The Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot: the example of Chalcididae (Hymenoptera) with the description of a new species of Phasgonophora Westwood and a review of the regional species

The Western Ghats, vernacularly known as the 'Sahyadri' mountain ranges, constitutes a 1600 km chain of hills spread across 189,611 km(2) and reaching an average elevation of 900-1500 m above mean sea level along the south-western coast of India. Falling well within Meyer's classification as one of the hottest hotspots, the Western Ghats is home to thousands of endemic flora and associated fauna. Here we validate the biodiversity hotspot status of the Ghats with examples of chalcidid wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae), describing with illustrations a new species of Phasgonophora Westwood (P. rubra Binoy, sp. nov.) from southern Western Ghats. The regional species of Phasgonophora are reviewed along with a phylogenetic analysis based on morphology, exploring the possible congruence of morphological data for the newly collected species. Additionally, diagnoses and illustrations are presented for an unnamed species of Megachalcis Cameron based on a male specimen from the southern Western Ghats. Megachalcis kannapuramensis Sureshan and Girish Kumar is redescribed with illustrations based on a female collected from Aaralam Wildlife Sanctuary, also within the Western Ghats. Distribution maps of Indian species of Phasgonophora Westwood and world species of Megachalcis Cameron are also provided.