Heterospilus austini Marsh

Marsh, Paul M., Wild, Alexander L. & Whitfield, James B., 2013, The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini, ZooKeys 347, pp. 1-474 : 205-206

Heterospilus austini Marsh sp. n. Figure 138

Female.

Body size: 3.0-3.5 mm. Color: head brown; scape yellow with weak lateral longitudinal brown stripe, this stripe often absent, flagellum brown; mesosoma brown; metasoma brown, apical terga sometimes lighter; wing veins brown, stigma bicolored brown with yellow at base and apex and often along anterior edge; legs yellow. Head: vertex granulate, usually with weak striations or rugae behind ocelli; frons granulate; face rugose; temple in dorsal view broad but not bulging behind eye, width about equal to eye width; malar space greater than 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance greater than 2.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus; 21-24 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes granulate; notauli scrobiculate, meeting at scutellum in triangular costate-rugose area; scutellum granulate; prescutellar furrow with 3-5 cross carinae; mesopleuron granulate; precoxal sulcus weakly scrobiculate or smooth, shorter than mesopleuron; venter granulate; propodeum with basal median areas not distinctly margined, granulate, basal median carina absent, areola not distinctly margined, areolar area areolate, lateral areas entirely rugose. Wings: fore wing vein r shorter than vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU equal in length to vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum longitudinally costate, medially costate-rugose; second tergum longitudinally costate; anterior transverse groove present, straight; posterior transverse groove present; third tergum costate basally, granulate apically; terga 4-7 weakly granulate; ovipositor equal to 1/2 length of metasoma.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, partially printed and hand written) - Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] Santa Rosa Natl. Park [;] 300m, ex. Malaise trap [;] Site #: BH-10-C [;] Dates: 4-24.v.1986 [;] I.D. Gauld & D. Janzen; second label (white, printed) - [BH] Bosque Humedo [;] mature evergreen dry forest [;] [C] more or less fully [;] shaded as possible; third label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] austini [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

14 ♀♀, same data as holotype except: dates of 13.iv.1986, 8. ii– 2.iii.1986, 9-26.x.1985, 2-23.iii.1986, 13. iv– 4.v.1986 and 23. iii– 13.iv.1986; second labels of [BH] Bosque Humedo [;] mature evergreen dry forest [;] [O] in clearing, fully [;] isolated part of day, and [H] open regenerating [;] woodland <10 years old [;] [C] more or less fully [;] shaded as possible (ESUW). 1 ♀, Costa Rica: San Jose [;] Cerro de la Muerte [;] 19km S 3 W Empalme [;] 2600m, November 1992 [;] P. Hanson, Malaise (ESUW). 1 ♀, Costa Rica: San Jose [;] 2km W. Empalme [;] 2300m, July 1995 [;] P. Hanson, Malaise (ESUW). 1 ♀, Costa Rica: Guanacaste, ACT [;] Bagaces, P.N. Palo Verde [;] Sec. P. Verde, 200 NE Est. [;] Extremo E de Campo de [;] Aterrizaje, 0-50m, Malaise [;] 8. xi– 9.xii.1999, I. Jimenez [;] L.N. 260952-385020 #54241 (ESUW). 2 ♀♀, S.RosaPark. Guan. [;] C. Rica 6 and 22 Feb 78 [;] D.H. Janzen [;] Riparian (AEIC).

Comments.

The rugose face, weak striations behind ocelli and the brown body are distinctive for this species. This species is very similar to Heterospilus faustinus Marsh from Venezuela which differs in having the apical metasomal terga distinctly granulate and dull (weakly granulate and shining in Heterospilus austini ) and the second metasomal tergum yellow and distinctly lighter than the other terga (metasoma is entirely brown in Heterospilus austini ).

Etymology.

Named for my colleague and friend from "down under", Andy Austin.