ABSTRACT
Aximopsis gabrielae Zhang, Gates and Campos sp. nov. is described from southern Mexico in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. This species is a koinobiont gregarious larval-pupal endoparasitoid of the caterpillar of Quadrus cerialis (Stoll) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) feeding on the shrub Piper amalago L. (Piperaceae) in the semi-evergreen forest. This is the first record of Aximopsis parasitoids on Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). Morphological, biological, ecological and geographical data are integrated to delineate the new species.
http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3226C193-88FB-45EA-BFCB-5C752B3C5E46
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to CONAFOR for access to the research area, Noemi Salas (specimen processing), Humberto Bahena-Basave, Eric Tepe and Lourdes Chamorro (photography). We also thank two anonymous reviewers, who provided valuable feedback that has greatly improved the manuscript. Collecting was carried out under permit FAUT-0119 (insect specimens) and SGPA/DGGFS/712/1591/18 (plant samples) from SEMARNAT (Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales – Direccion General de Vida Silvestre) granted to CP and DC, respectively.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.