Alabagrus Enderlein (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) species of Costa Rica, with an emphasis on specimens reared from caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste
Eighty seven species of Costa Rican Alabagrus are treated; these include species reared from lepidopteran larvae in Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, over 32 years of caterpillar inventory. Sixty six new species are described, i.e., A. almasolisae, A. andresfreitasi, A. andywarreni, A. axelhausmanni, A. barbarasharanowskiae, A. bernardoespinozai, A. bobpoolei, A. bobrobbinsi, A. bobwhartoni, A. brendameierottoae, A. brianbrowni, A. brianharrisi, A. craigevansi, A. dickvanewrighti, A. donharveyi, A. donlafontainei, A. fernandezi, A. fernandodiasi, A. genemonroei, A. hansoni, A. hespenheidei, A. iankitchingi, A. ilgookangi, A. isidrochaconi, A. jackiemillerae, A. jeanfrancoislandryi, A. jeanmariecadioui, A. jennyphillipsae, A. jimmilleri, A. johnbrowni, A. johnburnsi, A. johnobryckii, A. johnsharkeyi, A. kaciejoae, A. karensharkeyae, A. kaydodgeae, A. keithwillmotti, A. leedyeri, A. lindapitkinae, A. longinoi, A. malcolmscoblei, A. marcepsteini, A. mariaheikkilae, A. markmetzi, A. mattottoi, A. nickgrishini, A. patsharkeyi, A. paulgoldsteini, A. paulheberti, A. paulsharkeyi, A. paulthiaucourti, A. quickei, A. ramyamanjunathae, A. reddypallii, A. rudolfmeieri, A. sarahmeierottoae, A. sarahsharkeyae, A. scottmilleri, A. scottshawi , A. semihespenheidei, A. stiremani, A. tanyadapkeae, A. tommyersi, A. victoriapookae, A. yuanmaofangi, A. yuchinkengae. Species limits primarily based on COI mitochondrial DNA sequence data greatly differed from previous morphological attempts to delimit species of Alabagrus. As a result, 17 species, reported to occur in Costa Rica by Leathers and Sharkey (2003), are no longer considered to be present in the country, i.e., A. albispina, A. imitatus, A. juchuy, A. kagaba, A. latisoma, A. latreillei, A. maya, A. mojos, A. nahuatl, A. nigrilitus, A. pachamama, A. paruyana, A. parvifaciatus, A. semialbus, A. tricarainatus, A. tripartitus, and A. warrau. Furthermore, five of the species reported by Leathers and Sharkey (2003) have been found to be composed of species complexes, i.e., A. cocto, A. englishi, A. pecki, A. roibasi, and A. yaruro. These difficulties point to the impossible task of delimiting species of Agathidinae solely with morphological evidence. An illustrated key to species, and a plate of color photos of each species are provided.
