Three new species and phylogenetic affinity of the neotropical genus Sericobracon Shaw (Braconidae: Doryctinae)

Sericobracon Shaw is a small doryctine genus which was erected based on two species from Trinidad and the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Croix) in the Caribbean Sea (S. arimaensis Shaw and S. evansi Shaw). Its type species, S. arimaensis, was reported as endoparasitoid of an Embioptera species, which is a unique biology for known Braconidae.

Here we describe three new species of Sericobracon from Costa Rica: S. paulmarshi Zaldívar-Riverón & Shaw, S. puravida Zaldívar-Riverón & Shaw, and S. zunigai Zaldívar-Riverón & Shaw. The former species is characterized with DNA barcoding, providing the first such molecular data for any species in this genus. We also investigated the phylogenetic affinity of the genus within the subfamily Doryctinae based on nuclear UCE data.

Sericobracon was recovered within the main Neotropical doryctine clade closely related to Bolivar Zaldívar-Riverón & Rodríguez-Jiménez and Parallorhogas Marsh. We discuss the higher taxonomic classification of Sericobracon and the latter two genera within the Doryctinae based on these relationships recovered and their shared morphological features. A key to species and digital photographs of the five described species of Sericobracon are provided.