A new species of Grotea Cresson, the first record of Labeninae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) in the Greater Antilles

Abstract

Grotea ambarosasp. nov. is described, illustrated and compared to currently described species of the genus. The new species is characterized mainly by having the mesosoma 2.9× as long as high; genal projection distinct and apically subquadrate; pleural carina distinct only anteriorly to anterior transverse carina; mesosoma almost entirely amber-orange and legs with complex dark brown and white marks. This is the first record of any labenine species for the Greater Antilles; the few distribution records elsewhere in the Caribbean Islands are reviewed and discussed in the context of the biogeography of Labeninae.

New Species of Grotea (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Labeninae) from Ecuador, with New Records and a Key to the Neotropical Species

“…Furthermore, we revised all Labeninae material from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Quito collection (QCAZ), from Quito, as well as from the Natural History Museum (NHMUK) in London. Keys were made based on the keys and descriptions from Slobodchikoff ( 1970 ), Porter ( 1989 ), Herrera-Flórez ( 2014 , 2018 ), Herrera-Flórez and Penteado-Dias ( 2019 ), Sandoval and Santos ( 2021 ) and Lima and Kumagai ( 2024 ), as well as from material deposited in NHMUK. We include high quality images of the holotype of Grotea cortesi Porter 1989 , from the American Entomological Institute Collection (Utah State University, Logan, USA), since this species has not been included in previous identification keys and the original description was rather brief.…”

“…The genus is widely distributed across the New World: 29 species of Grotea have been described so far, mostly from the Neotropics, with only four species occurring in the Nearctic region: G. anguina Cresson, 1864, G. californica Cresson, 1879, G. lokii Slobodchikoff 1970 and G. mexicana Cresson, 1874 (Yu et al 2016 ; Herrera-Flórez 2018 ; Herrera-Flórez and Penteado-Dias 2019 ; Sandoval and Santos 2021 ; Lima and Kumagai 2024 ). Although eleven Neotropical species have been described in the last ten years (Herrera-Flórez 2014 , 2018 ; Herrera-Flórez and Penteado-Dias 2019 ; Sandoval and Santos 2021 ; Lima and Kumagai 2024 ), no revision or complete review of the genus has been published since Slobodchikoff ( 1970 ).…”