An illustrated key to Neotropical species of the genus Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae)

Abstract A comprehensive key for 75 species of Meteorus distributed across 15 Neotropical countries is presented. Eleven new species from Bolivia, Costa Rica and Ecuador are described: Meteorus albistigma, Meteorus carolae, Meteorus eurysaccavorus, Meteorus fallacavus, Meteorus flavistigma, Meteorus haimowitzi, Meteorus magnoculus, Meteorus martinezi, Meteorus microcavus, Meteorus noctuivorus and Meteorus orion. Expanded range distributions are recorded for Meteorus andreae, Meteorus farallonensis, Meteorus guineverae, Meteorus jerodi, Meteorus kraussi, Meteorus papiliovorus and Meteorus quimbayensis. The host of Meteorus jerodi is reported for the first time: a noctuid larva feeding on Asteraceae. Meteorus papiliovorus is recorded attacking Papilionidae larvae in Ecuador, therefore displaying a similar host family preference as formerly documented from Costa Rica and Colombia.

Zele Curtis has been considered for long time as the sister-group to Meteorus within the tribe Meteorini, but a recent molecular phylogenetic analysis performed by Julia Stigenberg et al. (2015) for the subfamily Euphorinae concluded that Zele is embedded within Meteorus, hence rendering it a paraphyletic genus. Their conclusion agrees with an earlier analysis for the tribe Meteorini presented by Stigenberg and Ronquist (2011) and with the phylogenetic reconstruction published by Maeto (1990), although the internal relationships differ among these works. However, Stigenberg et al. (2015) remained cautious about any taxonomic status change until more comprehensive evidence can be evaluated. In this paper we treat species of Meteorus sensu stricto following Shaw's (1997) definition of Meteorus exclusive of Zele: labrum completely concealed by clypeus; occipital carina present, complete or incomplete; epicnemial carina present; fore wing without vein 2cu-a, open first subdiscal cell; vein 3RSb straight; vein r-m present, forming a characteristic rhomboid or quadrate second submarginal cell; marginal cell of hind wing narrowed toward apex; vein m-cu absent; petiole at least 2.5 times wider at posterior margin than at narrowest point; metasomal terga with setae arranged in a single subapical row per tergum. Huddleston (1980) discussed in depth the most relevant set of morphological characters employed in Meteorus taxonomy, which have been broadly used since then: relative size and shape of head related structures, the notauli distinctiveness, the presence of a pair of holes dorsally on the first tergite (dorsopes), the touching distance between the first tergite ventral borders, the ovipositor relative length and the shape of the tarsal claw are the most relevant. Huddleston pointed out upon the unreliable color variability in identifying species. In fact, color pattern is a variable that might be affected by environmental conditions (Abe et al. 2013) and may display a broad spectrum of change in species widely distributed. However, a careful examination of abundant species present in Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador support the use of such a trait in several cases.
In order to boost the Meteorus research in Neotropical countries this paper is intended to provide a compelling identification tool for those species described and recorded from Central and South America, in addition to describing 11 new species, and updating biological and geographical information for seven previously described species.

Material and methods
Collections providing material are abbreviated below: UWIM University of Wyoming Insect Museum, Laramie, Wyoming, USA; NMNH Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, USA; MACN Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia, Buenos Aires; ICN Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá.  Sharkey and Wharton (1997).  Holotypes and paratypes of the new species are deposited at UWIM (See Suppl. material 1).
General morphological terminology is based on Sharkey and Wharton (1997). The term precoxal sulcus is employed instead of sternaulus accordingly to Wharton (2006). Wing venation nomenclature employed in species descriptions is illustrated in Fig. 1. Sculpture related terms follow Harris (1979) and Aguirre et al. (2011). Specific terminology used in Meteorus taxonomy (based on Muesebeck 1923, Huddleston 1980, and Zitani et al. 1998) is represented in Figs 2-19. How to correctly position a specimen during morphometric examination is explained in Figs 20-24. In order to abbreviate descriptions, particularly explaining color details, metasomal tergites are sometimes referred as T1 (metasomal tergite number 1), T2 (metasomal tergite number 2) and so on. The specimens were measured using a Leica M80 stereomicroscope with micrometer on a 10× ocular. Images were captured with a Leica M205C stereomicroscope with digital Leica DFC295 camera kit and processed with Leica Application Suite Version 3.8.0 auto-montage software. De- scriptions were made with the DELTA software (Dallwitz 1974(Dallwitz , 1980. The software version for Windows 8 was downloaded from http://code.google.com/p/open-delta/. Biological data of the new species described from Ecuador were collected as part of the project "Caterpillars and parasitoids in the Eastern Andes of Ecuador, CAPEA" (Dyer et al. 2014). Details about the field collecting process are described in Shaw and Jones (2009).
