Thyreodon sp. 1 Gauld, 1988: 60

Gauld, Ian D. & Janzen, Daniel H., 2004, The systematics and biology of the Costa Rican species of parasitic wasps in the Thyreodon genus-group (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 141 (3), pp. 297-351 : 335-336

[ Thyreodon sp. 1 Gauld, 1988: 60 .]

Fore wing length 17.9–22.1 mm; clypeus weakly convex, with apex flared outwards, bluntly pointed medially; malar space about 0.2 times basal mandibular width; maxillary palp long with second palpomere strongly broadened and slightly inflated; lower face centrally finely punctate; frons weakly convex between antennal sockets, sometimes with a very weak median vertical carina, and without a carina extending from outer rim of antennal sockets upwards, close to and parallel with eye margin; frons centrally smooth; ocelli large, the lateral ocellus separated from eye by about 0.1–0.2 times its own maximum diameter; head in dorsal view with gena rather evenly rounded behind eye, occipital carina strong, its lower end sharp, not reaching hypostomal carina; antenna setaceous, with 49–52 flagellomeres, the 20th subquadrate, 1.0 times as long as broad, the subapical ones with setae which are longer than the diameter of the flagellomere. Pronotum short with anterior margin strongly and broadly reflexed, and with posterior margin centrally swollen, forming an angular, centrally impressed ridge which is separated from the anterior margin by a deep U-shaped groove ( Fig. 23 ); epomia possibly represented on upper part of pronotum by one of several rugae; propleuron sparsely punctate, with lower corner rounded, peripherally not impressed; mesoscutum highly polished, finely and sparsely punctate, with notauli narrow and deeply impressed, posteriorly confluent, anteriorly without a lateral or transverse crest; scuto-scutellar groove very deep, laterally margined by a very strongly raised, simple carina, scutellum polished, finely punctate, weakly convex; mesopleuron highly polished, finely and sparsely punctate, with a trace of a sternaular impression anteriorly and posteriorly, and usually with a slightly rugose or more closely punctate area extending obliquely back from upper end of epicnemial carina; metapleuron punctate with weak rugae; propodeum laterally weakly convex, with a sharp (and often rather smooth) low ridge above and behind the spiracle, rugose with the rugae tending to be parallel lower down; propodeum posterodorsally rugosereticulate, with strong transverse rugae posterolaterally, centrally with a single shallow longitudinal impression. Fore leg of female rather stout, with coxa more or less without a protuberance behind trochanteral insertion, with 5th tarsomere about 0.4–0.5 of length of preceding two tarsomeres, with tarsal claw moderately long and with moderately coarse, close pectinae; hind coxa in profile moderately large, its hind end extending well beyond hind end of propodeum; hind femur stout, about 6.0 times as long as maximally deep; hind tarsus of male with dense, moderately long pubescence ventrally. Fore wing with abscissa of Cu 1a between Cu 1b and 2 m-cu 1.1–1.4 times as long as abscissa of Cu 1 between cu-a and 1 m-cu. Metasoma with tergite I slender, anteriorly subcylindrical; tergite II, in lateral view, 2.3–2.5 times as long as posteriorly deep. Male with subgenital plate small and convex, covered with sparse coarse hair; claspers long, the dorsal apex elongately rounded/truncate, slightly inclined upwards without an apical spine-like projection, the lower margin weakly convex ( Fig. 61 ); aedeagus in profile with apex expanded but flattened on extreme apex, with a very sharp lateral keel.

A polished black species with a blue-black metallic sheen; wings uniformly blackish infumate.

Remarks: Thyreodon darlingi is named in honour of D. Christopher Darling in recognition of his enthusiastic identification of the thousands of perilampid hyperparasite wasps reared by the ACG caterpillar inventory. T. darlingi rather closely resembles T. delvarei in general appearance and coloration. Both are shining black species with uniformly black wings and a slightly metallic sheen to the mesosoma, both have rather large ocelli, and the males of both species have a long, slightly bent clasper that lacks an apical spine, and have the apex of the aedeagus somewhat flattened. T. darlingi differs from T. delvarei in having larger ocelli that are separated from the eye margin by about 0.2 or less of their own maximum diameter, whereas those of T. delvarei are separated by about 0.7 of their maximum diameter. The malar space of T. darlingi is far narrower than T. delvarei , and it has strongly impressed notauli and the mesopleuron less smooth.

Biological notes: Thyreodon darlingi occurs well within the area of the ACG caterpillar rearing programme, but it has not yet been encountered in many thousands of caterpillars and many tens of species of sphingids reared from these low- to mid-elevation rain forest sites.

Material examined: Holotype ♀, COSTA RICA, Guanacaste Prov., Guanacaste National Park, Estacion Pitilla, 9 km S Sta Cecilia, 700 m, iii–iv.1993 (Ríos) ( INBio ). Paratypes: COSTA RICA: Alajuela Prov.: 1 ♀, Colonia Libertad, Upala, iv.1988 (Soto) (UCRC); 1 ♀, Colonia Palmareña, 9 km SW Bajo Rodriguez, 700 m, vi.1996 (Carballo) ( INBio ); 3 ♀, 1 ♂, San Ramon, 800 m, ix.1994, iii.1997, vii.1998 (Carballo) ( INBio ); 3 ♀, Finca San Gabriel, 2 km W Dos Rios, 600 m, v.1989 (Gauld & Mitchell) (BMNH); 1 ♀, San Ramon de Dos Rios, 620 m, iv–v.1995 ( Cano ) ( INBio ); 2 ♀, 2 ♂, Estacion San Ramon Oeste, 620 m, iv.1994 ( Quesada ) ( INBio ); 2 ♀, Rio San Lorencito, San Ramon, 5 km N Colonia Palmareña, 900 m, iii.1990, vi.1993 (Parataxonomists) ( INBio ): Guanacaste Prov.: 1 ♀, 1 ♂, Guanacaste National Park, Estacion Pitilla, 680 m, iii– v.1989 (Gauld & Mitchell) (BMNH); 3 ♀, 1 ♂, Guanacaste National Park, Estacion Pitilla, 9 km S Sta Cecilia, 700 m, iii.1990, iii.1991, iv.1995 (Ríos & Moraga) ( INBio ).

Figures

Figures 21–26. SEM photographs of Thyreodon spp., pronotum, lateral; 21, T. whitfieldi; 22, T. laticinctus; 23, T. darlingi; 24, T. rivinae; 25, T. morosus; 26, T. walkerae.

Figures 53–63. Apex of metasoma and male genital capsule, lateral; 53, T. maculipennis; 54, T. erythrocera; 55, T. whitfieldi; 56, T. laticinctus; 57, T. zitaniae; 58, T. papei; 59, T. morosus; 60, T. schauffi; 61, T. darlingi; 62, T. rufothorax; 63, T. atriventris.