Separate species or polymorphism: a recurring problem in Kapala (Hymenoptera: Eucharitidae)

Two species of Kapala known from northern South America and Central America are almost always collected in sympatry. A small percentage of the specimens are intermediate in some character states and thus cannot be assigned to one or the other species. To examine the hypothesis that samples represented a continuous array of morphotypes, the phenetic separation of the two species was analyzed using principal components analysis and canonical variates analysis. Clear separation of species and of geographical populations in Trinidad and Ecuador was found based on the first and second canonical variates, respectively. These discriminant functions were applied to a different set of individuals to determine if season or locality in a geographical area had consistent effects on morphology. Although morphometric analysis suggests a clear separation of the two species, a high coincidence of collections suggests a phenotypic polymorphism within one species. Descriptive notes are provided for Kapala iridicolor (Cameron), new combination, and Kapala sulcifacies (Cameron), new combination. Lirata fulvicornis Cameron and Lirata nigriventris Cameron are proposed as new synonymies under Kapala sulcifacies.