Spathius flavicorpus, 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 : 47-48

Spathius flavicorpus sp. nov.

( Fig. 13 )

Description. Female. Body length 3.8 mm; fore wing length 2.9 mm.

Head. Antennae filiform, 31-segmented. Scape 1.6 × as long as its maximum width. First flagellar segment 5.0 × as long as its apical width, 1.2 × as long as second segment. Penultimate segment 3.8 × as long as wide, almost as long as subpointed apical segment. Head width (dorsal view) 1.6 × its median length, 1.3 × as wide as mesoscutum. Head behind eyes (dorsal view) weakly convex anteriorly and roundly narrowed posteriorly; transverse diameter of eye 1.8 × length of temple. Ocelli medium-sized, arranged in triangle with base 1.2 × its sides; POL: Od: OOL = 3.5: 3.0: 8.0. Vertex very finely and interruptedly reticulate-rugulose, partly smooth; frons entirely, densely, distinctly and curvedly transversely striate. Eye glabrous, 1.2 × as high as broad. Malar space 0.5 × eye height and 0.85 × basal width of mandible. Temple entirely smooth. Face mainly with dense, coarse and weakly curved transverse striation. Face width 1.1 × eye height and almost equal to height of face and clypeus combined. Hypoclypeal depression medium size and round, its width 0.9 × distance from edge of depression to eye, 0.45 × width of face. Occipital carina complete dorsally, ventrally joined with hypostomal carina by additional ruga upper base of mandible.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 2.1 × its height. Pronotal keel distinct, its posterior branch coarse, weakly separated from posterior margin of pronotum, but additionally joined with it by two fine additional lateral rugae; anterior branch of carina distinct and situated submedially. Mesoscutum highly and roundly elevated above pronotum, its median lobe convex anteriorly and without anterolateral corners. Mesoscutum densely granulate, but its median lobe anteriorly with additional fine transverse striation, with short and sparse or partly indistinct rugae situated along notauli and laterally, with two distinct and convergent posteriorly undulate carinae in medioposterior half; mostly glabrous, with rather sparse, long and semi-erect yellow setae arranged in wide stripe along notauli and in single line laterally. Notauli anteriorly distinct, wide and coarsely crenulate, weakly shallow posteriorly. Prescutellar depression deep, long, with four carinae, almost smooth, 0.4 × as long as scutellum. Scutellum entirely densely and rather finely granulate, weakly convex, with distinct lateral carinae. Mesopleuron finely reticulate-coriaceous with fine striation partly, smooth in small areas. Subalar depression shallow, widely and densely striate. Precoxal sulcus deep in anterior 0.7 and shallow in posterior 0.3, curved, sparsely crenulate with fine granulation, running along entire lower part of mesopleuron. Propodeum with distinct and wide lateral tubercles, with basolateral areas distinctly delineated by carinae and densely granulate with fine striation, rest part of propodeum rugose-striate with granulation; areola narrow and long; basal carina present in basal 0.3, 1.4 × longer than anterior fork of areola.

Wings. Fore wing 3.7 × as long as wide. Vein r arising from middle of pterostigma. 3-SR: r: SR1: 2-SR = 22: 5: 40: 19. Second submarginal cell not narrowed distally, its length 3.1 × 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 weakly antefurcal, weakly curved towards base of wing, faintly infuscate.

Legs. Hind coxa dorsally transversely striate with granulation, densely granulate at rest part and reticulation basally, with distinct basoventral corner and tooth. Hind femur reticulate-granulate in upper half and almost smooth to smooth in lower half, 3.3 × as long as wide. Hind tibia apically with four spines on outer side. Dorsal surface of hind tibia with long, rather dense and semi-erect setae, their length 1.0–1.6 × maximum width of tibia. Hind tarsus 0.85 × as long as hind tibia. Hind basitarsus 0.6 × as long as second-fifth segments combined. Second segment of hind tarsus 0.5 × as long as basitarsus, 1.1 × as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Metasoma. Petiole (lateral view) weakly curved ventrally, dorsally distinctly arched in basal 0.6 and almost straight in apical 0.4, distinctly thickened in basal 0.3; widened in apical fourth (dorsal view), with small spiracular tubercles in widened basal third. Length of petiole 2.6 × its apical width, 1.7 × length of propodeum. Second tergite without separate laterotergites. Median length of second and third tergites combined 1.5 × basal width of second tergite, 0.8 × as long as their maximum width. Second suture absent. Petiole distinctly and rather densely longitudinally striate, with additional dense and distinct reticulation in basal 0.7. Remaining tergites entirely smooth. Ovipositor straight. Ovipositor sheath 1.6 × as long as petiole, 0.7 × as long as metasoma, as long as mesosoma, 0.5 × as long as fore wing.