The key was built using morphological characters to distinguish all the species except in the couplet 60. Meteorus eaclidis and M. townsendi present striking differences in cocoon construction and host use, being recorded on Saturniidae and Sphingidae caterpillars respectively. Such information support them as different species but are morphologically indistinguishable cryptic species.
The characters are based on examination of female specimens. Illustrations were embedded where either species differentiation may be challenging or the referred character(s) display some complexity. First metasomal tergite with dorsopes (as in Fig. 13 (1) Antennae with annuli; head and mesosoma mostly black; mandibles moderately twisted (as in Fig. 3); notauli deeply impressed and distinct (as in Fig. 7), tarsal claw with a small lobe (as in Fig. 10 (4) Carinae on propodeum present (as in Figure 27); ventral borders of first tergite widely separated (as in Figure 17 (6) Vertex in lateral view strongly convex and protruding above the ocelli (Fig. 29); occipital carina complete (as in Figure 5); tarsal claw simple (as in Figure 9) .  Figure 5); tarsal claw with a large lobe (as in Figure 11)

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(1) Precoxal sulcus absent, lateral surface of mesopleuron smooth (Fig. 35); occipital carina complete (as in Fig. 5); mandibles twisted (as in Fig. 2); notauli deeply impressed and distinct (as in Fig. 7); tarsal claw simple (as in Fig. 9); ventral borders of first tergite touching for a short distance (as in Fig. 16 Fig. 7); tarsal claw simple (as in Fig. 9); ventral borders of the first tergite basally separated (as in Fig. 18 (15) Pronotum and metapleuron coarsely rugose; scutellar disc strongly raised in a rounded point (Fig. 39); mandibles not twisted (as in Fig. 4); notauli deeply impressed and distinct (as in Fig. 7); tarsal claw simple (as in Fig.  9); ventral borders of first tergite completely joined along ½ of segment (as in Fig. 14 Fig. 5); mandibles moderately twisted (as in Fig. 3); notauli shallow and not distinct (as in Fig. 8); tarsal claw simple (as in Fig. 9); ventral borders of first tergite completely joined along ½ of segment (as in Fig. 14 Fig. 5); mandibles twisted (as in Fig. 2); notauli shallow and not distinct (as in Fig. 8); tarsal claw with a large lobe (as in Fig. 11); ventral borders of first tergite completely joined along ½ of segment (as in Fig. 14 Fig. 5); notauli shallow and not distinct (as in Fig. 8); tarsal claw with a large lobe (as in Fig. 11); ventral borders of first tergite completely joined along ½ of segment (as in Fig. 14 Fig. 14) or separated basally (as in Fig. 18 Fig. 7); tarsal claw with a large lobe (as in Fig. 11 Fig. 16), almost touching distally (as in Fig. 15) or separated basally (as in Fig. 18); notauli deeply impressed and distinct (as in Fig. 7 (46) Ventral borders of first tergite either touching for a short distance (as in Fig. 19) or almost touching distally (as in Fig. 15) M. dimidiatus (Cresson) -Ventral borders of first tergite basally separated (as in Fig. 18) ... M. oreoi Jones 51 (45) Notauli shallowly impressed and not distinct (as in Fig. 8); tarsal claw with a large lobe (as in Fig. 11 (51) Tarsal claw with a large lobe (as in Fig. 11); fore wing with second submarginal cell not narrowed anteriorly ( Mandibles not twisted (as in Fig. 2); notauli deeply impressed and distinct (as in Fig. 7); tarsal claw simple (as in Fig. 9 (62) Ventral borders of first tergite touching for a short distance either medially (as in Fig. 16) or apically (as in Fig. 19 (65) Notauli deeply impressed and distinct (as in Fig. 7); tarsal claw simple (as in Fig. 9 (72) Ventral borders of first tergite widely basally separated, distally either touching for a short distance (as in Fig. 19) or almost touching (as in Fig. 15); notauli posteriorly oval-shaped (Fig. 61) Fig. 18); notauli converging posteriorly in a distinct v-shape (as in Fig. 62 Brethes, 1903. Zitani (2003 reported the transferring of M. eumenidis Brethes, 1903 to the genus Homolobus Forster, 1862 after the examination by Michael Sharkey of the holotype deposited in the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. The M. eumenidis holotype has the first metasomal tergite sessile, not petiolate, the first subdiscal cell of the fore wing closed, and the fore wing vein 3RSb curved towards the posterior wing margin (Zitani 2003).

