Hormius similis Szépligeti, 1892

Edmardash, Yusuf A., Abu El-Ghiet, Usama M. & Gadallah, Neveen S., 2020, First record of Hormiini Förster, 1863, and Macrocentrinae Förster, 1863 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for the fauna of Egypt, with the description of a new species, Zootaxa 4722 (6), pp. 555-570 : 565

Hormius similis Szépligeti, 1892

( Figs 1 (locality 3), 7A–C, 9C)

Hormius similis Szépligeti, 1892: 297 , 371

Body length: 2.4mm (excluding ovipositor)

Coloration: head and mesosoma reddish (mesosoma without any black); metasoma and legs whitish (all telotarsi and claws dark brown); ovipositor brownish to dark brown; scape, pedicel and F1 yellowish to orange, rest of antenna brownish; mandibles yellowish with tips of teeth black; fore wing hyaline, pterostigma whitish with dark brown to black apex, wing veins dark brown (except whitish 1-SR+M and most of M+CU1).

Diagnosis. head, mesoscutum, scutellum, mesopleuron and mesosternum are smooth and shiny; eye in dorsal view 1.2 × as long as temple; OOL: OD: PO= 19: 6: 10; malar space 2 × as long as width of mandible; antennal F1 1.2 × as long as F2, and 2.6 × its width apically; maxillary palp 0.75× as long as head height; mesosoma 1.35 × as long as its height; propodeum foveolate; vein SR1 of fore wing not reaching wing apex; vein 1-M regularly and obviously curved; r slightly less than 0.6 × width of pterostigma; r: 3-SR: SRl = 18: 15: 71; metasoma 3.2 × as long as its maximum width; T1 1.17 × as long as its apical width; ovipositor relatively long; ovipositor sheath slender, densely setose along its whole length; ovipositor sheath about 0.28 × as long as fore wing, 2.5 × width of T1 apically and about 0.35 × metasomal length.

Remarks: this species was synonymized with H. moniliatus (Nees) by some authors (e.g. Tobias & Jakimavicius (1986)); however, in 1998, Belokobylskij et al. examined the specimens and they were again treated as two valid species, based on morphological characters, adding H. similis Szépligeti as stat. ressurr. ”. In the present study, it is obvious that they are different from each other based on characters in the key above. Other differences include: propodeum areolated in similis (coarsely sculptured in moniliatus ); vertex smooth in similis (sculptured in moniliatus ) ( Belokobylskij et al. 1998; present study).

Material examined: 1♀, El Manzala Lake , El-Salam Canal (Daqahliya) [31°13’ 42.12” N, 32°11’ 15.6” E] ( Fig. 1 , locality 3), 25.iv.2015, sweep net, on shrubs, leg. Y. Edmardash & Mustafa Mahmoud.

General distribution: Western Palaearctic ( Yu et al. 2016)

Figures

FIGURE 1. Egyptian localities for hormiine and macrocentrine specimens: 1, Aswan, Edfu Road; 2, El Arish, El Abtal (North Sinai); 3, El Manzala Lake, El Salam Canal (Daqahliya); 4, Farafra Oasis, Beir5; 5, Farafra Oasis, El Garad; 6, Farafra Oasis, Gelgam; 7, Hurghada, El Ghaba El Shagariya (Red Sea); 8, Ismailia, El-Tal El Kebeer; 9, Marsa Matrouh, Alifa; 10, Sharm El Sheikh, Ras Mohammad (South Sinai); 11, Sharm El Sheikh, Wadi Khoshb (South Sinai); 12, Sharm El Sheikh (Wadi Khreta) (South Sinai).