Discovery of the genus Meggoleus Townes, 1971 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Tersilochinae) in Peru, with the description of two new species

Abstract The genus Meggoleus Townes, 1971 (Ichneumonidae, Tersilochinae) currently comprises two species, one from Brazil and one from Gabon. The genus is recorded from Peru for the first time, with a range extension of the type species, Meggoleus spirator Townes, 1971, and the discovery of two new species – Meggoleus fuscatus sp. n. and Meggoleus pampahermosensis sp. n. A key to the world’s species is provided.


Introduction
Tersilochinae is a cosmopolitan ichneumonid subfamily that is most species-rich in the Holarctic region (Yu et al. 2005;Khalaim 2007). Only the Palaearctic fauna has been studied moderately well, the majority of non-Palaearctic species are still undescribed (Khalaim and Sheng 2009). The Neotropical fauna of Tersilochinae is poorly known and includes only four genera, Allophrys, Barycnemis, Meggoleus and Stethantyx, and with 13 described species (Yu et al. 2005). This is the first record of Tersilochinae for Peru.
Meggoleus Townes, 1971 is a small, tropical genus known until now from only two species. Meggoleus spirator Townes, 1971, the type species, was described from Curitiba, Southern Brazil (Townes 1971), and M. townesi Khalaim, 2007 is known only from Gabon in equatorial Africa (Khalaim 2007). The genus was also recorded from Costa Rica but not assigned to species (Gauld 1991).
The majority of Tersilochinae are koinobiont endoparasitoids of beetle larvae, mainly Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae, and Nitidulidae (Khalaim 2011), but nothing is known of the biology of Meggoleus.
The aim of this paper is to describe two new species of Meggoleus from Peru and document a range extension for M. spirator to this country. A key to the world's species is also provided.

Materials and methods
This work is based on material of the San Marcos University Natural History Museum, Peru (MUSM). A paratype of M. spirator deposited in the American Entomological Institute, Gainesville, Florida (AEIC) was examined. Specimens of M. townesi were not examined since the original description was sufficient; this species has a distinct morphology with the epicnemial carina reaching the midline of the anterior margin of the mesopleuron and the first metasomal segment without glymmae (Khalaim 2007). I present below a key to females of the four species; males were not included because only the male of M. townesi is known.
Morphological terminology and the format for descriptions generally follow those of Gauld (1991) and Khalaim (2011). Photomicrographs were prepared using a Nikon D1x digital camera attached to an Infinity K-2 long-distance microscopic lens. Specimens studied herein are deposited in San Marcos Natural History Museum, Peru (MUSM) and the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum (SEMC).

Genus Meggoleus Townes, 1971
http://species-id.net/wiki/Meggoleus Remarks. The genus is characterized by the labium prolonged into a tongue that is about 0.33 as long as the height of head; antenna with 15 flagellomeres; foveate groove on mesopleuron almost straight, inclined 45 o from horizontal; propodeum moderately long with a narrow median longitudinal carina or basal keel between the base of the propodeum and transverse carina; fore wing vein 2m-cu postfurcal, pretarsal claws long, not pectinate; thyridial depression much longer than wide. The Afrotropical species, M. townesi, differs from the Neotropical species in that the epicnemial carina reaches the anterior margin of the mesopleuron near its midlength (in Neotropical species the epicnemial carina reaches dorsally almost to the subtegular ridge) and the first tergite lacks a glymma in M. townesi but is present in all known Neotropical species. However, the most striking feature of Meggoleus is the exceptionally large (Townes 1971;Khalaim 2007) and rounded propodeal spiracle a character not known among other ichneumonids. Description. ♀: Body length 3.9 mm (without ovipositor); fore wing length 3.6 mm. Lateral ocellus separated from eye by ca. 2.5-2.7× ocellar diameter. Flagellum of antenna filiform, short, with 15 flagellomeres; flagellomeres elongate, first flagellomere 3-4x as long as centrally broad; penultimate flagellomere 1.6-1.7× as long as centrally broad; all flagellomeres covered by short hairs, in addition to apical long bristles. Malar space as long as basal mandibular width. Clypeus broad, usually smooth on lower part, granulate and punctate on upper part. Mandible punctate basally, upper tooth much longer than lower tooth. Face, frons, vertex and occiput finely granulate and usually finely punctate (punctures sometimes indistinct because of granulation). Temple finely and sparsely punctate, smooth between punctures; temporal orbits smooth without setae. Mesoscutum entirely granulate, indistinctly punctate; notaulus weak; mesopleuron almost smooth and punctate; epicnemial carina reaching to subalar prominence; foveate groove elongate, almost reaching to epicnemial carina, oblique, with some transverse wrinkles; metapleuron finely punctate. Propodeum with basal keel distinct, 0.75-1.0× as long as apical area; spiracle round and large, separated from pleural carina; apical area elongate, acute anteriorly, with apical longitudinal carinae reaching transverse carina anteriorly, alutaceous and coarsely punctate; dorsolateral areas usually smooth with fine, sparse punctures. Fore wing with vein 2m-cu unpigmented anteriorly. Tibial spurs weakly curved; pretarsal claws long, not pectinate. Metasoma with tergite I moderately slender, 3.9-4.3× as long as posteriorly broad, in dorsal view polished with a row of setae in lateral part of tergite, over lateromedian longitudinal carina, extending from base of segment to dorsad spiracle, and with some sparse setae on posterior area; tergite 2 smooth, 2.1-2.3× as long as basal broad; thyridial depression distinctly elongate, about 1.5 times as long as wide; tergites 3-6 similarly sculptured; spiracle of tergite 1 large, separation between spiracles at most 1.9-2.0× spiracle diameter (maximum diameter measured between external margins of carina round spiracle); ovipositor short, upcurved, with shallow dorsal depression near apex, without teeth.
Comparison. Meggoleus pampahermosensis most closely resembles M. spirator in that the foveate groove is short, and in general body coloration (Figs 1, 4). However, the new species differs in having the first metasomal segment with the spiracles smaller, more widely spaced, and in a more lateral position (Fig. 8).
Etymology. The specific epithet is based on the type locality of Pampa Hermosa. Foveate groove on mesopleuron long, almost reaching to epicnemial carina (Fig. 6); metasoma brownish black to black, except pronotum reddish (Fig. 6)  Khalaim and Anu Veijalainen read the submitted manuscript and returned very useful suggestions, corrections, and information. San Marcos University (Lima, Peru) provided financial support for the field work (project No. 111001161), while research permits were issued by the Ministry of Environment (Peru). This is a contribution of the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum.