Hyposoter jubator Galsworthy & Shaw, 2023

Galsworthy, Anthony, Shaw, Mark R. & Haraldseide, Håkon, 2023, A key to European species of Hyposoter Förster, 1869 (Ichneumonidae: Campopleginae) with descriptions of 18 new species, and notes on all included species, Zootaxa 5290 (1), pp. 1-73 : 49

Hyposoter jubator Galsworthy & Shaw sp. nov.

( Figs. 14–17 )

Diagnosis. One of only two known European Hyposoter species with an open areolet in the fore wing. Easily distinguished from the other, Hyposoter fitchii , by the dark brown hind femur and the pale proximal third of the hind tibia contrasting with the dark distal third. In H. fitchii the hind femur and hind tibia are both bright orange.

Description. Female. Fore wing length 4.5 mm.

Head. Temples, frons, face, clypeus and genae uniformly finely granulate, with silvery adpressed hairs which are longest on lower part of face, clypeus and genae; clypeus flat, not separated from face, its apex evenly curved and sharp; malar space approximately equal to basal width of mandible; mandibles evenly tapered, with narrow ventral flange basally to one half; temples short, very strongly narrowed behind eyes; antenna with 31 flagellomeres, strongly tapered distally.

Mesosoma. Mesoscutum evenly granulate, slightly more coarsely so than head; scutellum more finely granulate; floor of scuto-scutellar groove polished, shining and punctate; mesopleuron sculptured as mesoscutum, apart from some small vertical striations at posterodorsal corner and a small almost smooth area in the speculum, and punctate in lower third; metapleuron coarsely granulate; propodeum finely granulate, with transverse striations in area petiolaris; area basalis triangular; area superomedia pentagonal, approximately as broad as long, the front two edges formed of strong carinae which extend to form the costulae, the side two edges of weaker carinae, and the posterior side continuous with the area petiolaris; area petiolaris diamond-shaped with strong carinae.

Wings, Fore wing 1 cu-a postfurcal. Areolet open.

Metasoma. Petiole of first tergite straight-sided, with strong dorsolateral carinae, its surface smooth; postpetiole about as broad as long, slightly trapezoid, with granulate sculpture; a small glymma, located just anterior to postpetiole; tergite 2 markedly elongate, tergite 3 slightly so, both finely granulate; rest of tergites transverse, more or less smooth with fine punctures; sixth and seventh tergites entire; ovipositor sheaths very slightly protruding beyond abdomen; ovipositor not visible in type material.

Colour. Black. Yellow: apex of underside of antennal scape (in holotype only), mandibles other than teeth, tegulae, fore coxa and trochanters, distal half of mid coxa and whole of mid trochanters, second and third sternites. Brown: antenna, underside of fore femur, hind trochanters and femur, distal third of hind tibia, mid and hind tarsi. Dull orange: rest of fore and mid legs, proximal two thirds of hind tibia.

Holotype. ♀, England SS, [Somerset] Withypool, 1948, F.H.Lyon, B.M.1948-355, Ex C. glabraria Schiff. , Anilastus (Eriborus) sp., [in Horstmann’s writing] Hyposoter sp. nov. ♀ ( NHMUK). Paratype 1♀, same data as holotype, with addition of label reading “No 6” [head mounted separately on card] ( NHMUK) .

Biology. The cocoons from which the two type specimens were reared are mounted on a card on a separate pin. Both these and the specimens bear labels reading “Ex C. glabraria Schiff ”. This is presumably Cleora glabraria (Ḩbner), which is now regarded as a junior synonym of Alcis jubata (Thunberg) . The larval remains attached to the cocoons are consistent with this, showing the double row of dark spots along the dorsal side which are characteristic of the larva of this species. The cocoons are fairly typical Hyposoter cocoons, whitish with discrete dark patches.

Remarks. A further female in NMS, reared from Chloroclysta truncata (Hufnagel) in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is very similar, and probably belongs to this species. It differs slightly in having shorter antennae (29 flagellomeres), stronger carination on the propodeum, and a shorter ovipositor, and is therefore not included in the type series.

Although he had labelled these specimens some years earlier as a new species, and they are recorded in his notes, Horstmann did not include them in his draft key. We do not know why, but it may have been simply an oversight.

Figures

FIGURES 11–17. 11–13: Hyposoter horstmanni sp. n. Habitus: 11 lateral, 12 dorsal; 13 detail of propodeum. 14–17: Hyposoter jubator sp. n. Habitus: 14 lateral, 15 dorsal; 16 fore wing areolet; 17 detail of propodeum.