Meteorus laqueatus Enderlein, 1920.
The holotype of M. laqueatus deposited at the Zoological Museum in Warsaw, Poland, was examined by Nina Zitani (Zitani 2003), who concluded that, based on the broadening of the marginal cell of the hind wing and the scattered setae on the metasomal tergites, this species should be assigned to the genus Zele Curtis, 1832. Diagnosis. Occipital carina complete; eyes convergent, face maximum width 1.8 × minimum width; mandibles moderately twisted; notauli deeply impressed, distinctive and foveolate; propodeum aerolate-rugose and absent of both carinae and a median depression; hind coxa punctuate-polished; tarsal claw with large lobe; dorsopes absent; ovipositor 2.7 × longer than first tergite, stigma white. Body color. Antenna dark brown, annulus absent; head yellow except area between ocelli black. Propleuron and pronotum yellow; mesonotum black except yellow among mesonotal lobes and on the scutellum; mesopleuron orange except black close to the tegula; metanotum totally black; metapleuron orange; propodeum black. Prothoracic legs yellow except tarsus light brown; mesothoracic legs yellow except femur apically, tibia and tarsus brown; metathoracic legs yellow except tibia brown, femur apically and tarsus dark brown. T1 black, T2 yellow, T3 brown, T4-T6 brown medially and yellow laterally, T7-T8 yellow; sterna yellow. Wing membrane hyaline; stigma white.  wider than high; occipital carina incomplete; ocellus-ocullar distance 1.5 × ocellar diameter; head height 1.6 × eye height; temple length 0.4 × eye length in dorsal view; vertex in dorsal view not descending vertically behind the lateral ocelli; frons smooth and polished; face maximum width 1.8 × minimum width; face surface irregular and shiny; face minimum width 0.7 × clypeus width; clypeus surface irregular and shiny; malar space length 0.4 × mandible width basally; mandibles moderately twisted.
Legs Etymology. The name of this species is composed by the latin prefix "albi", meaning white, and the stem "stigma" because of the color of this structure on the front wing. Diagnosis. Occipital carina complete; face maximum width 1.5 × minimum width; mandibles twisted; notauli shallow, not distinctive and rugose; propodeum aerolaterugose; hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe; dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; ovipositor 2.9 × longer than first tergite; body mostly dark brown.

Meteorus carolae
Body color. Antenna dark brown; annulus absent; face and clypeus yellow; frons black on the middle and orange laterally; vertex orange between the lateral ocelli and the compound eyes; area around and among ocelli, vertex behind the lateral ocelli, temple and the most of the gena black; a small orange area of the gena along the compound eye. Propleuron dark brown; pronotum dorsally dark brown, then gradually becomes light brown to orange ventrally; mesonotal lobes black; area among lobes, notauli and scutellum yellow-orange; mesopleuron, metanotum, metapleuron and propodeum black. Prothoracic legs yellow; mesothoracic legs yellow except tarsus brown; metathoracic coxa dark brown, remaining leg light brown. T1 yellow basally, dark brown apically; T2 yellow basally, remaining brown; sterna yellow-cream. Wings hyaline; stigma dark brown.  Metasoma. Dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; first tergite with costae convergent posteriorly; ovipositor thickened basally and straight; ovipositor 2.9 × longer than first tergite.
Body color. Mostly black except: prothoracic legs brown from trochanter along tarsus; mesothoracic and metathoracic legs with trochanter, trochantellus, femur and tarsus dark brown, tibia light brown; sterna dark brown; wings hyaline.

