Itoplectis mexicana Kasparyan & Niño, 2004

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 : 457-459

3. Itoplectis mexicana Kasparyan & Niño, 2004

( Figs 7–10 , 18 )

Itoplectis mexicanus Kasparyan & Niño 2004: 49 [ holotype ♀ (UAT), Mexico, Tamaulipas, Municipio Hidalgo, El Chorrito , ex pupa of Coptocycla texana living on Ehretia anacua , 13.x.1996, coll. T. Ornelas & S. Niño].

Comparative diagnosis. Itoplectis mexicana may easily be distinguished from all congeners by the colour pattern of hind leg ( Fig. 8 ) and a short ovipositor sheath which is 1.1–1.3× as long as first tergite or 0.65–0.85× as long as hind tibia ( Fig. 7 ). Similar short ovipositor is also known in two Holarctic species, I. curticauda (Kriechbaumer) and I. clavicornis (Thomson) , and in the Nearctic I. fustiger Townes. In addition to the colour pattern of hind tibia, I. mexicana differs from I. curticauda by having a distinct median tooth on tarsal claws of fore leg ( Fig. 18 ), and from I. clavicornis and I. fustiger by more slender antenna with subapical flagellomeres distinctly elongate, 1.4–1.5× as long as broad (subquadrate in I. clavicornis and I. fustiger ).

Remarks. Male of this species is recorded here for the first time.

Material examined. MEXICO. Jalisco: 24 ♀ (2 ♀ in AEIC, 2 ♀ in NHMUK, 2 ♀ in TAMU, 2 ♀ in UNAM, 9 ♀ in ZISP) 10 km S of Tequila, Volcán de Tequila , 20°47.4’N, 103°51.0’W, 2750–2850 m, 7.ii.2009, coll. A.I. Khalaim. Querétaro: 1 ♀ ( UAQ) Municipio Colón, 6 km NE of Los Trigos, Cerro El Zamorano Mt. , 24.ii.1997, coll. M. Gálvez et al. Morelos: 1 ♀ ( UAT) , 1 ♂ ( CIUM) N of Cuernavaca, Chamilpa , 1850 m, 6.ix.1988, coll. P. Galindo. 2 ♀, 5 ♂ (1 ♀ and 2 ♂ in CIUM, 1 ♀ and 3 ♂ in UAT) same locality, 7.viii.1991, coll. G. Peña. 1 ♀ ( CIUM) Parque Nacional El Tepozteco, Tepoztlán , 21.x.1990, coll. G. Peña.

Distribution. Mexico (Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Querétaro, Morelos).

Biology. The holotype was reared from pupa of Coptocycla texana (Schaeffer) ( Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae ) on Ehretia anacua (Teran & Berland) (Boraginaceae) in Tamaulipas ( Kasparyan & Niño 2004).

Figures

FIGURES 7–10. Itoplectis mexicana, female: 7—habitus, lateral; 8—hind leg, lateral; 9—mesopleuron, metapleuron and propodeum, ventro-lateral; 10—metasomal tergites 2–7, dorsal.

FIGURES 16–20. Itoplectis gonzalezi, female (16) and male (17): 16—mesosoma with hind leg, lateral; 17—apex of metasoma, lateral.Itoplectis mexicana, female: 18—fore tarsal claw, lateral.Itoplectis multicolor, female:19—body with hind leg. Itoplectis nigrithorax, male: 20—fore tarsal claw, lateral. (After Kasparyan 2007, with changes.)