Spathius ferrugineus, 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 : 43-47

Spathius ferrugineus sp. nov.

( Fig. 12 )

Description. Female. Body length 4.0 mm; fore wing length 2.8 mm.

Head. Antennae weakly setiform, 44-segmented. Scape 1.7 × as long as its maximum width. First flagellar segment 4.8 × as long as its apical width, 1.2 × as long as second segment. Penultimate segment 3.6 × as long as its width. 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 2.0 × length of temple. Ocelli medium-sized, arranged in triangle with base 1.2 × its sides; POL: Od: OOL = 4.0: 5.0: 9.0. Vertex entirely smooth; frons entirely sparsely transversely curvedly striate. Eye with sparse and very short setae, 1.25 × as high as broad. Malar space 0.3 × eye height and 0.8 × basal width of mandible. Temple mainly smooth. Face densely, distinctly and undulately transversely striate, with additional reticulation. Face width equal to eye height and 1.1 × height of face and clypeus combined. Hypoclypeal depression medium sized and subround, its width 0.7 × distance from edge of depression to eye, 0.3 × width of face. Occipital carina complete and evenly curved dorsally, ventrally obliterated on short distance before hypostomal carina upper base of mandible.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.9 × its height. Pronotal keel high, its posterior branch not fused with posterior margin of pronotum and weakly separated from it, anterior branch rather fine and situated submedially. Mesoscutum highly and roundly elevated above pronotum (lateral view), its median lobe (dorsal view)distinctly convex anteriorly and without anterolateral corners. Mesoscutum densely granulate, with long, rather coarse and dense rugae situated along notauli, with two coarse, weakly undulate and convergent posteriorly carinae in medioposterior half; glabrous on rather wide areas, with sparse, long and semi-erect or erect golden setae arranged in wide stripes along notauli and in narrow stripe laterally. Notauli wide, anteriorly deep and shallow posteriorly, coarsely crenulate. Prescutellar depression rather deep, long, with three carinae, almost smooth between carinae, 0.3 × as long as scutellum. Scutellum entirely finely granulate-coriaceous, weakly convex, with fine lateral carinae. Mesopleuron mainly smooth. Subalar depression shallow, rather wide, distinctly coarsely striate. Precoxal sulcus shallow, oblique, straight, coarsely and rather densely crenulate, but smooth posteriorly, running along anterior half of lower length of mesopleuron. Propodeum with short and wide subpointed lateral tubercles, with basolateral areas distinctly delineated by coarse carinae and finely coriaceous in basal half and distinctly longitudinally striate on rest part, rest part of propodeum mainly smooth with fine and sparse striae; areola narrow and long; basal carina present in basal 0.2, about 0.6 × as long as anterior fork of areola.

Wings. Fore wing about 4.5 × as long as wide. Vein r arising from middle of pterostigma. 3-SR: r: SR1: 2-SR = 22: 6: 35: 13. Second submarginal cell not narrowed distally, its length about 3.5 × maximum width, 1.2 × length of first subdiscal cell. Vein CU1a not interstitial, arising from anterior 0.4 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 straight, distinctly oblique towards base of wing, infuscate.

Legs. Hind coxa dorsally transversely curvedly striate, densely to finely granulate at rest part, with distinct basoventral corner and tooth. Hind femur mainly smooth, rugulose in dorso-posterior half, 3.0 × as long as wide. Hind tibia apically with single slender spines on outer side. Dorsal surface of hind tibia with long, rather dense and semi-erect setae, their length 1.1–1.3 × maximum width of tibia. Hind tarsus 0.9 × as long as hind tibia. Hind basitarsus 0.55 × as long as second-fifth segments combined. Second segment of hind tarsus 0.6 × as long as basitarsus, 0.9 × as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

Metasoma. Petiole (lateral view) very weakly curved ventrally, dorsally evenly and finely curved, weakly thickened in basal third; weakly widened in basal half and distinctly widened in apical one-sixth (dorsal view), with spiracular tubercles in basal third. Length of petiole 3.4 × its apical width, 1.75 × length of propodeum. Second tergite with weakly separate laterotergite. Median length of second and third tergites combined 1.6 × basal width of second tergite, 0.8 × as long as their maximum width. Second suture absent. Petiole coarsely and sparsely longitudinally striate, with dense and rather distinct reticulation between striae. Remaining tergites smooth, but second tergite mainly very finely and interruptedly reticulate-striate. Ovipositor almost straight. Ovipositor sheath 2.8 × as long as petiole, 1.3 × as long as metasoma, 2.0 × as long as mesosoma, as long as fore wing.

Colour. Body reddish brown, head paler dorsally and laterally. Antenna light reddish brown, faintly darkened medially, with 16 apical yellowish white to white segments, last segments infuscate. Palpi white. Fore and middle legs brownish yellow to pale brown, coxae and trochanters pale yellow. Hind leg light reddish brown, hind tibia faintly infuscate submedially, yellow subbasally at short distance, brownish basally. Ovipositor sheath brown, pale basally. Fore wing faintly and evenly infuscate. Pterostigma dark brown, yellow basally and apically on short spaces.

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype. female, China, Hainan Prov., Yinggeling , 28.V–3.VI.2007, Weng Liqiong, No. 200804061 ( ZJUH).

Comparative diagnosis. This new species belongs to the S. fasciatus Walker species group. Spathius ferrugineus sp. nov. is similar to S. erymanthus Nixon from Philippines, but differs from it in having antennae subapically with numerous white segments (without pale subapical segments in S. erymanthus ), pterostigma pale brown in short basal part (pale in almost basal half in S. erymanthus ), head behind eyes (dorsal view) distinctly narrowed (feebly narrowed in S. erymanthus ), face and frons entirely sculptured (broadly smooth along middle lines in S. erymanthus ), propodeal areola delineated by coarse carinae (almost not delineated in S. erymanthus ), second segment of hind leg longer than fifth segment without pretarsus (shorter in S. erymanthus ), and petiole shorter (longer in S. erymanthus ). New species is also similar to S. neleiformis sp. nov., but differs in having the hypoclypeal depression short (wide in S. neleiformis ), posterior branch of pronotal keel not fused with posterior margin of pronotum (broadly fused in S. neleiformis ), mesoscutum with sparse and long golden setae arranged in wide stripes along notauli (with rather dense and short pale setae arranged in narrow stripes along notauli in S. neleiformis ), precoxal sulcus running along only anterior half of lower length of mesopleuron (along all length in S. neleiformis ), second segment of hind tarsus shorter than fifth segment without pretarsus (distinctly longer in S. neleiformis ), petiole slender (wider in S. neleiformis ), and antenna apically with pale segments (with dark segments in S. neleiformis ).

Etymology. From “ferrugineus ” (Latin for “ferruginous”) because of the main body colouration.

Distribution. China (Hainan).

Figures

FIGURE 12. Spathius ferrugineus 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.