Pimpla molesta Smith, 1879

Khalaim, Andrey I. & Ruíz-Cancino, Enrique, 2021, Darwin wasps of the subfamily Pimplinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) of Mexico: genera Apechthis Förster, Itoplectis Förster and Pimpla Fabricius, Zootaxa 5071 (4), pp. 451-491 : 474-475

10. Pimpla molesta Smith, 1879

Pimpla molesta Smith 1879: 229 [holotype ♀ (NHMUK), Costa Rica, San José Prov. , Volcán Irazú, 2000–2300 m, coll. Rogers].

References. Cameron 1886: 266 [modesta (misspelling); syn. of P. croceipes ]. Gauld 1991: 523 [syn. of P. croceipes ]. Veijalainen et al. 2011 [ex synonym; DNA barcoding; Mexico (Guerrero), Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama].

Remarks. Pimpla molesta was synonymized to P. croceipes by Cameron (1886) but recent molecular and morphological investigation ( Veijalainen et al. 2011) demonstrated that actually these are two distinct species. The two species were separated by DNA barcoding and minor differences in morphology and colouration. Thus, many earlier records of P. croceipes actually may belong to P. molesta . Examined specimens from Guatemala, Honduras and Panama well correspond with P. molesta , but most Mexican specimens share characters of both species, and therefore all Mexican specimens are preliminarily treated here as P. croceipes . See also Remarks section under P. croceipes .

Material examined. GUATEMALA. 1 ♂ ( AEIC) San Jose Pinala , 1800 m, 2.viii.1987, coll. M.J. Sharkey. 1 ♀ ( AEIC) Sacatepequez, near Antigua , 1700 m, 23.xi.1986, coll. M.J. Sharkey. HONDURAS. 1 ♀ ( AEIC) Cerro Monserrat , 1800 m, 30.v.1994, coll. H. & A. Howden. 2 ♀ ( AEIC) Francisco Morazán, 30 km E of Tegucigalpa, Cerro Uyuca , 1800 m, 27.v.1994, coll. H. & A. Howden. 1 ♀, 1 ♂ ( FSCA) Francisco Morazán, Cerro Uyuca , El Zamorano, 1900 m, cloud forest, Malaise trap, 10–20.viii.1992, coll. C. Porter & L. Stange. COSTA RICA. 1 ♀ ( INHS) Puntarenas Prov., San Vito de Java, Las Cruces, 1200 m, Jardín Botánico , 5.viii.1986, coll. M.E. Irwin. PANAMA. 1 ♀ ( TAMU) Chiriquí Prov., Reserva La Fortuna, Estación Biológica , 4–8.viii.1999, coll. A. Gillogly & J. Woolley.

Distribution. Mexico (Guerrero), Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama.

Biology. Pimpla molesta , as far as P. croceipes , seems to share a mimicry pattern with a Lissonota species ( Ichneumonidae : Banchinae) being involved in mimicry complexes characterized by black colouration with lower body parts being bright yellow ( Veijalainen et al. 2011: 66).