Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitoids of Pyralidae: description and biology of two new species and first record of Meteorus desmiae Zitani, 1998 from Ecuador

Two new Ecuadorian wasp species attacking pyralid larvae are described: Meteorus albisericus and Meteoruspyralivorus, as well as a new Ecuadorian distribution record for Meteorusdesmiae Zitani, another pyralid parasitoid, previously known from Costa Rica and Colombia. The hosts of M.albisericus were found feeding on Clibadium glabrescens S. F. Blake (Asteraceae), Diplazium costale var. robustum (Sodiro) Stolze (Dryopteridaceae), Brunellia tomentosa Bonpl. (Brunelliaceae) and Cavendishia sp. Lindl. (Ericaceae). Chusquea scandens Kunth (Poaceae) is the associated plant for M.pyralivorus hosts. Meteorus. albisericus is the first Neotropical Meteorus species with dorsopes whose biology is known. We hypothesize that the parasitism of pyraloid caterpillars has originated at least twice in Neotropical Meteorus.

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