A NEW BOLIVIAN TRACHYSPHYRUS OF 
THE IMPERIALS GROUP 
(HYMENOPTERA, ICHNEUMONIDAE) 
By Charles C. Porter 
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University 
Entomologically, Bolivia is perhaps the least known part of Latin 
America. In 1967, when I published a monograph of the nearly 
100 predominantly Andean and southern South American species of 
Trachysphyrus , I could include only two records from that country, 
although adjacent Peru, Chile, and Argentina were each found to 
be major centers of abundance and diversity for Trcichysphyrus. In 
March of 1968, however, when I was able to spend a week collecting 
near La Paz, I discovered an abundant and conspicuous new Trachy- 
sphyrus belonging to the group of T. imperialis Haliday, as defined in 
my earlier study (Porter 1967, p. 275). 
Trachysphyrus praeclarus n. sp. 
Figure 1 
IAolotype: (female) Bolivia (La Paz: Cota. Cota, March 4, 1968, 
A. Garcia & C. Porter) (Tucuman). Paratypes: (21 males) Bolivia 
(La Paz: Cota Cota, March 4, 1968, A. Garcia & C. Porter). (Cam- 
bridge, Ottawa, Porter, San Francisco, Townes, Tucuman, Washing- 
ton). 
Female: Color: flagellum black with dull brown staining below 
toward apex and with a white band above on segments 5-9; scape, 
head, mesosoma, and gaster bright cupreous metallic, especially on 
head and mesosoma with bronzy-golden reflections; wings dark with 
brilliant metallic reflections; coxae and trochanters cupreous metallic 
with trochantelli becoming orange-brown on apex; fore and mid- 
femora bright pale orange with dark cupreous metallic staining 
below on about basal 1/2-2/3; hind-femur bright pale orange with 
some brown staining on base ; tibiae bright pale orange, especially 
the hind-tibia with a little dusky staining on apex ; tarsi mostly black. 
Length of fore-wing: 10.6 mm. 1st flagellomere : 4.0 as long as deep 
at apex. Clypeus: low, very weakly convex in profile; apical margin 
practically truncate. Malar space: 1.1 as long as basal width of 
mandible. Temple: 0.8 as long as eye in dorsal view; gently receding. 
Mesoscutum: notauli sharp, traceable a little less than 1/2 the length 
of mesoscutum ; surface smooth and shining with abundant, predom- 
inantly sharp, small to large punctures which are mostly subadjacent 
362 
