Phycitiplex eremnus ( Porter 1967 )

Porter, Charles C., 2008, New Phycitiplex Porter (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) from Subandean Desert in northwest Argentina, Insecta Mundi 2008 (56), pp. 1-13 : 3

Phycitiplex eremnus ( Porter 1967)

Relationships. Melanic specimens of P. obscurior might be confused with the central Chilean P. eremnus which is black with narrow white orbital lines and white on much of scutellum and more or less broadly white on gastric tergite 4. In P. eremnus , however, the submarginal groove of the pronotum is weak or obsolete, the notauli are weak and visible only half the length of mesoscutum, the mesoscutum is dully shining with finely granular micro-reticulation, the scutellum is wider than long, there is a large glabrous area on forewing beneath the pterostigma, and the ovipositor is 0.80 as long as the forewing.

Habitat and geographic distribution. This species is known only from semiarid foothills on the western edge of the Andean mountains at about 33 degrees South in Aconcagua Province of north-central Chile. The vegetation here is similar to that of the Argentine Subandino with cacti of the genera Opuntia Mill. and Cereus Mill. and spiny shrubs, such as Acacia caven (Mot.) , but very few species of insects are shared between the two countries at this latitude where the Andes are at their greatest height with many peaks above 6000 m.