurs on haemolymph and sometimes also other tissues obtained at the site of a wound made always by the mandibles, but appears not to be obligatory. It may be concurrent or non-concurrent with oviposition; in the latter case, it may be either destructive or non-destructive. Larval development is very rapid, taking about 70 hr at 18-22ºC, and the host continues to feed for approximately the first half of this period. Five larval instars were detected, and their cephalic sclerites are described and illustrated, as are those of the final instars of a further three species of Adelognathus for comparison. The rather featureless final instar larva is also figured, as is the tough cocoon in which the winter is passed as a prepupa. The biology of some idiobiont Adelognathus species is discussed in comparison with that of A. leucotrochi, and several other instances of eggs not issuing from the ovipositor in non-aculeate ectoparasitoid Hymenoptera, whether koinobionts or idiobionts, are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that this habit seems to arise rather easily when there is direct bodily contact between the adult and the host/prey, as indeed is the case in all carnivorous aculeates that do not practice continuous provisioning. 

Integration of DNA barcoding into an ongoing inventory of complex tropical biodiversity.

Inventory of the caterpillars, their food plants and parasitoids began in 1978 for today's Area de Conservacion Guanacaste (ACG), in northwestern Costa Rica. This complex mosaic of 120 000 ha of conserved and regenerating dry, cloud and rain forest over 0-2000 m elevation contains at least 10 000 species of non-leaf-mining caterpillars used by more than 5000 species of parasitoids. Several hundred thousand specimens of ACG-reared adult Lepidoptera and parasitoids have been intensively and extensively studied morphologically by many taxonomists, including most of the co-authors. DNA barcoding - the use of a standardized short mitochondrial DNA sequence to identify specimens and flush out undisclosed species - was added to the taxonomic identification process in 2003. Barcoding has been found to be extremely accurate during the identification of about 100 000 specimens of about 3500 morphologically defined species of adult moths, butterflies, tachinid flies, and parasitoid wasps. Less than 1% of the species have such similar barcodes that a molecularly based taxonomic identification is impossible. No specimen with a full barcode was misidentified when its barcode was compared with the barcode library. Also as expected from early trials, barcoding a series from all morphologically defined species, and correlating the morphological, ecological and barcode traits, has revealed many hundreds of overlooked presumptive species. Many but not all of these cryptic species can now be distinguished by subtle morphological and/or ecological traits previously ascribed to 'variation' or thought to be insignificant for species-level recognition. Adding DNA barcoding to the inventory has substantially improved the quality and depth of the inventory, and greatly multiplied the number of situations requiring further taxonomic work for resolution.