Minimalist revision of Mesochorus Gravenhorst, 1829 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Mesochorinae) from Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, with 158 new species and host records for 129 species

• Published in: Revista de biología tropical Vol. 71; no. S2; pp. 1 - 174
• Main Authors: Sharkey, Michael J. , Baker, Austin, McCluskey, Kathryn , Smith, Alex, Naik, Suresh, Ratnasingham, Sujeevan, Manjunath, Ramya, Perez, Kate, Sones, Jayme, D’Souza, Michelle, St. Jacques, Brianne, Hajibabaei, Mehrdad, Whitfield, Jim, Arias, Diana, Solis, Alma, Metz, Mark, Burns, John, Zuñiga, Ronald, Phillips-Rodriguez, Eugenie, Espinoza, Bernardo, Chacon, Isidro, Hebert, Paul, Hallwachs, Winnie, Janzen, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Universidad de Costa Rica 01.08.2023
• Subjects: Biodiversity Conservation; Biology; ichneumonoidea; BIN code; COI DNA barcode; código BIN; taxonomía acelerada; conservación; tetra-trophic interaction; código de barras molecular COI; conservation; parasitoid host associations; Accelerated taxonomy; interacción tetratrófica; asociaciones hospedador y parasitoide
• ISSN: 0034-7744; 2215-2075
• DOI: 10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS2.56316

Introduction: Species of Mesochorus are found worldwide and members of this genus are primarily hyperparasitoids of Ichneumonoidea and Tachinidae.  Objectives: To describe species of Costa Rican Mesochorus reared from caterpillars and to a lesser extent Malaise-trapped.  Methods: The species are diagnosed by COI mtDNA barcodes, morphological inspection, and host data. A suite of images and host data (plant, caterpillar, and primary parasitoid) are provided for each species. Results: A total of 158 new species of Mesochorus. Sharkey is the taxonomic authority for all.  Conclusions: This demonstrates a practical application of DNA barcoding that can be applied to the masses of undescribed neotropical insect species in hyperdiverse groups.