Chivinia Shestakov, 1932

Long, Khuat Dang, Achterberg, Cornelis Van, Dzuong, Nguyen Van, Oanh, Nguyen Thi & Mai, Pham Quynh, 2023, The identity of Chivinia Shestakov (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Braconinae), with description of a similar species from the Oriental region, Zootaxa 5343 (6), pp. 531-538 : 532

Subgenus Chivinia Shestakov, 1932

Type species and only known species: Chivinia zimini Shestakov, 1932 (examined).

Diagnosis. Vein r-m of fore wing absent; vein 3-SR+SR1 of fore wing strongly curved and vein 1-R1 much shorter than pterostigma; end of sclerotized part of CU1a widened; vein cu-a of fore wing postfurcal ( Fig. 1A ); vein m-cu of fore wing about as long as vein 1-M; scape short and subtruncate apically ( Fig. 1J ); malar space long and directly narrowed ventrally ( Fig. 1E ); tarsal claws simple and slender ( Fig. 1C ); fore tarsus slightly longer than fore tibia; first metasomal tergite longer than wide apically and without medio-longitudinal depression; metasoma smooth; setose part of ovipositor sheath about as long as first tergite ( Fig. 1L ).

Notes. Chivinia was treated as separate genus by Tobias (1986) despite the fact that in an earlier publication ( Tobias 1968), he considered the type species only to be an aberration of Bracon repetekiensis Tobias, 1967 . This is highly unlikely because the latter species has vein cu-a of the fore wing interstitial (distinctly postfurcal in B. zimini ), vein SR1 of the fore wing straight (strongly curved and partly narrowed), the metasoma partly membranous dorsally (entirely sclerotized) and vein 1-R1 of the fore wing medium-sized (0.7 × as long as pterostigma versus 0.2 ×). The reduced marginal cell of the fore wing most likely indicates a relationship with the Bracon kasachstanicus - group but is different, because, for example, of the lost vein r-m of the fore wing. This group and B. zimini are known from the semi-arid parts of Central Asia. van Achterberg and Polaszek (1996) synonymized Chivinia with Bracon because of the similarity with the B. kasachstanicus -group. For the present we treat it as a subgenus until the phylogeny is properly studied, and because we consider the type species aberrant enough for subgeneric rank by having the vein cu-a of the fore wing postfurcal, tarsal claws simple, fore wing vein SR1 strongly curved, and fore wing vein CU1a partly widened.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Bracon (Chivinia) zimini (Shestakov), holotype, female. A Fore wing, B Hind wing, C Outer hind tarsal claw, D Detail of vein 1-SR of fore wing, E Head anterior, F Meso- and metanotum dorsal, G Hind leg, H Head dorsal, I First-third metasomal tergites dorsal, J Scape and pedicel lateral, K Apex of antenna, L Habitus, lateral. A, G, L: scale-line (= 1.0 ×), C, D, J, K: 2.5 ×; E, F, H, I: 1.8 ×