Heterospilus zeus 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 : 433-434

Heterospilus zeus Marsh sp. n. Figure 301

Female.

Body size: 3.5-5.0 mm. Color: head yellow except vertex brown to dark brown; scape brown without lateral brown stripe; flagellum brown; mesosoma dark brown; wing veins including stigma brown; fore and mid legs yellow, hind coxa and trochanters yellow, hind femur and tibia yellow on basal half and brown on apical half, hind tarsus brown; metasomal terga dark brown, terga 3-7 yellow laterally. Head: vertex smooth; frons smooth posteriorly, depressed and striate anteriorly behind antennal sockets; face rugose with median raised smooth area; 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; 35-42 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes granulate; notauli scrobiculate, meeting posteriorly in triangular costate-rugose area; scutellum weakly granulate; prescutellar furrow with 5 cross carinae; mesopleuron smooth; precoxal sulcus smooth, shorter than mesopleuron; venter smooth; propodeum with basal median areas margined, granulate, basal median carina absent, areola not distinctly margined, areolar area rugose, lateral areas rugose apically, smooth or weakly granulate basally. 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, somewhat rugose medially, with several cross carinae medially at base, length greater than apical width; second tergum longitudinally costate; anterior transverse groove present, sinuate; posterior transverse groove present; third tergum costate basally, weakly granulate apically; terga 4-6 weakly granulate or smooth apically, granulate basally; ovipositor longer than metasoma.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, printed) - COSTA RICA-Heredia Prov. [;] Las Selva Biological Station [;] 10°26'N, 84°01'W, 100m [;] Canopy fogging 29 [;] 23.x.1994 [;] Project ALAS (FPM29); second label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] zeus [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, COSTA RICA: Puntar [;] Golfo Dulce, 10km W [;] Piedras Blancas, 100m [;] VI-VIII 1989, Hanson (ESUW).

Comments.

The long antennae and ovipositor, the sinuate anterior transverse groove on metasomal tergum 2 and the weakly granulate metasomal terga 4-6 are distinctive for this species.

Etymology.

Named for the Greek god, Zeus.