Darwin wasps of the subfamily Pimplinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) of Mexico: Polysphincta genus-group Author Khalaim, Andrey I. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Cd. Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. & Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia. Author Ruíz-Cancino, Enrique Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Cd. Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Author Coronado-Blanco, Juana María Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Cd. Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. text Zootaxa 2024 2024-05-28 5458 2 151 196 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5360.3.8 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5458.2.1 1175-5326 11369805 3434A429-E512-4C57-B0C0-8B95E74DC31C 2. Polysphincta gutfreundi Gauld, 1991 ( Figs 43–45 ) Polysphincta gutfreundi Gauld 1991: 316 [ holotype ♀ (BMNH), Costa Rica , Guanacaste Prov. , Guanacaste National Park , Santa Rosa Sector, Bosque San Emilio , 300 m , x.1985 , coll. D. Janzen & I.D. Gauld ; ♀ ]. References. Gauld et al . 1998: 42 [in key; host], 172 [remarks; Costa Rica ]. Gauld et al . 2002: 44 [ El Salvador ]. Barrantes et al . 2008 [ Costa Rica ; host, biology]. Eberhard 2010 [host, biology; Costa Rica ]. Eberhard 2019 [host, biology; Costa Rica ]. Eberhard 2021 [host, biology; Costa Rica ]. Remarks. This is the first record of male. Variation. Female and male from Mexico ( Fig. 43 ) have pronotum extensively black and colour markings on legs much scarcer than in specimens from Costa Rica . In male from Tamaulipas metapleuron is dark reddish brown. Material examined. MEXICO . Tamaulipas : 1 ♂ ( UAT ) Ocampo , 23 km Ocampo – Tula, bosque encino, 21.i.1995 , coll. C.A. Covarrubias-Dimas. Chiapas : 1 ♀ ( ZISP ) 50 km ESE of Comitán , National Park Lagos de Montebello , 16.106551 , -91.705158 , 1500 m , 8.viii.2021 , coll. A.I. Khalaim. Distribution. Mexico ( Tamaulipas , Chiapas ), El Salvador, Costa Rica. First record from Mexico . Biology. Reared from the spider genus Cyclosa Menge ( Araneidae ) ( Gauld et al . 1998 ) and Allocyclosa bifurca (McCook) ( Araneidae ) ( Barrantes et al . 2008 ; Eberhard 2010 , 2019 , 2021 ) in Costa Rica . The parasitoid larva induces the host spider, A. bifurca , to spin a modified “cocoon web” which probably improves the physical stability of the web and survival of the wasp pupa ( Eberhard 2010 , 2019 , 2021 ).