Meruana, having funicle 2-segmented
in both sexes, propleura separated posteriorly, submarginal vein
with 3 or more setae dorsally and 2 pairs of scutellar setae, belongs
to the tribe
Cirrospilini.
Meruana may be distinguished from all the other
Cirrosplini
included in the key by the combination of the following characters:
propodeum with distinct median carina and with converging plicae,
and petiole distinct and strongly sculptured. Moreover, it can be
distinguished from
Cirrospilus,
Diaulinopsis and
Semielacher
by not having notauli complete and reaching posterior margin of
mesoscutum; from
Cirrospilus
“variegatus
group” and
Zagrammosoma
by not having vaulted vertex; from
Diaulinopsis
also by not having postmarginal vein at least 1.5 times as long
as stigmal vein. Finally,
Cirrospilus
ambiguus,
Danuviella and
Diglyphus, as they have similar
notauli and metallic coloration, are considered the closest taxa
to
Meruana. However,
C. ambiguus
and
Diglyphus don’t
have plicae on propodeum and don’t have distinct petiole,
while
Danuviella, which has
distinct petiole, doesn’t have converging propodeal plicae.
Although
Meruana seems to be easily distinguished from
the other close genera, more work is probably necessary to define
better the relationship with taxa like
Diglyphus,
Cirrospilus and
Danuviella.