Alphomelon keineraragoni 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 keineraragoni Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori sp. nov.

Figs 44A-G , 98A

Type material.

Holotype. Costa Rica • Female, CNC; Alajuela, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Sector Rincon Rain Forest, Jacobo, 10°56'26.88"N, 85°19'3.72"W, 461m; 1.V.2010; ex: Neoxeniades pluviasilva ; coll. Noe Castillo; Voucher code: DHJPAR0041820; Host voucher code: 10-SRNP-69422.

Paratypes. Costa Rica • 11 females, 1 male, CNC. Voucher codes: DHJPAR0038957, DHJPAR0038962, DHJPAR0047035, DHJPAR0047120, CNC308804, CNC308805, CNC308806 (additional specimens in a gel capsule associated with that specimen), CNC308807, CNC308808, CNC308809 (additional specimens in a gel capsule associated with that specimen), CNC308810, CNC308811.

Distribution.

Costa Rica (ACG).

Biology.

Gregarious, reared from Neoxeniades pluviasilva and Neoxeniades Burns03.

DNA barcoding.

BINBOLD: ABU7420.

Etymology.

Named in honor of Sr. Keiner Aragón in honor of his decades of teamwork in the ACG inventory 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: mostly black or dark brown. Tarsal claws spines: 4. Pterostigma shape: comparatively more elongate, its length ≥ 3.0 × its central height and more triangular with its two lower margins more or less straight. T1 sculpture: entirely to mostly smooth/weakly sculptured along margins/ strongly sculptured on at least apical half or more. T1 central ridge: marked by weak carina. T2 sculpture: entirely to mostly smooth. Ovipositor sheaths length: shorter than first segment of metatarsus. Body length: 2.9-3.7 mm. Fore wing length: 3.2-3.8 mm.

Notes.

Alphomelon bromeliphile and A. keineraragoni are very similar morphologically. However, Alphomelon bromeliphile parasitizes caterpillars of Neoxeniades luda feeding on epiphytic Bromeliaceae in rain forest, whereas A. keineraragoni parasitizes different Neoxeniades species ( N. pluviasilva and N. Burns03) feeding on terrestrial Bromeliaceae in dry forest. They also have distinctive BINs, which are 2.72% bp different.

Figures

Figure 44. Alphomelon keineraragoni Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori holotype female DHJPAR 0041820 A habitus, lateral B head, frontal C head, dorsal D fore wing E antenna, lateral F propodeum and metasoma, dorsal G mesosoma, dorsal.

Figure 98. Parasite cocoons and caterpillars A Alphomelon keineraragoni 15 - SRNP- 71451 - DHJ 727801 B Alphomelon luciarosae 12 - SRNP- 65952 - DHJ 487984.