Leptodrepana strategeri Dadelahi & Shaw

Dadelahi, Samin D., Shaw, Scott R., Aguirre, Helmuth & Almeida, Luis Felipe V. de, 2018, A taxonomic study of Costa Rican Leptodrepana with the description of twenty-four new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Cheloninae), ZooKeys 750, pp. 59-130 : 108-109

Leptodrepana strategeri Dadelahi & Shaw sp. n. Figs 116-120

Diagnosis.

In dorsal and posterior views, apex rounded; in lateral view, apex terminates in broad rounded point. The scutellar sulcus has 4-5 well-defined depressions and the mesopleuron has a scrobiculate groove at the precoxal sulcus. In females, the flagellum is light brown. Body mostly blackish brown except carapace with basal third yellowish white.

Holotype female.

BL 2.13 mm; FWL 1.73 mm; CL 0.92 mm; CW 0.28 mm; CL/CW 3.28.

Description.

Color. Head black, clypeus brown, and mandibles yellow, brown apically; palpi yellowish white; antennae light brown with scape and pedicel yellowish white; mesosoma black; legs mostly yellowish brown except coxa, trochanter, trochantellus and basal portions of femur and tibia yellowish white; wings lightly pigmented with darker area below stigma covering apical half of 1st submarginal cell and anterior portion of 2nd submarginal cell; yellowish brown venation; carapace blackish brown with basal third yellowish white.

Head. HW 0.63 mm; HL 0.45 mm; HW/HL 1.39; face finely punctate, genae, vertex and ocellar triangle rugulose-punctate; frons depressed, impunctate and median carina lacking; clypeus finely punctate and apical margin rounded; occipital carina complete; antennae with flagellum slightly dilated medially.

Mesosoma. Pronotum densely foveolate antero-laterally to punctate at propleural margin; propleuron foveolate to weakly areolate-rugose; mesoscutum medially with irregular pitted grooves between notauli so that area appears areolate-rugose; notauli narrow and visible anteriorly; median and lateral mesonotal lobes densely foveolate; scutellar sulcus with 4-5 well-defined depressions, length almost equal to width; scutellar disc foveolate; mesopleuron anteriorly rugose-foveolate, medially shiny and weakly punctate, scrobiculate groove at precoxal sulcus and weakly punctate postero-ventrally; propodeum coarsely areolate-rugose with distinct transverse carina raised into small and roughly equal medial and lateral flanges.

Metasoma. Carapace areolate-rugose to shiny and weakly punctate at apex; in dorsal and posterior views, apex rounded; in lateral view, apex terminates in broad rounded point.

Variation of paratype females. Color: frons with faint median carina more visible anteriorly than posteriorly; first basal flagellomere yellowish brown; HW 0.63-0.65 mm; HL 0.5-0.53 mm; HW/HL 1.19-1.3; BL 2.13-2.2 mm; FWL 1.73-1.87 mm; CL 0.92-0.96 mm; CW 0.28-0.32 mm; CL/CW 2.88-3.43.

Paratype males. No males.

Material examined.

Holotype female: SAN JOSE, Ciudad Colon, 80 m, xii.1989-iii.1990 (L. Fournier) [UWIM]. Paratype data: 1♀, GUANACASTE, Arenales, W. side of Volcan cacao, 900 m, xi–xii.1990; 1♀, same as holotype; 2♀, same data except iii–iv. 1990; 2♀, same data except iv–v.1990.

Remarks.

Superficially L. strategeri is similar to L. ronnae but may be distinguished from this species by the lack of a transverse carina at the carapace apex in posterior view. The carapace is shiny and weakly punctate at the apex. The scutellar sulcus has 4-5 well-defined depressions and the mesopleuron has a scrobiculate groove at the precoxal sulcus. In females, the flagellum is light brown. Leptodrepana ronnae has a transverse carina at the carapace apex in posterior view and the apex appears rugulose. The scutellar sulcus has only three well-defined depressions and the mesopleuron has shallow irregularly shaped pits at the precoxal sulcus. In females the flagellum is brown but bears a yellowish white annulus at flagellomeres 4-6.

Etymology.

This species name is an arbitrary arrangement of letters to form a euphonious combination.