The braconid wasp genera Cotesia and Microplitis are both large (several hunderd species each), abundant, and economically important, both in natural systems and in agroecosystems. A large amount of taxonomic and biological information is already available for each genus in the literature, but not in easily usable form. For instance, previous taxonomic revisions of these groups are almost completely unillustrated, making species identification by field workers almost impossible without extensive reference collections. The author is currently involved in USDA-funded efforts to more rigorously study these genera, but in the meantime is attempting to make available on the web extensive information about species that are already well known, so that applied work can proceed more easily. Progress in this area on the New World faunas is reviewed.
Species 1: Hymenoptera Braconidae Cotesia
Species 2: Hymenoptera Braconidae Microplitis
Keywords: systematics, identification
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