Conostigmus hyalinipennis ( Ashmead, 1887 )

Trietsch, Carolyn, Mikó, István, Ezray, Briana & Deans, Andrew R., 2020, A Taxonomic Revision of Nearctic Conostigmus (Hymenoptera: Ceraphronoidea: Megaspilidae), Zootaxa 4792 (1), pp. 1-155 : 48

Conostigmus hyalinipennis ( Ashmead, 1887)

Species Comments and History. Ashmead (1887) described this species from a single female specimen collected in Florida. The specimen was described as having a black body, light brown legs, a large but pale stigma with a long radial vein, filiform antennae with “first two joints rather short, third and following joints much longer” (pg. 98), and hyaline wings ( Ashmead, 1887). This is presumably the characteristic for which the specimen was named, but this feature is common among Conostigmus . Ashmead (1893) later redescribed the species and keyed it out with other Conostigmus , specifying that it was macropterous with the face “closely punctate or shagreened” (pg. 113).

The location and identity of Ashmead’s original specimen are unknown, and the characters given in the original description could apply to several different species. We consider Conostigmus hyalinipennis as a species inquirenda until Ashmead’s original specimen can be located and studied.