Subspecies Megaplectes monticola blakei

Two records in European literature of rearings from Lepidoptera (a butterfly and a notodontid) seemed dubious to Townes and Gupta, given that the structure of the flattened ovipositor with serrations on the fused upper valves as well as the usual teeth on the lower valves seem to suggest adaptation for oviposition into into sawfly cocoons. They speculated that the only sawfly large enough to be a host for Megaplectes is Cimbex. In his 1969 treatment of the Cryptinae, Townes stated that coccoons of Cimbicidae are the hosts of Megaplectes, but did not back that up by referencing a specimen or a published rearing record.

Townes, Henry & Gupta, Virendra K. 1962. Ichneumon-flies of America north of Mexico: 4. Subfamily Gelinae [=Cryptinae], Tribe Hemigasterini [=Hemigastrini]. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 2, iv + 305 p.

Townes, Henry, 1970 (1969). The Genera of Ichneumonidae, Part 2: Gelinae [=Cryptinae]. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 12, iv + 537 p.