Pseudapanteles dignus (Muesebeck, 1938)

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie, Whitfield, James B., Smith, M. Alex & Kula, Robert, 2014, Revision of the genus Pseudapanteles (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with emphasis on the species in Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, ZooKeys 446, pp. 1-82 : 15

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Pseudapanteles dignus (Muesebeck, 1938) Figs 48- 52

Apanteles dignus Muesebeck, 1938: 203 (original description).

Apanteles dignus : Shenefelt 1972: 492 (incorrect mention of date of original description as 1928).

Pseudapanteles dignus : Mason 1981: 86 (revised combination).

Holotype.

♀ in NMNH (examined). UNITED STATES, California, Santa Ana. USNM type No. 52890.

Other material examined.

2 ♂ in CNC, Mexico (intercepted in Canada, Ontario, Windsor).

Diagnosis.

It belongs to the annulicornis species-group, and can be separated from other species within that group based on the combination of mesosoma and coxae color, anterior 0.6 of mediotergite 1 and most of laterotergites orange-yellow, pterostigma transparent with thin margins brown and T1 shape.

Molecular data.

Sequences in BOLD: 1, barcode compliant sequences: 1.

Biology/ecology.

Hosts: Keiferia lycopersicella , Phthorimaea operculella , Symmetrischema capsica , Tildenia gudmannella , Tuta absoluta ( Gelechiidae ).

Distribution.

Argentina, Bermuda, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States (California, Florida, introduced to Hawaii), US Virgin Islands.

Comments.

In the CNC there are two male specimens (March, 1936, from Windsor, Ontario Canada); their labels state that the wasp specimens were intercepted on tomato from Mexico infested by Keiferia lycopersicella . Due to the known distribution of the species (mostly Neotropical, only marginally reaching the southern Nearctic), and the fact that those specimens were intercepted during the Canadian winter, we have no evidence that the species occurs in Canada.