Boethella Bennett

Boethella Bennett, 2003: 212 .

Type: Boethella canilae Bennett. By original designation.

Diagnosis. Boethella can be distinguished from all other genera of Tryphoninae by combination of the following characters: 1) occipital carina completely absent; 2) propodeal carinae strong and mostly or completely present.

Description (Figures 1–22). Fore wing length 2.9 to 4.8 mm.

Head. Clypeus without a transverse line separating it into dorsal and ventral faces, apical margin without paired tubercles (medial notch absent) (Figs 3, 11, 17); outer surface of base of mandibles punctate and not strongly inflated, malar space obliterated (mandibular socket contiguous with ventral edge of eye) (Figs 4, 12, 15) in all species except B. darlingi in which space is 0.5× basal width of mandible (Fig. 9); labiomaxillary complex moderately elongate, glossae visible in anterior view in most specimens; occipital carina absent, postgena without a tooth.

Mesosoma. Epomia absent; epicnemial carina present, not dorsally curving toward anterior edge of mesopleuron; auxiliary carina of mesopleuron either joining epicnemial carina (Fig. 7) or not joining (Figs 1, 4, 15, 18); sternaulus present; subtegular ridge slightly curving out laterally, not produced into a vertical lamella that nearly reaches tegula when tegula is down; notauli absent; projection on posterolateral edge of mesoscutum absent; scutel-lum orange to yellow; propodeal carinae mostly present, lateral and/or sublateral abscissae of anterior transverse carina may be absent, medial abscissae of anterior and/or transverse carina weak in some species, medial longitudinal carinae strongly raised (Figs 5, 13, 19); submetapleural carina present; mid and hind tibiae with two spurs each; tarsal claws pectinate to apex or nearly to apex; fore wing vein 3rs-m absent; fore wing vein 2m-cu weakly to strongly inclivous with one bulla; wings hyaline (except for slight darkening apically) (Fig. 20) to moderately infumate from base to apex.

Metasoma. T1 petiolate with spiracle at 0.6 to 0.75 (Fig. 1), dorsal carinae absent, dorsolateral carinae indistinct or absent anterior to spiracle, T1 sculpture impunctate, glymma absent (most species), indistinct or present; membranous portion of S1 not or only slightly projecting lateral to sclerotized portion of T1; ovipositor moderately upcurved, dorsal valve thick and rounded apically (Fig. 1), overlapping ventral valve laterally.

Mature larva. Unknown.

Egg. Unknown.

Distribution. Neotropical from southern Mexico to southeastern Brazil.

Host. Unknown, but assumed to be sawflies since the sister genus Boethus has been reared from Argidae (Gauld et al. 1997) .

Species included. Six described species (see introduction and key).

Comments. T he description is written to distinguish Boethella from all genera of Tryphonini and Exenterini (= the Exenterus group of genera of Tryphonini) (Bennett 2015). The definition of the genus has been modified slightly from that of Bennett (2003, 2015) following description of the current new species in that B. jatai sp. nov. has a distinct glymma on the first metasomal tergite. Previously, this character was described as follows: “glymma absent (slight depression present ventral to dorsolateral carina in some specimens, but not a glymma)”. Boethella is the second genus of Tryphoninae that is variable in terms of the presence or absence of the glymma following Hercus Townes (Oedemopsini) (Gupta 1984). Within the Neotropical region, Boethella can be most easily mistaken for Boethus which lacks propodeal and epicnemial carinae, and Chiloplatys Townes and Townes and Lagoleptus Townes, both of which have a complete occipital carina.