Lobaegis Townes, 1946
Lobaegis is a moderate-sized genus which is most diverse in the Neotropics. Only Lobaegis septentrionalis occurs in the United States as far north as New York. However, there are 5 described species in Mexico. Lobaegis is well-defined by the third, inner mandibular tooth as well as the nearly sickle-shaped mandible and the medial, flattened, ventral lobe of the clypeus similar to Narthecura and Joppocryptus.
Lobaegis, Oezdemirus, were formerly thought to be closely related and were placed in the tribe Joppocyrptini along with a number of other genera with sickle-shaped mandibles. Santos et al. (2021) showed that although these genera belong to the "Neotropical clade" within Ichneumonini, there is no sister group relationsihp between any of the four genera. Contrary to the prephylogenomic classification, it now appears that there were multiple transistions from an ancestral state of fairly large, bidentate mandibles to narrowed, sickle-shaped mandibles. The functional significance of sickle-shaped manbiles in Ichneumonini and why the Neotropics were a hotbed of mandibular evolution remains unknown.
Biology
There are recorded hosts of any Lobaegis species.
Diagnosis
- mandible with recessed third tooth
- ventral margin of clypeus with thinned, medial lobe
- female metasomal apex oxypygous