Triraphis bradzlotnicki Sharkey, 2021

Jasso-Martínez, Jovana M., Martínez, Juan José, Aguilar-Velasco, Reina Gabriela & Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro, 2024, Four new species of Triraphis Ruthe, 1855 (Braconidae, Rogadinae) from a Mexican tropical dry forest and morphological descriptions of T. bradzlotnicki Sharkey, 2021 and T. davidwahli Sharkey, 2021, European Journal of Taxonomy 917, pp. 50-73 : 65-67

Triraphis bradzlotnicki Sharkey, 2021

Fig. 5

Diagnosis

Triraphis bradzlotnicki can be distinguished from the remaining species of the genus, except T. luzabrilae sp. nov., by the presence of a median longitudinal carina running along the upper half of the face. The longitudinal carina on the upper half of the face is also present in T. divergens ; however, the carinae of the third and fourth metasomal tergites of T. divergens sp. nov. are divergent. Based on morphology, T. bradzlotnicki and T. luzabrilae sp. nov. apparently could represent cryptic species and can only be molecularly distinguished by having a COI distance of 2.99–3.77% (Supp. file 6: Subset 2).

Material examined

Material used for morphological description

MEXICO • ♀; Jalisco, Chamela Biological Station UNAM , Camino Chachalaca, Cham113; 19.4959° N, 105.04202° W; 400 m a.s.l.; 19 Jul. 2011; E. Martínez and O. Pérez leg.; light trap; DNA voucher no. CNIN1134 ; GenBank accession no. OQ868187 ; CNIN-IBUNAM .

Additional material examined

MEXICO • 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for the material used for morphological description; DNA voucher nos CNIN1154 and CNIN1155 ; GenBank accession nos OQ868184 , OQ868185 ; CNIN-IBUNAM • 1 ♀; Jalisco, Chamela Biological Station UNAM , Camino Chachalaca , 400 m, CHAM83; 19.4959° N, 105.04202° W; 113 m a.s.l.; 5 May 2011; A. Zaldívar, S. Saragoza and A. Ibarra leg.; Malaise trap; DNA voucher no. CNIN1165 ; GenBank accession no. OQ868186 ; CNIN-IBUNAM • 1 ♀; Jalisco, Guadalajara, La Huerta Municipality, Chamela Biological Station UNAM , 80 m; 19°40′58″ N, 105°04′2″ W; 22 Nov. 2013; DNA voucher no. GMMAB975-15 (BOLDSYSTEMS code BIOUG20863-E05 ); CNIN-IBUNAM • 1 ♀; Jalisco, Guadalajara, La Huerta Municipality, Chamela Biological Station UNAM , 80 m; 19°40′58″ N, 105°04′2″ W; 15 Nov. 2013; Abel Verduzco leg.; Malaise trap; DNA voucher no. GMMAA032-15 (BOLDSYSTEMS code BIOUG20632-B06 ); CNIN-IBUNAM • 1 ♀; Jalisco, Guadalajara, La Huerta Municipality, Chamela Biological Station UNAM , 80 m; 19°40′58″ N, 105°04′2″ W; 1 Nov. 2013; Abel Verduzco leg.; Malaise trap; DNA voucher no. GMMCY228-15 (BOLDSYSTEMS code BIOUG20584-D04 ); CNIN-IBUNAM • 1 ♀; Jalisco, Guadalajara, La Huerta Municipality, Chamela Biological Station UNAM , 80 m; 19°40′58″ N, 105°04′2″ W; 18 Oct. 2013; Abel Verduzco leg; Malaise trap; DNA voucher no. GMMCW534-15 (BOLDSYSTEMS code BIOUG20444-H09 ); CNIN-IBUNAM .

Description

Female (CNIN1134)

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 5.6 mm; fore wing length 3.9 mm; ovipositor 1.5 mm.

