Review of the New World species of Microplitis Foerster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) attacking Sphingidae (Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea)

Mostafa Ghafouri Moghaddam, Sloan Tomlinson, Samuel Jaffe, Diana Carolina Arias-Penna, James B. Whitfield, Daniel H. Janzen, Winifred Hallwachs, Minoo Heidari Latibari

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Microplitis Foerster is a highly diverse and cosmopolitan genus within Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea, Braconidae). Microplitis ceratomiae Riley, a widely distributed North American species, exclusively attacks sphingid caterpillars. In this paper, M. ceratomiae is reported parasitizing a caterpillar of Sphinx poecila Stephens (Sphingidae) which was collected feeding on Spiraea alba Du Roi (Rosaceae), a species of white meadowsweet native to the wet soils of the Allegheny Mountains and other portions of eastern North America. Here, we report and describe this new host-parasitoid-food plant association in southern New Hampshire, and include a distribution map for the species. Biological, ecological and phylogenetic analyses, and an identification key for the nine known species of Microplitis that attack sphingids in the New World are provided.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
JournalInsect Systematics and Evolution
Volume1908
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

Keywords

  • Host-parasitoid-food plant associations
  • Nearctic
  • Neotropical
  • Sphingidae
  • Taxonomy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology
  • Insect Science

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