Parapanteles, Ashmead, 1900

Valerio, A. A., Whitfield, J. B. & Janzen, D. H., 2009, Review of world Parapanteles Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae), with description of fourteen new Neotropical species and the first description of the final instar larvae, Zootaxa 2084 (1), pp. 1-49 : 20-27

Parapanteles em Valerio and Whitfield, n. sp.

Figs. 5D , 9C , 11B , 13F

Female. Body length = 2.13–2.75 mm.

Body color: Metasomal sterna and pleura at basal 1/2 yellow as fore and mid legs (except fore coxae brownish yellow and mid coxae dark brown in combination with tarsomeres more whitish yellow), hind leg trochanter and trochantellus, yellow as basal half of tibia and basal 1/3 of femur, labrum, mandibles, tegula; scape and pedicel brownish yellow as remainder of antenna, remainder of metasomal sterna and pleura and hypopygium; remainder of body dark brown. Wings hyaline, forewing veins light brownish yellow, except basal 1/2 M+CU and basal 3/4 of 1-1A whitish in color, pterostigma slightly darker in color than remainder of veins with the exception of C+SC+R which appears as dark brownish yellow; hind wing with veins whitish yellow.

Head. Head height/width = 1.20–1.21; compound eye height/width = 1.55–1.60; intertentorial pit distance = 0.16–0.17 mm; tentorial pit distance/distance tentorial pit to compound eye = 2.25–2.33; width of face at dorsal clypeal edge = 0.30–0.35 mm; clypeus width/height = 2.10–2.33; vertex width/distance between anterior ocelli and edge of torulus = 2.29–2.53; length of first flagellomere = 0.20–0.22 mm; first flagellomere length/width = 3.00–3.20; length of first flagellomere/length of second flagellomere = 1.00-1.06; length of first flagellomere/length of third flagellomere = 1.00-1.60; terminal flagellomere length = 0.12–0.14 mm; terminal flagellomere length/penultimate flagellomere length = 1.22–1.25; terminal flagellomere length/width = 2.5–2.75; malar space height/basal width of mandible = 1.12–1.14; ocell-ocular distance/lateral ocelli distance = 1.33–1.35. Clypeus with dense, fine and confused punctate sculpture; face with shallow punctate sculpture at most of its area except at lateromedial areas nitid and medial area with more confused, shallow and less defined punctate sculpture; frons with scrobal areas nitid, lateral areas with punctate sculpture present, distal area essentially nitid as anterior area of vertex; vertex with few punctate sculpture at distal area, lateral areas with few to dense punctate sculpture present and remainder of gena (except ocular ring nitid); postgena nitid except at junction with gena.

Mesosoma. mesosoma length = 0.95–1.15 mm; mesosoma length/width = 1.31–1.44; mesosoma height = 0.60–0.66 mm. Propleuron with fine punctate sculpture throughout its length except at dorsoexternal edge nitid; pronotum lateral area with anterior 1/2 with few big, spaced and smooth transversal ridges, upper lateral groove essentially nitid, ventral groove with smooth, short and confused transversal ridges present, area between ridges nitid except of area next to distal edge with confused fine rugulose sculpture, dorsal edge 1/5 and ventral edge 1/3 of distal edge height; mesonotum with dense and well defined punctate sculpture throughout its length except area next to scutellar groove nitid, posterior sculpture slightly bigger than anterior one; scutellar groove with 7 to 9 small and well defined costulae; scutellum with confused punctate sculpture throughout its length, lateral areas with big wide costulae sculpture, distal one 2 times as long as anterior costulae and narrower too; axilla through metanotum with a series of transversal narrow ridges across its width and with two carinae dividing them at middle length; metanotum triangular in shape and nitid; axilla through metanotum with a series of longitudinal ridges, distal edge nitid; propodeum with rugulose sculpture at posterior lateral areas and areola and posterior 1/2 of anterolateral areas, remainder of anterolateral area with few punctate sculpture, costula totally present; mesopleuron with anterior edge and ventral area punctate, sternaulus as an deep nitid depression along its length, dorsal area with anterior area nitid and remainder of edge with small well defined scrobiculate sculpture except junction with distal edge with more confused and bigger costulate like sculpture, remainder of distal edge nitid as remainder of mesopleuron; metapleuron with medial pit present, anterior 1/2 nitid, reminder area with confused rugulose sculpture present and next to dorsal edge, dorsal edge with big and spaced transversal ridges which are well defined, distal edge with fewer and more sinuate transversal ridges than at dorsal edge.

