Exoryza monocavus Valerio & Whitfield

Valerio, A. A., Deans, A. R. & Whitfield, J. B., 2004, Review of the microgastrine braconid wasp genus Exoryza, with description of a new species, E. monocavus, from Central America, Zootaxa 526, pp. 1-11 : 3-6

Exoryza monocavus Valerio & Whitfield n. sp.

( Figures 1 , 8 )

Female. Body length = 2.35 mm.

Body color. Legs pale yellowish brown (except distal tip of hind femur, hind tarsomeres, and distal half of hind tibia), as well as palpus, metasomal pleurites, ovipositor, mandibles (except tips), labrum, ocelli; compound eyes appearing silvery (perhaps not so in life); antenna same dark brownish yellow as hypopygium area; remainder of body black. Wings hyaline, wing veins brownish.

Head. Head height/width = 1.3; compound eye height/width = 1.6; intertentorial pit distance/distance from tentorial pit to compound eye = 3.2; clypeus width/height = 2.3; vertex width/distance between anterior ocellus and edge of torulus = 2.3; length of first flagellomere = 0.24 mm; first flagellomere length/width = 3.8; length of first flagellomere/ length second flagellomere = 1.1; length of first flagellomere/length of third flagellomere = 3.6; distal flagellomere length/subdistal flagellomere length = 2.5; distal flagellomere length/width = 1.4; malar space height/basal width of mandible = 1.1; ocell­ocular distance/lateral ocelli distance = 1.4.

Face and clypeus with scattered punctate sculpturing, finer and less evident on clypeus than on frons, face with more confused and denser punctuate sculpturing on upper 1/3; frons with scrobal areas nitid, lateral areas and distal area as well as anterior of vertex with punctuate sculpturing; gena densely punctate except at ocular ring.

Mesosoma. Mesosoma length/width = 1.4. Propleuron with punctate sculpturing throughout; pronotum with dorsal and ventral areas 1/5 of distal edge height; ventral groove with confused and smooth rugulose sculpturing, upper groove with confused and smooth scrobiculate sculpturing, anterior portion with shallow and widely spaced transverse ridges, remainder nitid; mesonotum densely punctate except on area adjacent to scutellar groove as well as on posterolateral corners; scutellar groove with 8 well defined costulae, the medial ones slightly larger than lateral ones; scutellum mostly nitid except for scattered finely punctate sculpturing, lateral areas of scutellum with narrow costulate sculpturing which becomes more elongate and wider distally; axilla through to mesonotum with few narrow transversal ridges at anterior edge of lunulae; lunular edge well defined and semicircular; metanotum with one large and evident single pit on posterior central area from which triangular nitid area extends, distal edge nitid, area below triangular area with confused weak rugulose sculpturing, area inside pit with few smooth confused rugulose sculpturing, remainder of metanotum nitid; pronotum anteriorly with sparse scattered punctate sculpturing mostly next to areolar and transverse carinae, as well as some rugulose sculpturing, remainder of anterior region nitid; spiracular carinae cristate and defined posteriorly but not as well anteriorly, confused with rugulose sculpturing; remainder of spiracular area with smoothly rugulose sculpturing, areola well defined as is longitudinal medial carina, areola interiorly with confused rugulose sculpturing as well as posterolateral propodeal areas; mesopleuron anteriorly and ventrally punctuate, sternaulus appearing as an elongated depression, dorsal and distal edge with well defined scrobiculate sculpturing, distal edge with larger and more widely spaced sculpturing, remainder of mesopleuron nitid; metapleuron with medial pit present at spiracle, dorsal edge with punctuate sculpturing along its edge, distal edge with short rugulose sculpturing.

Legs. Hind femur length/width = 3.2; hind tibia length/hind femur length = 1.3. Tarsal claws simple.

Wings. Forewing length = 2.7 mm; 1CUa length/2Cub length = 0.94; length of RS+Ma = 0.4 mm; length M+CU = 1.1 mm; 1M length/ m­cu length = 1.9; pterostigma length/height = 1.7. Hindwing: 1M length = 0.5 mm; 1M length/2M length = 2; 1M length/M+CU length = 1.7; length r­m/length Cua = 0.92; 1 RSa length/2r­m = 1.7.

Metasoma. First tergum length/distal width = 1.1; second tergum length/distal width = 0.3–0.4; third tergum length/distal width = 0.24; Hypopygium length = 0.48 mm; Metasomal terga I–III (Fig. 9) with dense and well defined areolate­rugulose sculpturing, medial longitudinal area of first metasomal tergum with a longitudinal depressed area surrounded by fine longitudinal carina­bounded depression with transverse smooth rugose sculpturing; second tergum with finer sculpturing than first; third tergum with sculpturing more weakly defined than second tergum on posteromedial half; hypopygium with desclerotized pleats medially; ovipositor sheaths elongate and thin in lateral view, not rectangular at distal tip, and exhibiting long setae throughout its length.

Material examined. Holotype: female, “ Costa Rica, Puntarenas, San Luis, Monte Verde, Buen Amigo, 1000–1350 m, Nov. 1994, Z. Fuentes, de luz, LN 250850 –449250.” Specimen deposited in Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad ( INBio), Santo Domingo de Heredia, Costa Rica.

Comments. Currently E. monocavus is the only known Exoryza species to exhibit a single, large mediodistal pit on the posterior area of metapleuron. In other species the mediodistal pit is divided longitudinally and not so evident.

Usually we would hesitate to describe a new species based on only a single specimen, but as this one is a well preserved distinctive specimen of a rare genus not known to occur in the Neotropical Region, it seems useful to advertise this range expansion in the literature in the hope that more material will come to light. Even within temperate areas, collection of Exoryza is rare.

Etymology. Gender: masculine. The specific epithet refers to the single depression on the metanotum; “ monocavus ” in Greek means “one hole” or “one cave.”

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 5. 1: Exoryza monocavus, female, lateral habitus; 2,3: Forewing 1 ­ CU of E. minnesota and E. schoenobii, respectively; 4,5: Mesopleura of E. minnesota and E. schoenobii, respectively. Scale = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 6 – 8. Metasomal tergites I – III of: 6, Exoryza minnesota, 7, E. schoenobii, 8, E. monocavus. Scale = 0.5 mm.