Colour. Body yellow to brownish yellow, propodeum, petiole and spots on tergites infuscate. Antennae yellow to brownish yellow in basal half, pale brown to light reddish brown in most apical half, with four whitish apical segments. Palpi whitish yellow. Legs yellow, basally white. Ovipositor sheath brown, pale yellow in basal half. Fore wing faintly infuscate, with more dark brownish spots near veins. Pterostigma brown, pale yellow in basal quarter and apically.

Variation. Body length 2.7–4.3 mm; fore wing length 2.1–3.1 mm. Antenna 25–31-segmented. First flagellar segment 4.5–5.2 × as long as its apical width, 1.10–1.15 × as long as second segment. Transverse diameter of eye 1.6–2.0 × length of temple. Vertex sometimes almost smooth. Malar space 0.50–0.55 × eye height. Hind femur 3.2– 3.6 × as long as maximum width. Length of petiole 2.5–3.1 × its apical width, 1.5–1.7 × length of propodeum. Sometimes second tergite basally finely aciculate. Ovipositor sheath 1.5–1.6 × as long as petiole, 0.6–0.7 × as long as metasoma, 0.8–1.0 × as long as mesosoma, 0.4–0.5 × as long as fore wing.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype. female, Hainan Prov. , Diaoluoshan, 16–17.VII.2006, Liu Jingxian, No. 200802392 ( ZJUH) . Paratypes: 1 female, China, Hainan Prov., Diaoluoshan , 16–17.VII.2006, Liu Jingxian, No. 200802154 ( ZISP) ; 2 females, Yunnan Prov., Xishuangbanna Forest Park, 31.VII.2003, Xu Zaifu, Nos 20053556 and 20053574 ( ZJUH) ; 1 female, Hainan Prov., Yinggeling, 28. V –3. VI .2007, Weng Liqiong , No. 200804331 ( ZJUH) ; 1 female, Hainan Prov., Bawangling , 26.XI.2008, Tan Jiangli, No. 200805700 ( ZJUH) ; 1 female, Hainan Prov., Diaoluoshan , 16–17.VII.2006, Liu Jingxian, No. 200802259 ( ZJUH) ; 1 female, Hainan Prov., Yinggeling , 18.X.2007, Liu Jingxian, No. 200709777 ( ZJUH) ; 1 female, Hainan Prov., Yinggeling , 16.XI.2008, Tan Jiangli, No. 200805797 ( ZJUH) ; 1 female, Hainan Prov., Diaoluoshan, 28–31. V .2007, Liu Jingxian , No. 200702860 ( ZJUH) .

Comparative diagnosis. This new species belongs to the S. fasciatus Walker species group. Spathius flavicorpus sp. nov. is similar to S. erymanthus Nixon , but differs in having the hind tibia yellowish brown in apical half (brown in S. erymanthus ), pterostigma pale in basal quarter (in basal half in S. rymanthus ), ocelli arranged in triangle with base larger than its sides (in equilateral triangle in S. erymanthus ), mesoscutum almost perpendicularly elevated above pronotum (rather gradually in S. erymanthus ), areola distinctly delineated by carinae (almost absent in S. erymanthus ), hind coxa with distinct basoventral tubercle (with trace of tubercle in S. erymanthus ), petiole 1.7 × as long as propodeum (almost twice in S. erymanthus ), and ovipositor distinctly shorter than metasoma (distinctly longer in S. erymanthus ). This new species also similar to Japanese S. longisetosus Belokobylskij et Maeto , but differs from it in having the head in dorsal view behind eyes distinctly narrowed (weakly narrowed in S. longisetosus ), mesoscutum with short and rather fine rugosity along notauli and laterally (with long and distinct rugae and setae in S. longisetosus ), mesopleuron medially finely reticulate granulate to smooth (entirely striate to rugose-striate in S. longisetosus ), setae on dorsal surface of hind tibia shorter (longer in S. longisetosus ), and body mainly pale (dark in S. longisetosus ).

Etymology. From “flavus” (Latin for “yellow”) and “corpus” (Latin for “body”), because the most part of body yellowish.

Distribution. China (Hainan, Yunnan).

Figures

FIGURE 13. Spathius flavicorpus sp. nov. A, habitus, lateral aspect; B, head, dorsal aspect; C, head, frontal aspect; D, fore wing; E, petiole, lateral aspect; F, mesosoma, lateral aspect; G, mesoscutum, dorsal aspect; H, metasoma, dorsal aspect. Scale bar 0.5 mm.