A new species of Chalcis Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) from south India

Abstract

The morphologically diverse and cosmopolitan chalcidid genus, Chalcis includes 59 species. Most of the species are distributed in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Till date only two species were recorded from the Oriental region. A new species, Chalcis biligiriensis from scrub forests of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRT) of the Western Ghats (Karnataka, India) is described. In addition, detailed illustrations of C. gibsoni Narendran for the first time along with an illustrated key to the identification of the Oriental species are provided.