Comments. Meteorus eurysaccavorus is the only Neotropical
Meteorus species with a combination of coriaceous sculpture on temple, gena, mesonotum and T2, presence of dorsopes on the first metasomal tergite, and the vein 3RSb of the frontal wing distinctly curved (such a vein is entirely straight in the rest of species). When M. eurysaccavorus is compared with the previously known Neotropical Meteorus, the morphologically most-similar species is M. muiscai, since both of them share a complete occipital carina, simple tarsal claw, metapleuron rugose and presence of dorsopes. However, M. muiscai is completely smooth and shiny on the body surfaces on which M. eurysaccavorus displays coriaceous sculpture, and the legs of M. eurysaccavorus are dark brown to black, in contrast to yellow in M. muiscai.
Etymology. The specific epithet is composed by the stem eurysacca after the host genus name, and the suffix "vorus" derived from the latin "vor" that means voracious, referring to the feeding habit of the wasp larva on this gelechiid caterpillar. Diagnosis. Occipital carina complete, mandibles twisted, notauli deeply impressed, distinctive and rugose-foveate, first tergite laterally flattened, hind coxa strigate-rugulose; tarsal claw with a large lobe, a couple of cavities (false dorsopes) on the first tergite between the basal extreme and the spiracles, first tergite laterally flattened; ventral borders of first tergite touching distally for a short distance, ovipositor 2.0-2.2 × longer than first tergite. Body color. Antenna dark brown; annulus absent; face, clypeus and gena yellow; frons, temple and vertex orange; area between ocelli and occiput black. Anterior half of propleuron brown, posterior half yellow; pronotum yellow; mesonotal lobes and scutellum brown, notauli and area among lobes black; mesopleuron brown except dorsal and anterior borders black; metanotum totally black; metapleuron brown except ventral border black; propodeum black. Pro and mesothoracic legs yellow except tarsus brown; metathoracic legs yellow except tibia apically and tarsus dark brown. T1 black, T2 yellow, remaining terga brown; sterna light brown. Wing membrane hyaline, stigma brown. Body length. 3.9 mm. Head. Antenna with 27 flagellomeres; flagellar length/width ratios as follows: F1 = 4.1, F2 = 3.5, F3 = 3, F25 = 1.7, F26 = 1.7, F27 = 2.7; head 1.2 wider than high; occipital carina complete; ocellus-ocullar distance 1.2 × ocellar diameter; head height 1.4 × eye height; temple length 0.4 × eye length in dorsal view; vertex in dorsal view not descending vertically behind the lateral ocelli; frons smooth and polished; face maximum width 1.3 × minimum width; face punctate; face minimum width equal to clypeus width; clypeus rugulose; malar space length 0.5 × mandible width basally; mandibles twisted.
Legs. Hind coxa strigate-rugulose; tarsal claw with a large lobe. Wings. Wing length 3.4 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.4 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; vein m-cu of forewing intersticial. Hind wing: length of vein 1M 1.2 × length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M equal to length of vein r-m.
Metasoma. Dorsope present, very small (actually it is a false dorsope, see explanation on comments below); first tergite laterally flattened; ventral borders of first tergite touching distally for a short distance; first tergite with costae parallel faintly demarcated; ovipositor thickened basally and straight; ovipositor 2.2 × longer than first tergite.
Cocoon. Unknown. Female variation. Propleuron yellow except lateral and anterior borders brown; median mesonotal lobe and scutellum testaceous, lateral mesonotal lobes dark brown, notauli and area between mesonotal lobes black; mesopleuron orange except dorsal and anterior borders black; metapleuron orange except ventral border black; prothoracic legs completely yellow; mesothoracic legs with coxa, trochanter and trochantellus white, remaining dark brown; antenna with 26 flagellomeres; ocellus-ocullar distance 1.1-1.4 × ocellar diameter; head height 1.5 × eye height; metapleuron rugulose; ovipositor 2.0-2.2 × longer than first tergite.   Muesebeck (1923), Nixon (1941), Huddleston (1980) and corroborated in the Neotropical fauna (Aguirre et al. 2011). Meteorus fallacavus has the ventral borders of the first tergite basally separated but distally touching by a short distance, feature allowing separate it from M. magdalensis, its most similar congeneric species, which displays a true pair of dorsopes together with ventral borders of the first tergite widely separated. Both species have the notauli deeply impressed and distinct, as well as the first metasomal tergite unicolored, but M. magdalensis is mostly black while M. fallacavus is mostly yellow with black areas dorsally. Moreover, M. fallacavus might be distinguished by having twisted mandibles (untwisted in M. magdalensis), tarsal claw with a large lobe (tarsal claw simple in M. magdalensis) and the vertex in lateral view flattened (vertex convex in lateral view in M. magdalensis).
