Caterpillar-parasitoid
Guides
Apanteles
Apanteles is a large genus of braconid wasps in the subfamily Microgastrinae, containing over 600 described species worldwide. A 2014 study from Costa Rica's Area de Conservación Guanacaste alone documented 186 new species, suggesting the genus is far more diverse than previously recognized. These small wasps (1–5 mm) are koinobiont endoparasitoids of caterpillars, with most species showing high host specificity.
Eryciini
Eryciini is a tribe of tachinid flies comprising approximately 128 genera. The tribe serves as a repository for exoristine taxa that cannot be placed into other tribes, resulting in a polyphyletic assemblage. Members are parasitoids of Lepidoptera larvae, with documented associations to caterpillars in families Crambidae, Notodontidae, Noctuidae, Pyralidae, and Tortricidae. A new genus, Santarosamyia, was described in 2024 from Costa Rica based on specimens reared from wild-caught caterpillars.
Hyphantrophaga
Hyphantrophaga is a genus of tachinid flies in the tribe Goniini, subfamily Exoristinae, containing 46 valid species. The genus is notable for a major taxonomic revision in 2019 that described 22 new species from Costa Rica and synonymized five previously recognized genera. Species in this genus are parasitoids of caterpillars across a broad range of lepidopteran families.
Spathidexia
Spathidexia is a New World genus of tachinid flies in the tribe Thelairini, characterized by females possessing a blade-like ovipositor (from Latin 'spatha', sword). The genus contains approximately 24 nominal species distributed across the Americas, with seven species north of Mexico and 12 in the Neotropics showing minimal geographic overlap. All species studied from Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica are parasitoids of caterpillars in Nymphalidae (Satyrinae) and Hesperiidae (Hesperiinae) that feed on monocots. Males and females exhibit sexual dimorphism in orbital bristles and abdominal coloration patterns.