Originally described in

Canadian Entomologist, 20:101.

Diagnosis

Antennal scrobes join below frontal suture; first gastral tergite with posterior 2/3 reticulate with isodiametric meshes and with punctures, or predominantly with punctures; female flagellomeres short and stout, e.g. first flagellomere 1.7X as long as wide; male scape swollen, 2.8X as long as wide; forewing speculum open below; propodeum with median carina with sides parallel and with anterior part blunt; petiole with median carina; female gaster short and ovate, MM/LG = 1.1. Similar to bruchophagus but with head and mesosoma bright metallic and male scape less swollen and with basal ½ pale; and to productus but first gastral tergite partly or completely with punctures in posterior part. See also erasmus, perus and puniceus.

Distribution

Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, U.S.A. (from New York and southward).

Biology

Acanthoscelides sp. on Phaseolus spp., A. floridae Horn, A. submuticus (Sharp), Amblycerus robiniae (Fabricius), Ctenocolum crotonae (Fåhraeus), Gibbobruchus sp., Acanthoscelides sp. on Mimosa pigra; bruchid in Acacia farnesiana; bruchid in Sesbania sp. (Fabaceae); Etiella zinchenella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) on pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan, Fabaceae); Leucaena leucocephala (Fabaceae); seeds of Symplocos limon (Symplocaceae); seed pods of Acacia and Prosopis (Fabaceae). All hosts, except Etiella zinchenella, are Bruchidae (Coleoptera).

Similar species in Lucid key

bruchophagus, but missouriensis with head and mesosoma bright metallic bluish-green to golden-green, male scape with basal ½ yellowish-white and slender.

productus, but missouriensis with gaster with first tergite with a combination of reticulation and punctures or only with punctures.

dryas, but missouriensis with gaster with first tergite with a combination of reticulation and punctures or only with punctures.

Depository of primary type

United States NationalMuseum of Natural History (USNM), Washington , D.C.