Etymology. The specific epithet is composed by the latin prefix "falla" which means false and "cavus" meaning cavity, since the pseudodorsope is the most distinctive feature for this species.
Legs. Hind coxa punctate and polished; tarsal claw with large lobe. Wings. Wing length 3.6 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.8 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; length of vein 3RSa equal to length of vein r-m; vein m-cu antefurcal. Hind wing: length of vein 1M 1.2 × length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M equal to length of vein r-m.
Male variation. Both lateral mesonotal lobes and the median one apically black, yellow the rest; mesopleuron either yellow except area close to the tegula dark brown or orange on the middle, black dorsally and ventrally; pro and mesothoracic legs yellow except tarsus brown; metathoracic legs yellow except tibia brown, femur apically and tarsus dark brown; T2 basally yellow-orange, remaining dark brown; body length 3.8 mm; antenna with 32 flagellomeres; ocellus-ocullar distance equal to ocellar diameter; wing length 3.4 mm; front wing: length of vein r 0.6 × length of vein 3RSa; first tergite costate-reticulate. Etymology. This species is so-named because of the yellow stigma on the front wing: "flavis" is the Latin prefix meaning yellow. Diagnosis. Occipital carina complete; large ocelli, ocellus-ocullar distance 0.3 × ocellar diameter; large ayes, head height 1.3 × eye height; malar space very short, malar space length 0.1 × mandible width basally; mandibles twisted; notauli shallow, not distinctive and rugose; hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe; dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; mesopleuron completely yellow; metanotum dorsally brown, yellow laterally.

Meteorus haimowitzi
Body color. Antenna, face and clypeus yellow; annulus absent; remaining head orange. Propleuron, pronotum, mesopleuron and metapleuron yellow; mesonotum yellow except a couple of faint light brown patches on each lateral mesonotal lobe; metanotum dorsally brown, yellow laterally; propodeum light brown. Pro and metathoracic legs yellow; mesothoracic coxa, trochanter and trochantellus white, remaining leg dark brown. T1 having the basal half and a narrow patch along the distal border yellow, medially black; a median white-yellow broad hourglass-shaped pattern on T2, T3 brown, T4-T8 yellow; sterna yellow. Wing membrane hyaline; stigma brown.
Legs. Hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe. Wings. Wing length 5.3 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.3 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; length of vein 3RSa 1.2 × length of vein r-m; vein m-cu antefurcal. Hind wing: length of vein 1M 0.9 × length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M 0.8 × length of vein r-m.
Cocoon. Length 6.6 mm; width 2.8 mm; black-dark brown, loosely wrapped by its silk; the edge of the emergence hole is rough, the cap is missing. The thread is approximately 36 mm long. Paratype. Unknown. Distribution. Costa Rica, Province of Heredia. Biology. Solitary parasitoid reared from its cocoon. Comments. Meteorus haimowitzi and M. imaginatus Jones share more morphological features between them than with any other species in the genus; the most relevant are: big eyes, head height 1.3 × or less eye height, occipital carina complete, mandibles completely twisted, notauli shallow and not distinct, tarsal claw with a large lobe, first metasomal tergite without dorsopes and ventral borders of first tergite completely joined along ½ of segment. Meteorus hamowitzi differs from M. imaginatus by the metanotum dorsally black-dark brown and laterally yellow (metanotum completely black-dark brown in M. imaginatus), hind legs yellow (hind legs dark brown in M. imaginatus) and mesonotal lateral lobes mostly yellow (mesonotal lateral lobes dark brown in M. imaginatus). Interestingly another conspicuous character to distinguish both species is in the cocoon, which is ornamented with a crown-like silk arrangement nearby the opening apex in M. imaginatus, but this is absent in M. haimowitzi (see Jones and Shaw 2012, p. 10, fig. 21).
Etymology. This species is named after our entomologist colleague and parasitoidlover Larry Haimowitz.
