Spathius nehebrus, Tang & Belokobylskij & Chen, 2015

Tang, Pu, Belokobylskij, Sergey & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2015, Spathius Nees, 1818 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Doryctinae) from China with a key to species, Zootaxa 3960 (1), pp. 1-132 : 71-74

Spathius nehebrus sp. nov.

( Fig. 24 )

Description. Female. Body length 5.7 mm; fore wing length 3.9 mm.

Head. Antennae weakly setiform, 40-segmented. Scape 1.8 × as long as its maximum width. First flagellar segment 4.5 × as long as its apical width, 1.1 × as long as second segment. Penultimate segment 3.5 × as long as wide. Head width (dorsal view) 1.7 × its median length, 1.3 × as wide as mesoscutum. Head behind eyes (dorsal view) distinctly roundly narrowed; transverse diameter of eye about 2.0 × length of temple. Ocelli medium-sized, arranged in triangle with base 1.1 × its sides; POL: Od: OOL = 3.0: 4.0: 11.0. Vertex almost smooth, very finely reticulate-aciculate medio-anteriorly; frons entirely and densely transversely curvedly striate. Eye with sparse and very short setae, 1.2 × as high as broad. Malar space 0.4 × eye height and 0.8 × basal width of mandible. Temple smooth. Face densely, distinctly and weakly undulately transversely striate and without additional granulation. Face width 1.1 × eye height and 1.15 × height of face and clypeus combined. Hypoclypeal depression rather large and rounded, its width 0.8 × distance from edge of depression to eye, 0.4 × width of face. Occipital carina complete dorsally, ventrally joined by additional ruga with hypostomal carina upper base of mandible.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 2.2 × its height. Pronotal keel high, its posterior branch distinctly separated from posterior margin of pronotum, but joined with it by two additional distinct lateral rugae, anterior branch fine and situated submedially. Mesoscutum highly and roundly elevated above pronotum, its median lobe convex anteriorly and without anterolateral corners. Mesoscutum densely granulate, with rather long and dense rugae situated along notauli and laterally, with two distinct and convergent posteriorly carinae in medioposterior half; mostly glabrous, with sparse, long and semi-erect pale setae arranged narrowly along notauli and in single line laterally. Notauli anteriorly deep, wide, coarsely crenulate, shallow and narrow posteriorly. Prescutellar depression rather deep, long, with three carinae, densely granulate-rugulose between carinae, 0.4 × as long as scutellum. Scutellum entirely densely and distinctly granulate, weakly convex, with distinct lateral carinae. Mesopleuron mainly smooth. Subalar depression rather shallow, wide, sparsely striate, but almost smooth in lower half.. Precoxal sulcus deep and oblique in anterior 0.7, shallow and curved in posterior 0.3, coarsely and usually densely crenulate, running along entire lower length of mesopleuron. Propodeum with short and wide lateral tubercles, with basolateral areas distinctly delineated by carinae and weakly granulate-rugulose to rugose posteriorly, rest part of propodeum mainly and densely striate-rugose without granulation; areola narrow and short; basal carina present in basal 0.4, about 2.0 × as long as anterior fork of areola.

Wings. Fore wing 3.9 × as long as wide. Vein r arising from middle of pterostigma. 3-SR: r: SR1: 2-SR = 28: 5: 43: 22. Second submarginal cell not narrowed distally, its length 3.5 × maximum width, 1.4 × length of first subdiscal cell. Vein CU1a not interstitial, arising from anterior third of posterior margin of first subdiscal cell. Hind wing vein M+CU 0.6 × as long as vein 1-M. Vein m-cu strongly antefurcal, straight, distinctly oblique towards base of wing, infuscate.

