Paraspicera brandaoi, Ros-Farré & Pujade-Villar, 2011

Ros-Farré, P. & Pujade-Villar, J., 2011, Revision of the genus Paraspicera Kieffer, 1907 (Hym: Figitidae: Aspicerinae), Zootaxa 2801 (1), pp. 48-56 : 52-54

Paraspicera brandaoi n. sp.

( Fig. 2 )

Type material. (1 ♂) HOLOTYPE male deposited in ZMLU, 25/VII/1973, Aspen Grove, Utah, USA, G. F. Knowlton leg. Paratypes: (3♂ & 2♀) CANADA: ALBERTA (1♂) ( CNCI) 19/VII/1956, Elkwater Lk. Alta, O. Peck leg. ; BRITISH COLUMBIA (1♀) ( UB) 17/VII/1998, Anahim Lake to Redstone , 1000 to 1500 m, S. & J. Peck , car netting pine sand land. USA: IDAHO (1 ♀) ( MZLU) 17/VIII/1982, Franklin Co. Franklin Basin, Malaise trap ; UTAH (1 ♂) ( MZLU) 20/VI/1976, Cache Co. Franklin Basin, G. F. Knowlton leg.; (1 ♂) ( UB) 5/VIII/1981, Cache Co. Logan Canyon, G. F. Knowlton leg.

Diagnosis. Paraspicera brandaoi has the scutellar spine distinctly shorter than P. bakeri , ( Fig 2a ) the scutellar foveae are very large and not delimited posteriorly ( Fig 2a ), whereas in P. bakeri , they are small and delimited posteriorly ( Fig 1a ). Furthermore, the interfoveal line in P. brandaoi is present, but not very pronounced in the scutellar disk, whereas in P. bakeri this character is prominent.

Description. Length. Males: 3.50–3.70 mm (n=4); females: 3.52–4.00 mm (n=2).

Coloration. Head black. Scape and pedicel blackish and rest of antennomeres chestnut. Mesosoma black. Legs light chestnut except coxae which can be dark chestnut. Metasoma dark chestnut. Wing venation chestnut.

Head. Frons coriaceous with many piliferous points and with thin longitudinal carinae. Frontal lateral carina straight. Vertex coriaceous, dorsally punctate, with many weak longitudinal carinae in posterior area. Occiput with many oblique longitudinal carinae on sides, interrupted in central area. Genae transversally carinate and coriaceous, though pubescence is very dense and sculpture cannot be clearly seen.

Antenna. MALE: filiform; F1 distinctly modified; antennal formula: 4(3): 2(2): 7(3): 5(2): 5(2): 5(2): 5(2): 5(2): 5(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 6.5(2). FEMALE: filiform, antennal formula: 4(3): 2(2): 6(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 4(2): 8(2).

Mesosoma. Lateral areas of pronotum coriaceous, with small piliferous points. Dorsal margin of pronotal plate concave. Scutum coriaceous, with piliferous points. Anteroadmedial lines parallel, thin, reaching or extending shortly beyond 1/3 length of scutum. Median line almost absent or very weak and only present between anteroamdedial lines. Notauli narrow, slightly wider in posterior half, without microsculpture and with weak transverse strigae. Mesoscutal sulcus reaching 1/3 length of scutum, without microsculpture and with transverse strigae, sometimes strigae almost absent. Scutellum 0.85–0.90 length of scutum; scutellar foveae wide; lateral bars very narrow, not delimited posteriorly, shiny and with uniformly distributed longitudinal carinae. Scutellar disk coriaceous, with many thin longitudinal carinae in anterior 2/3; sculpture rugose in posterior 1/3; interfoveal carina extending unconspicuously along scutellar disk. In lateral view end of scutellar disk getting slopes to base of spine; spine straight or bent downwards. Scutellar spine short, around 1/3 length of scutellar disk.

Wings. Forewings smoked. Radial cell 2.2–2.5 as long as wide. R1 vein mostly straight but clearly curved next to wing margin. R2 vein long.

Distribution. Nearctic: Canada (Alberta) and USA (Idaho and Utah).

Etymology. Species dedicated to our colleague and friend Carlos Roberto Ferreira Brandao (Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brasil).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Paraspicera bakeri Kieffer: (a) mesosoma in dorsal view, (b) head in anterior view, (c) occiput, and (d) head and mesosoma in lateral view.

FIGURE 2. Paraspicera brandaoi n. sp.: (a) mesosoma in dorsal view, (b) head in anterodorsal view, (c) occiput, and (d) head and mesosoma in lateral view.