Body color. Antenna dark brown; annulus absent; head black except a small brown patch between each lateral ocelli and its closest compound eye; clypeus yellow; mesosoma mostly ferruginous except propleuron anterior 2/3 black, posterior 1/3 and interior borders yellow; pronotum ferruginous on the upper half, then gradually becomes yellow toward the lower border. Prothoracic coxa, trochanter and trochantellus yellow, remaining leg orange; mesothoracic legs brown except coxa, trochanter, trochantellus, both femur and tibia basally, and most of tarsus yellow. Metathoracic coxa basally orange-ferruginous, distally black; metathoracic trochanter, tibia basally and tarsus white-yellow; remaining hind leg black. Basal half and a narrow patch along the distal border of T1 yellow, T1 medially black; T2 on the basal border and T7 throughout white-yellow, remaining T2 and T3-T5 black, T6 and T8 brown; sterna yellow white, with brown patches on the sterna 5-7. Wings hyaline; stigma dark brown.
Legs. Hind coxa strigate and punctate; tarsal claw with a large lobe. Wings. Wing length 4.9 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.5 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; length of vein 3RSa 0.9 × length of vein r-m; vein m-cu antefurcal. Hind wing: length of vein 1M 1.2 × length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M 1.1 × length of vein r-m. Metasoma. Dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; first tergite with faintly demarcate and parallel costae; ovipositor basally thickened and slightly curved; ovipositor 2.9 × longer than first tergite.
Comments. Both the big eyes and large and colorful body make M. magnoculus very distinct from the other species of the genus. The most similar one is M. cecavorum sharing with M. magnoculus the occipital carina complete, mandibles totally twisted, first metasomal tergite without dorsopes and ventral borders of first tergite joined along ½ of segment. But M. magnoculus is easy to separate by its bigger eyes (head height/eye height = 1.3-1.4 vs. 1.5-1.6 in M. cecavorum), bigger ocelli (ocellusocullar distance/ocellar diameter = 0.5-0.6 vs. 1.2-1.6 in M. cecavorum) shorter malar space (malar space length/mandible width basally = 0.1 vs. 0.8-1.2 in M. cecavorum) and its combination of ferruginous, black and white on the body (mostly black-dark brown in M. cecavorum).
Etymology. Meteorus magnoculus is, until now, the Meteorus species with biggest relative eye size inhabiting the Neotropical Region. The specific epithet is composed by the Latin prefix "magno" meaning large, and the Latin root "oculus" meaning eye. Diagnosis. Occipital carina complete; face parallel in frontal view, face maximum width 1.1 × minimum width; mandibles twisted; notauli shallow, not distinctive and rugose; hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe; dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; ovipositor 2.3 × longer than first tergite; body mostly dark.
Body color. Antenna brown; annulus absent; face, clypeus and gena yellow-orange; frons, temple and vertex dark brown. Propleuron dark brown except interior and posterior borders yellow; pronotum dorsally dark brown, ventrally yellow; mesonotal lobes black-dark brown, area between them and scutellum orange; mesopleuron dark brown close to the tegula, then gradually turns brown and light brown toward the middle coxa; metanotum dark brown; metapleuron light brown; propodeum dark brown. Prothoracic legs yellow; mesothoracic coxa, trochanter and trochantellus white, remaining leg dark brown; metathoracic coxa dorsally dark brown and ventrally yellow, trochanter, trochantellus and femur basally yellow, remaining leg brown. T1 black except the basal portion white-yellow; T2 basally yellow, remaining tergite surface brown; sterna yellow. Wings hyaline; stigma on front wing brown.
Legs. Hind coxa rugose; tarsal claw with a large lobe. Wings. Wing length 2.9 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.9 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; length of vein 3RSa 0.6 × length of vein r-m; vein m-cu antefurcal. Hind wing: length of vein 1M 1.6 × length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M 1.2 × length of vein r-m.
Cocoon microcavus displays a true pair of dorsopes but too small to be detected at a first glance. The ventral borders being widely separated support this interpretation. It is unusual to find such a reduction in these structures, so the conspicuous dorsopes diminution in M. microcavus might be enough to identify it. Meteorus andreae, a common species distributed across the montane forests of Colombia and Costa Rica, matches with M. fallacavus by sharing the following features: moderately twisted mandibles, propodeum having carinae, presence of true dorsopes, ventral borders of fist tergite widely separated. However, M. microcavus differs by its mesopleuron mostly yellow (mesopleuron completely black in M. andreae), antenna with 22 flagellomeres (antenna with 27-32 flagellomeres in M. andreae) and tarsal claw with a large lobe (tarsal claw either simple or with a small lobe in M. andreae).
