The genus Nipponaetes (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae) in Costa Rica, with a reassessment of the generic limits

Abstract

The endemic Costa Rican genus Zurquilla Gauld, 1997, is transferred from the ichneumonid subfamily Tryphoninae (tribe Oedemopsini) to the Cryptinae (tribe Phygadeuontini) and synonymised with Nipponaetes Uchida, 1933. This decision is justified using morphological and molecular (28S D2-3 ribosomal DNA sequence) evidence. We briefly discuss the phylogenetic utility of characters that led to the type species of Zurquilla being described as a tryphonine and provide a host record that indicates that Nipponaetes is a parasitoid of spider egg sacs.

Keywords

• ichneumonidae
• cryptinae
• tryphoninae
• nipponaetes
• zurquilla
• 28s
• host
• spider
• phylogeny
• new synonymy