Entedoninae wasps (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Eulophidae) associated with ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in tropical America, with new species and notes on their biology

Abstract

Three new species of Eulophidae associated, or presumed to be associated with ants are described: two species of Horismenus Walker and one species of Microdonophagus Schauff. Information on the biology is also included. The two Horismenus species are from Chiapas, Mexico. Horismenus myrmecophagus sp. n. is known only from females and is a gregarious endoparasitoid in larvae of the weaver ant Camponotus sp. ca. textor. The parasitoids pupate inside the host larva, and an average of 6.7 individuals develops per host. This is the second time a species of genus Horismenus is found parasitizing the brood of a formicine ant of genus Camponotus. Horismenus microdonophagus sp. n. is described from both males and females, and is a gregarious endoparasitoid attacking the larvae of Microdon sp. (Diptera: Syrphidae), a predat or on ant brood found in nests of Camponotus sp. ca. textor. The new species of Microdonophagus, M. tertius, is from Costa Rica, and known only from the female. Nothing is known about its biology but since another species in same genus, M. woodleyi Schauff, is associated with ants through its host, Microdon larva (with same biology as H. microdonophagus), it is possible that also M. tertius has this association. A new distributional record for M. woodleyi is also reported, extending its distribution from Panama and Colombia to Brazil. © Christer Hansson et al.