Heterospilus townesi 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 : 172-174

Heterospilus townesi Marsh sp. n. Figure 118

Female.

Body size: 3.5 mm. Color: head dark brown, face and eye orbits sometimes lighter; scape honey yellow with brown lateral longitudinal stripe, flagellum brown with apical 3-4 flagellomeres before the apical 7-8 white; mesosoma dark brown, venter and propodeum often lighter; metasomal terga dark brown, terga 5-7 sometimes yellow; wing veins including stigma brown; legs yellow. Head: vertex transversely costate; frons transversely costate; face rugose; temple in dorsal view narrow, width less than 1/2 eye width; malar space equal to 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance about twice diameter of lateral ocellus; 23 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes weakly granulate and shining; notauli scrobiculate, meeting at scutellum in triangular costate area; scutellum smooth; prescutellar furrow with 3-5 cross carinae; mesopleuron weakly granulate; precoxal sulcus smooth, shorter than mesopleuron; venter weakly granulate; propodeum with basal median areas granulate and small, margined by carina and scrobiculate groove, basal median carina absent, areola not distinctly margined, areolar area areolate-rugose, lateral areas entirely rugose, propodeum with small but distinct tubercle just above hind coxa. Wings: fore wing vein r shorter than vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU shorter than vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum longitudinally costate, apical width equal to length; second tergum nearly 4 times as wide as long, longitudinally costate; anterior and posterior transverse grooves present and indicated by row of distinct pits; third tergum costate basally, smooth apically; terga 4-7 smooth; ovipositor equal to length of metasomal terga 1 and 2 combined.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, printed) - COSTA RICA: Puntarenas [;] San Vito, Las Cruces [;] 1200msnm, VIII-IX 1988 [;] Coll. P. Hanson; second label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] townesi [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] Rancho Montezuma [;] 3km SE Rio Naranjo [;] 490m, Malaise trap [;] x.1994, R. G. Allen [;] L.N. 298800-418800 #5511 (ESUW).

Comments.

The smooth scutellum and areolate-rugose propodeum are distinctive for this species.

Etymology.

Named for a long time friend and world famous ichneumonologist, the late Henry Townes.