Mnioes poncei Alvarado, 2020

discovery named in honor of Carlos Ponce del Prado

DISCOVERY NAMED IN HONOR TO CARLOS PONCE DEL PRADO - "Mnioes poncei"

STORY

The specific epithet poncei honors Carlos Ponce del Prado. Members of the project Discovering New Species want to commemorate him for his educational labor and laudable work as a promoter of protected natural areas in Peru.

Carlos Ponce del Prado was a notable figure in the conservation of the forests of Peru and the Peruvian Jungle.

He was an environmental educator, and founder of the Peruvian Foundation for Nature Conservation (ProNaturaleza). Member of the National Council for the Environment (CONAN), and of the Association for the Conservation of the Amazon Basin (ACCA), where he was president of its board of directors.

Throughout his life, he was an enthusiastic promoter of the conservation of Peruvian biodiversity and is now a model to follow who inspired new generations. 

 

SPECIMEN DETAILS

Mnioes poncei sp. nov. can be distinguished from its female congeners by the following combination of traits: frontal and facial orbit white, tegula black, mesoscutum with longitudinal nodular stripes extending from anterior margin to center and a pot at center white, and metasoma red. This species has the shortest ovipositor sheath length in the genus, 1.6× as long as the metathoracic tibia.

Despite the effort done in the Refugio Amazonas Lodge representing almost two years of continuous sampling, and the variety of traps employed (pan trap, Malaise traps, and light traps), only one individual was
collected.

COLLECTION DETAILS

  • Habitat: Lowland rainforest
  • Sampling Protocol: Light trap
  • Elevation: 225 m

GEOGRAPHY

  • Country: Peru
  • Province/State: Madre de Dios
  • Region/County: Tambopata
  • Sector: Condenado
  • Exact Site: Albergue Refugio Amazonas
  • Lat/Lon: -12.875, -69.4097

TAXONOMY

  • Identifier: Mabel Alvarado
  • Identification Method: Morphology
  • Identifier Institution: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Museo de Historia Natural
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Order: Hymenoptera
  • Family: Ichneumonidae
  • Genus: Mnioes
  • Species: Mnioes poncei

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