Alphomelon eldaarayae Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori, 2023

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Shimbori, Eduardo M., Whitfield, James B., Penteado-Dias, Angelica M., Shaw, Scott R., Boudreault, Caroline, Sones, Jayme, Perez, Kate, Brown, Allison, Manjunath, Ramya, Burns, John M., Hebert, P. D. N., Smith, M. Alex, Hallwachs, Winnifred & Janzen, Daniel H., 2023, A revision of the parasitoid wasp genus Alphomelon Mason with the description of 30 new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), ZooKeys 1175, pp. 5-162 : 5

Alphomelon eldaarayae Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori sp. nov.

Figs 31A-E , 95B

Type material.

Holotype. Costa Rica • Female, CNC; Guanacaste, Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, Sector Pitilla, Sendero Naciente, 10°59'13.38"N, 85°25'41.38"W, 700m; 18.IV.2007; ex: Neoxeniades sp. Burns04; coll. Petrona Rios; Voucher code: CNC1179987; Host voucher code: 07-SRNP-31939.

Paratypes. Costa Rica • 8 females, CNC. Voucher codes: DHJPAR0042931, DHJPAR0042940, DHJPAR0049085, CNC1179988, CNC1179989 (additional specimens in a gel capsule associated with that specimen), CNC958826, CNC958827, CNC958828 (additional specimens in a gel capsule associated with that specimen).

Distribution.

Costa Rica (ACG).

Biology.

Gregarious, reared from Neoxeniades Burns03, Neoxeniades Burns04.

DNA barcoding.

BINBOLD:AAE2229.

Etymology.

Named in honor of Sra. Elda Araya in honor of her decades of teamwork in the ACG parataxonomist team.

Diagnostic description.

White patch on gena: extending to occiput and onto clypeus. Tegula/humeral complex color: yellow/yellow. Mesonotum color: mostly dark brown to black. Metasoma color: with several tergites orange-yellow, some laterotergites and sternites yellow, rest mostly brown. Tarsal claws spines: 3. Pterostigma shape: comparatively less elongate, its length ≤ 2.5 × its central height and usually more rounded with at least one of its lower margins curved. T1 sculpture: entirely to mostly smooth. T1 central ridge: marked by weak carina. T2 sculpture: entirely to mostly smooth. Ovipositor sheaths length: shorter than first segment of metatarsus. Body length: 3.1-3.3 mm. Fore wing length: 3.0-3.5 mm.

Figures

Figure 31. Alphomelon eldaarayae Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori holotype female CNC 1179987 A habitus, lateral B wings C head, frontal D propodeum and metasoma, dorsal E mesosoma, dorsal.

Figure 95. Parasite cocoons A Alphomelon duvalierbricenoi 05 - SRNP- 24943 - DHJ 415451 B Alphomelon eldaarayae 05 - SRNP- 40812 - DHJ 436395.