Legs. Hind coxa dorsally transversely curvedly striate with dense granulation, densely granulate with reticulation at rest part, with weak round basoventral corner, without tooth. Hind femur longitudinally rugulose-striate dorsally, rugulose-reticulate laterally, 3.0 × as long as wide. Hind tibia apically without spines on outer side. Dorsal surface of hind tibia with long, rather sparse and semi-erect setae, their length 1.0–1.4 × maximum width of tibia. Hind tarsus 0.85 × as long as hind tibia. Hind basitarsus 0.8 × as long as second-fifth segments combined. Second segment of hind tarsus 0.5 × as long as basitarsus, 1.4 × as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Metasoma. Petiole (lateral view) very weakly curved ventrally, dorsally weakly arched in basal half and straight in apical half, thickened in basal third; widened in apical fifth (dorsal view), with small spiracular tubercles in widened basal third. Length of petiole 3.4 × its apical width, 2.0 × length of propodeum. Second tergite in basal half with separate laterotergites. Median length of second and third tergites combined 1.5 × basal width of second tergite, 0.7 × as long as their maximum width. Second suture absent. Petiole distinctly and sparsely (but densely in apical fifth) longitudinally striate, with dense and fine reticulation between striae. Remaining tergites smooth, but second tergite very finely reticulate basally. Ovipositor almost straight. Ovipositor sheath 2.8 × as long as petiole, 1.35 × as long as metasoma, almost 2.0 × as long as mesosoma, almost as long as fore wing.

Colour. Body light reddish brown, head yellowish brown. Antenna yellowish brown in basal half and brown to dark brown in apical half, without pale subapical segments. Palpi pale whitish. Legs yellow to yellowish brown or pale brown, fore and middle coxae and all trochanters and trochantelli white to whitish yellow, hind femur reddish brown to dark reddish brown, hind tibia basally brownish, pale yellow in subbasal half. Ovipositor sheath brownish yellow to light brown, brown apically. Fore wing distinctly infuscate, more dark along veins and below pterostigma. Pterostigma brown, pale yellow in basal third and pale brown anteriorly.

Variation. Body length 3.7–5.0 mm; fore wing length 2.6–3.5 mm. Antennae 35-segmented. First flagellar segment 5.0 × as long as its apical width. Penultimate segments 4.0 × as long as wide, about as long as apical segment. Transverse diameter of eye 1.8–2.0 × length of temple. Length of mesosoma 2.3–2.4 × its height. Hind femur 3.0–3.1 × as long as wide. Length of petiole 3.8–4.0 × its apical width, 2.0–2.1 × length of propodeum. Median length of second and third tergites combined 1.5–1.7 × basal width of second tergite, 0.7–0.9 × as long as their maximum width. Ovipositor sheath 2.4–2.6 × as long as petiole, 1.1–1.3 × as long as metasoma, 1.9 × as long as mesosoma, 0.9 × as long as fore wing.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype. female, China, Hainan Prov., Diaoluoshan , 28.V–01.VI.2007, Zeng Jie, No. 200806716 ( ZJUH) . Paratypes: 3 females, China, Hainan Prov., Jianfengling Tianchi, 25.XI.2008, Wang Manman , Nos. 200806093, 200806088 and 200806104 ( ZJUH, ZISP) .

Comparative diagnosis. This new species belongs to the S. fasciatus Walker species group. Spathius nehebrus sp. nov. is similar to S. hebrus Nixon , but differs in having the colour of body mainly light reddish brown (mainly dark reddish brown to black in S. hebrus ), hind tibia whitish in basal half and brownish yellow in apical half (honey yellow and very faintly darkened medially in S. hebrus ), fore wing distinctly infuscate (faintly infuscate in S. hebrus ), ocelli arranged in triangle with base weakly larger its sides (considerably larger in S. hebrus ), mesopleuron mainly smooth (mainly sculptured in S. hebrus ), setae on dorsal surface of hind tibia shorter (longer in S. hebrus ), second segment of hind tarsus longer (shorter in S. hebrus ), petiole distinctly shorter and distinctly widened apically (long and weakly widened apically in S. hebrus ), and ovipositor shorter (longer in S. hebrus ). New species differs from S. longipetiolus Belokobylskij et Maeto in having the posterior branch of pronotal keel distinctly separated from posterior margin of pronotum (weakly separated in S. longipetiolus ), hind coxa without basoventral tubercle (with distinct tubercle in S. longipetiolus ), hind femur wide (more narrow in S. longipetiolus ), and mesoscutum with distinct rugae (short or indistinct rugae in S. longipetiolus ).

Etymology. From “ne” ( Russia for “not”), and “hebrus ”, the name of the most similar species.

Distribution. China (Hainan).

Figures

FIGURE 24. Spathius nehebrus sp. nov. A, habitus, lateral aspect; B, head, dorsal aspect; C, head, frontal aspect; D, fore wing; E, petiole, lateral aspect; F, mesoscutum, dorsal aspect; G, mesosoma, lateral aspect; H, metasoma, dorsal aspect. Scale bar 0.5 mm.