Apanteles mayochinchipe Shimbori, 2023

Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio, Giacomelli, Arthuro De Castro Stolf, Fernández-Triana, José L., Watanabe, Isabela Midori, Santos, Eliaber Barros, Santos, Jakeline Maria Dos, Fazolin, Wilian Xavier & Penteado-Dias, Angélica Maria, 2023, The Apanteles adelinamoralesae species group (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from Brazil, with descriptions of three new species reared from fruit borers (Lepidoptera, Depressariidae), Zootaxa 5277 (2), pp. 339-362 : 356-358

Apanteles mayochinchipe Shimbori sp. n.

( Figure 12 )

Type material. Holotype, female

Type locality. Brazil, Bahia state, Mutuípe municipality (13°20′43.9″S 39°32′30.2″W), in cocoa orchard .

Type specimen, female “ Brasil: Mutuípe , Bahia 13°20′43.9″S 39°32′30.2″W 16.i. 2019 in cocoa orchard. Santos E.B. col. / Ex. Stenoma decora larva in cocoa fruit / Emergence 3.ii.2019 ” ( DCBU 509760 )

Paratypes. 23 females and 12 males ( DCBU 509761– 509790 ; MZSP 115423–115426 ), same as holotype .

Description. Female. Body color: body mostly dark except for some sternites which may be pale.Antenna color: scape, pedicel, and flagellum dark. Coxae color (pro-, meso-, metacoxa): dark, dark, dark. Femur color (pro-, meso-, metafemur): anteriorly dark/posteriorly pale, dark, dark. Tibiae color (pro-, meso-, metatibia): pale, pale, anteriorly pale/posteriorly dark.Tegula and humeral complex color:tegula pale,humeral complex half pale/half dark.Pterostigma color: mostly pale and/or transparent, with thin dark borders. Fore wing veins color: mostly white or entirely transparent. Antenna length/body length: antenna about as long as body (head to apex of metasoma); if slightly shorter, at least extending beyond anterior 0.7 metasoma length. Body in lateral view: not distinctly flattened dorso–ventrally. Body length (head to apex of metasoma): 3.2–3.7 mm. Fore wing length: 3.3–3.6 mm. Ocular– ocellar line/ posterior ocellus diameter: 2.0–2.3. Interocellar distance/posterior ocellus diameter: 2.0–2.3. Antennal flagellomerus 2 length/width: 2.4–2.6. Antennal flagellomerus 14 length/width: 1.2–1.3. Length of flagellomerus 2/length of flagellomerus 14: 2.2–2.4. Tarsal claws: with single basal spine-like seta. Metafemur length/width: 3.2– 3.4. Metatibia inner spur length/ metabasitarsus length: 0.4–0.5. Anteromesoscutum: mostly with shallow, dense punctures (separated by less than 2.0 × its maximum diameter). Mesoscutellar disc: rugose near margins, central part smooth. Number of pits in scutoscutellar sulcus: 7. Maximum height of mesoscutellum lunules/maximum height of lateral face of mesoscutellum: 0.60–0.65. Propodeum areola: completely defined by carinae, including transverse carina extending to spiracle. Propodeum background sculpture: mostly sculptured. Mediotergite 1 length/width at posterior margin: 1.3–1.4. Mediotergite 1 shape: widening from anterior margin to 0.7 of mediotergite length (where maximum width is reached), then narrowing towards posterior margin. Mediotergite 1 sculpture: mostly sculptured, excavated area centrally with transverse striation inside and/or a polished knob centrally on posterior margin of mediotergite. Mediotergite 2 width at posterior margin/length: 4.3–4.9. Mediotergite 2 sculpture: with some sculpture, mostly centrally. Outer margin of hypopygium: with a wide, medially folded, transparent, semi-desclerotized area; usually with 4 or more pleats. Ovipositor sheaths length/metatibial length: 1.25–1.30. Length of fore wing veins r/2RS: 1.8–2.0. Length of fore wing veins 2RS/2M: 1.1–1.3. Length of fore wing veins 2M/ (RS+M)b: 0.65–0.75. Pterostigma length/width: 2.7–2.8. Point of insertion of vein r in pterostigma: clearly beyond halfway point length of pterostigma. Angle of vein r with fore wing anterior margin: more or less perpendicular to fore wing margin. Shape of junction of veins r and 2RS in fore wing: distinctly but not strongly angled.

Male. Similar to female. Body length 2.8–3.1 mm. Fore wing length 3.4–3.6 mm.

Molecular data. Attempts to retrieve DNA barcoding sequences for this species were unsuccessful.

Biology/ecology. Gregarious on Stenoma decora Zeller in cocoa fruits, Theobroma cacao (Malvaceae) . In October 2021 and July 2022, 106 caterpillars of S. decora were collected in different life stages, of which four were parasitized resulting in 75 adult parasitoids, with an average of 18.8 parasitoids per host caterpillar.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Mutuípe, BA.

Etymology. The species is named after the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, some of the oldest to flourish in the western Amazon region, in the Ecuador's megadiverse ceja de selva. The Mayo-Chinchipe people were the first to domesticate cacao, at least 5,300 years before present ( Zarrillo et al. 2018).

Comparative diagnosis. The new species resembles wilbertharayai , in having the T2 relatively wide (4.3–4.9 × wider than long) and weakly but distinctly sculptured. The main distinguishing features are the sculpturing of mesoscutellar disc, weakly rugose marginally in the new species, whereas punctured marginally in wilbertharayai , the shape of pterostigma, 2.7–2.8 × longer than wide in mayochinchipe sp. n., compared to 3.1–3.5 × in wilbertharayai , the presence of a basal spine-like seta on tarsal claws, which is absent in wilbertharayai , and the number of pits on scutoscutellar sulcus, 7 in mayochinchipe sp. n. compared to 9 or 10 in wilbertharayai . Biology is very useful in distinguishing these two species as mayochinchipe sp. n. is gregarious in Stenoma decora whereas wilbertharayai is solitary in Anadasmus sp.

Prospects for biological control. The cacao shoot borer, Stenoma decora , has been considered a secondary pest, which prefers forking branches but also attacks fruits. During serious infestations, the shoot borer may kill entire trees in cacao orchards in Brazil (Ventocilla 1968; Smith 1972; Silva-Neto 2001). No research on biological control is available and only chemical control practices have been published so far (e.g., Nakayama et al. 1989). It is an important pest for cacao in the state of Bahia, Brazil, where the damage caused by this species is frequently observed by producers, especially in clonal cocoa crops cultivated without shading.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Apanteles mayochinchipe sp. n. A, Habitus, lateral view; B, Fore wing; C, Hypopygium and ovipositor sheaths; D, Antenna; E, Head, frontal view; F, Head, dorsal view; G, Meso- and metasoma, dorsal view.