Heterospilus athena 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 : 318-319

Heterospilus athena Marsh sp. n. Figure 212

Female.

Body size: 2.0 mm. Color: body brown to dark brown; scape yellow; flagellum brown; wing veins including stigma brown; legs bicolored yellow with all femora brown on apical 4/5, yellow on basal 1/5. Head: vertex smooth, rarely with weak striations around ocelli; frons smooth; face smooth; temple in dorsal view broad, somewhat bulging behind eye, width greater than 1/2 eye width; malar space greater than 1/4 eye height, nearly equal to 1/2 eye height; ocell-ocular distance greater than 2.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus; 13-14 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes weakly granulate and partially smooth, lateral lobes entirely hairy; notauli scrobiculate, meeting posteriorly in triangular costate area; scutellum weakly granulate or smooth; prescutellar furrow with 1 cross carina; mesopleuron smooth; precoxal sulcus smooth, shorter than mesopleuron; venter smooth; propodeum with basal median areas margined, weakly granulate or smooth, basal median carina present, areola distinctly margined, areolar area rugose, lateral areas entirely rugose. Wings: fore wing vein r nearly as long as vein 3RSa and nearly equal to width of stigma, vein 1cu-a beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU shorter than vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum longitudinally costate, rugose medially at base, length equal to apical width; second tergum longitudinally costate; anterior transverse groove weak or absent; posterior transverse groove absent; third tergum entirely smooth; terga 4-7 smooth; ovipositor 3/4 length of metasoma.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, printed) - Costa Rica: San Jose [;] Zurqui de Moravia [;] 1600m. iii.1992 [;] Col. Paul Hanson; second label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] athena [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, same data as holotype with date of vi.1992 (ESUW).

Comments.

The shore antenna, densely hairy mesoscutum, single cross carina in prescutellar furrow and the distinctly margined areola on the propodeum are distinctive for this species.

Etymology.

Named for Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.