Legs. Hind femur length = 0.68–0.72 mm; hind femur length/width = 3.22–3.38; hind tibia length/hind femur length = 1.14–1.15. Fore telotarsus with a long and narrow hooklike setae at internolateral area of it, telotarsus shorter in length than basitarsus; hind telotarsus normal in shape and not modified.

Wings. Forewing length = 2.30–2.75 mm; 1RS length = 0.06–0.10 mm; 1CUa length/1CUb length = 0.87–0.88; length RS+Ma = 0.34–0.43 mm; length M+CU = 0.79–0.85 mm; 1M length/ m-cu length = 2.08–2.10; pterostigma length/height = 1.33–1.44. Hind wing: 1M length = 0.39–0.42 mm; 1M length/2M length = 1.88–2.00; 1M length/M+CU length = 1.42–1.80; length r-m/length cu-a = 0.66–0.77; 1RSa length/ 2r-m = 1.80–2.00; 1A length = 0.16–0.25 mm.

Metasoma. First tergum basal width = 1.18– 0.26 mm; first tergum length/distal width = 0.82–1.30; second tergum length/distal width = 0.40–0.48; third tergum length/distal width = 0.39–0.43; hypopygium length = 0.46–0.60 mm. First metasomal tergum with basal 1/3 nitid at medial area and with few confused rugulose sculpture at lateral areas, remainder of tergum with confused rugulose sculpture; second metasomal tergum with longitudinal lineate sculpture which is less defined and more sinuate at distal edge and medial area; reminder terga nitid.

Material examined. Holotype, female, " Costa Rica, Guanacaste, ACG, Sector Santa Rosa, Vado, Río Calera , 10m, 12/vi/2000, Latitude: 10.80274 Longitude: -85.67423, Col. Gusaneros, 00-SRNP-8628" Paratypes: 7 females, (2) same data as holotype. Costa Rica, Guanacaste, ACG, Sector Santa Rosa, Vado Río Calera , 12/vi/2000, Col. Gusaneros. (2) Costa Rica, Guanacaste, ACG, Sector Cacao , Estación Cacao , 1150 m, 323104 N 375725E, 10/iii/2003, F. Quesada. Material deposited at INBio .

Male. Similar to female.

Comments. This species exhibits a huge range of color and sculpture. Some of the specimens are totally dark brown including the legs, and the rugulose sculpture can be almost totally absent from the propodeum (present only inside of areola).

Rearing records. The holotype was reared from Hemiceras conspirata (Notodontidae) feeding on Inga vera (Fabaceae) and a morphologically similar wasp (03-SRNP-3470, 03-SRNP-3469) was reared from Asestra cabiria (Geometridae) , but DNA barcoding and host records show the latter to be a member of Cotesia ( Cotesia Whitfield 69 in Smith et al 2008) to be discussed and described at a later time.

Voucher codes for related specimens: 00-SRNP-8627, 00-SRNP-8628.

Voucher numbers: 00-SRNP-8627, 00-SRNP-8628, 03-SRNP-3470 and 03-SRNP-3469.

Etymology. Gender, neutral. The species is named after the entomologist Emily "em" C. Kluger.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Propodeum of Parapanteles tessares n. sp. (A), P. sicpolus n. sp. (B), P.aletiae (Riley) (C), P.em n. sp. (D), P. tlinea n. sp. (E), and P. continua n. sp. (F).

FIGURE 9. Female genitalia of Parapanteles thrix n. sp. (A), P. rarus n. sp. (B), P. em n. sp. (C), P. paradoxus (Muesebeck) (D), P. continua n. sp. (E), and P. tessares n. sp. (F).

FIGURE 11. First metasomal tergum in dorsal view for Parapanteles sicpolus n. sp. (A), P.em n. sp. (B), P. paradoxus (Muesebeck) (C), P. rooibos Valerioet al., P. tlinea n. sp. (E), and P. continua n. sp. (F).

FIGURE 13. Wing venation of Parapanteles aletiae (Riley) (A), P. sicpolus n. sp. (B), P. tlinea n. sp. (C), P. scotti n. sp. (D), P.tessares n. sp. (E), and P.em n. sp. (F).