Etymology. The specific epithet is composed by the Greek prefix "micro" meaning small, and the Latin stem "cavus", which means hole, referring to the small dorsopes. Etymology. The stem "noctui" (referring to the host family) and the suffix "vorus" meaning devouring, compose the specific epithet ("the noctuid-devourer").  Body color. Antenna dark brown; annulus absent; head orange except area between ocelli black. Propleuron orange-yellow; pronotum dorsally orange, ventrally yellow; mesonotum dark brown, except area among lobes and a patch on scutellum orange; mesopleuron dark brown; metanotum dark brown; metapleuron white; propodeum dark brown except posterior and lateral areas white-cream. Prothoracic legs testaceous except coxa and trochanter white cream; mesothoracic legs testaceous except coxa and trochanter white cream; metathoracic legs dark brown except entire femur and tibia medially testaceous. T1 white-yellow basally, dark brown apically; T2-T8 dark brown; sterna yellow-cream with dark brown spots. Wings hyaline; stigma brown. Body length. 3.9 mm.
Legs. Hind coxa strigate and punctate; tarsal claw simple. Wings. Wing length 3.4 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.7 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; length of vein 3RSa 0.9 × length of vein r-m; vein m-cu postfurcal. Hind wing: length of vein 1M equal to length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M 1.4 × length of vein r-m.
Cocoon. Length cocoon 3.9 mm; width cocoon 1.8 mm; honey-brown translucent. Oval-shaped, main structure formed by honey-light brown threads, loosely enveloped by darker threads.
Comments. The occipital carina incomplete, mandibles completely twisted, first metasomal tergite without dorsopes, ventral borders of first tergite joined along half of segment and the colorful pattern of orange, yellow, black and white on the body set M. orion close to M. mirandae. The new species might be easily sorted by having the hind coxa completely dark brown and the middle one completely yellowish-white (hind and middle coxae dorsally black, ventrally yellow in M. mirandae), the notauli shallow and not distinct, and the tarsal claw simple.
Etymology. The mythological Greek hunter "Orion" inspired the name for this species, because of the hunting behavior upon noctuid caterpillars. By coincidence, the yellowish white middle coxa line up with the pale white posterior of the propodeum, like the three stars in the "belt of Orion," the most conspicuous part of this famous constellation. Comments. Meteorus andreae is one of the most common species of Meteorus in Costa Rica with approximately 200 specimens collected across five out of seven provinces, ranging from 745-3000 m above the sea level. It was originally described from Colombia in the departments of Cauca, Huila and Nariño, spanning between 1885-2640 m (Aguirre et al. 2011). Comments. Meteorus farallonensis was described from Colombia from the departments of Caqueta, Meta, and Valle del Cauca at elevations below 1000 m (Aguirre et al. 2011). This new record from Puntarenas, Costa Rica, at 1500 m represents the highest known altitudinal distribution for this species. Zitani, 1997 Material revised. Seventy one females (point mounted), ECUADOR, Napo, 00°43'52.5"S, 77°46'25.3"W, Narupa, sendero Alucus, 1186 m, each wasp was collected as a solitary parasitoid on individual larvae of Papilionidae "popo de pajaro" 14.IX.2013 feeding on a lemon tree Citrus sp. (Rutaceae); all parasitoids larvae pupated 2.X.2013; 11 wasps emerged 24.IX.2013, one emerged 27.IX.2013, five emerged 30.IX.2013, two emerged 1.X.2013, 39 emerged 7.X.2013, three emerged 8.X.2013, five emerged 9.X.2013, two emerged 10.X.2013 and three emerged 14.X.2013; rearing codes: YY 80222,80224,80254,80257,80284,UWIM. Comments. Meteorus papiliovorus Zitani represents the first Neotropical member of this genus known to have a strong preference for Papilionidae: originally described from Costa Rica parasitizing Parides sesostris zestos (Gray) and Papilio anchisiades idaeus (Fabricius, 1793) in 1997 (Zitani et al. 1997), and reared in 1946 in Colombia parasitizing P. anchisiades capis (Hübner) and in 1999 parasitizing P. anchisiades idaeus (Aguirre et al. 2011). Comments. Meteorus quimbayensis, originally described from Colombia from the departments of Huila, Risaralda, and Santander, it seems to be restricted to high South American Andean wet forests between 2000-2300 m above the sea level (Aguirre et al. 2011) since it has not been recorded from Costa Rica despite the intense sampling effort in locations such as Cerro de la Muerte reaching between 2100-3000 m.