COLOR. Head light brown; eyes silverfish brown; ocelli with a fine whitish yellow line around edges, ocelar triangle dark brown to black; mandibles pale yellow, teeth brown; scape and pedicel brown, first two flagellomeres brown, turning yellow to apex. Dorsal part of pronotum brown; median and lateral mesoscutal lobes yellow, lateral mesoscutal lobes brown around edges; metanotum and propodeum brown; lateral part of pronotum, propleuron, mesopleuron and metanotum pale yellow. Fore wings hyaline, pterostigma honey yellow; stigma dark brown medially, honey yellow laterally; veins of fore and hind wings yellow to brown. Legs pale yellow; fifth tarsomere and tarsal claws light brown. First metasomal tergite brown to dark brown basally, brown to dark brown medially and apically, pale yellow laterally; remaining tergites brown to dark brown medially, pale yellow laterally. Ovipositor honey yellow, ovipositor sheaths pale yellow basally, turning dark brown apically.

HEAD. Head 1.7 times wider than its median length (dorsal view); distance between basal edges of tentorial pits and the basal area of toruli 0.9 times maximum width of face; width of oral opening 1.8 times its height. Vertex, temple, gena and frons mostly smooth; face with irregular to transverse weak rugae near toruli, with a median longitudinal carina running along the upper half, with sparsely long setae; clypeus smooth-colliculate; malar suture present. Antennae broken, with 23 flagellomeres and 41 respectively; first flagellomere 1.8 times longer than wide, almost as long as second flagellomere; eye 1.5 times higher than broad; malar space 0.16 times height of eye; face width 0.8 times height of eye and almost as long as height of face and clypeus combined; occipital carina complete; median ocellus as big as lateral ocelli; ocellus-eye distance about 0.7 lateral ocellus width.

MESOSOMA. Length of mesosoma 1.9 times its maximum width (dorsal view), 1.5 times its maximum height (lateral view); pronotal groove smooth and scrobiculate; propleuron collicullate-coriaceous; notauli scrobiculate, distinct, not meeting, finishing before just before the end of mesoscutum; median pit present, deep; median and lateral mesoscutal lobes smooth-collicullate; mesopleuron colliculate-coriaceous, dorso-laterally costate; precoxal sulcus deep, wide and scrobiculate, running along two thirds of mesopleuron; metapleuron coriaceous, surrounded by a scrobiculate area, with a distinct, posterior tubercle; propodeum coriaceous basally, remaining areas aerolate-rugose, with coriaceous sculpture between rugae, median carina ¼ of propodeum length, triangular areola poorly defined.

LEGS. Hind coxa 1.7 times longer than wide. Length of hind femur 4.8 times its maximum width. Hind basitarsus 0.5 times as long as hind tibia. Length of hind basitarsus 0.76 times combined length of second to fifth tarsal segments. Second, third, fourth and fifth tarsal segments 0.44, 0.35, 0.25 and 0.3 times as long as basitarsus. Tarsal claws with a basal, pointed lobe, followed by sharp spines.

WINGS. Fore wing length about 3.5 times its maximum width; pterostigma 3.8 times longer than wide; vein lCUb 0.89 almost as long as vein RS+Ma; vein 3RSa 0.6 times vein 3RSb, about 3.0 times vein r; angle at union 2RS and 2M wide. Hind wing length 5.3 times its maximum width; vein M+CU almost as long as vein 1M and 2.5 times vein r-m; vein 1A 1.9 times vein cu-a.

METASOMA. 1.2 times longer than head and mesosoma combined, with seven visible tergites. First tergite, 0.9 longer than its maximum width; maximum width 2.2 times its basal width; longitudinally costate with coriaceous sculpture between carinae, with a longitudinal median carina running along its entire length. Length of second tergite 0.8 times its maximum width, 1.75 times length of third tergite; second and third tergites longitudinally costate with coriaceous sculpture between carinae, fourth tergite mostly coriaceous with faint longitudinal carinae. Remaining tergites finely coriaceous. Ovipositor about 0.5 times as long as metasoma.

Variation

Body length 3.2–5.6 mm; fore wing length 2.7–4.5 mm; ovipositor 0.8–1.5 mm. Specimens with complete antennae, 35 and 45 flagellomeres, respectively.

Distribution

This species is known for Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and the Chamela region in Jalisco, Mexico.

Comments

The host of the Mexican specimens is unknown. The holotype of the species from Costa Rica was reared from Podalia orsilocha Cramer, 1775 ( Megalopygidae ) feeding on Chimarrhis parviflora Standl. ( Rubiaceae ).

Figures

Fig. 5. Triraphis bradlotnicki Sharkey, 2021, lateral habitus (CNIN-IBUNAM).