Review of the New World species of Microplitis Foerster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) attacking Sphingidae (Lepidoptera, Bombycoidea)

Abstract

Microplitis Foerster is a highly diverse and cosmopolitan genus within Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonoidea, Braconidae). Microplitis ceratomiae Riley, a widely distributed North American species, exclusively attacks sphingid caterpillars. In this paper, M. ceratomiae is reported parasitizing a caterpillar of Sphinx poecila Stephens (Sphingidae) which was collected feeding on Spiraea alba Du Roi (Rosaceae), a species of white meadowsweet native to the wet soils of the Allegheny Mountains and other portions of eastern North America. Here, we report and describe this new host-parasitoid-food plant association in southern New Hampshire, and include a distribution map for the species. Biological, ecological and phylogenetic analyses, and an identification key for the nine known species of Microplitis that attack sphingids in the New World are provided.