New species Polyphrix misa and Polyphrix tullu from Peru

NEWS - Researchers report and describe new species of insects: Polyphrix misa and Polyphrix tullu during the project “Discovery new species and Amazon Cam” funded by the “Programa Nacional de Innovación para la Competitividad y productividad - Innóvate Perú”.

Polyphrix Townes 1972 is a small neotropical genus consisting of four species with P. varians Townes 1970 and P. stellata Tedesco & Santos 2009 previously recorded. Both species have been reported from Peru. P. varians is the type species and was first described from Brazilian specimens, but the generic description was reported from Peru.

These species show a triangular mandibular morphology, the apex width of the mandible is less than 0.5 of the base width. No epomia. Hindwings with 1-Cu veins almost as long as the cross veins cu-a.

Propodeum with concave anterior margin and sculpted surface behind anterior transverse carina with strong and widely spaced transverse wrinkles. Thyridium is longer than wide and the tip of the ovipositor ends in a long and narrow point.

Polyphrix can be distinguished from other genera of Cryptini by the combination of characters the dorsal margin of the pronotum is strongly and uniformly swollen. Areolete is transversely rectangular, transverse groove at base of propodeum is very wide, shallow and almost entirely smooth. Propodeum with strong and straight transverse wrinkles.

P. misa can be distinguished from all other species by mesosoma entirely orange, metasomal tergites 2-8 black with apical white line and hind femur is black. Very similar to P. varians, the difference being that the hind femur is black and the genal orbit is pale yellow and interrupted in the middle of the gena.

New species Polyphrix misa and Polyphrix tullu from Peru 2

P. tullu can be distinguished from all other species by its mostly black pronotum and mesoscutum, black metasomal tergites 2-8 with a white line at the tip and orange hind femur. This species is very similar to P. stellata, the difference being the metasoma with black tergites 2-8 with white tips and the pronotum with a black upper edge.

Lita Inga and Mabel Alvarado from the Department of Entomology, Museo de Historia Natural, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima showed that in Peru, especially the Loreto and Madre de Dios Departments, is a previously overlooked Polyphrix hotspot.

Original research

Lita Inga dan Mabel Alvarado (2024). Two new species of the genus Polyphrix Townes 1972 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae) from Peru. Zootaxa 5497 (2): 267–275 DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5497.2.6

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