Leptodrepana schuttei 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 : 91-94

Leptodrepana schuttei Dadelahi & Shaw sp. n. Figs 82-86

Diagnosis.

Carapace apex terminates in single small point; in lateral view apex terminates in broad point at midline. Head brownish black, mesosoma mostly orange, wings suffused with light yellowish brown pigment, darker area below stigma, basal third of carapace yellowish white and apical 2/3 of carapace blackish brown.

Holotype female.

BL 3.07 mm; FWL 2.4 mm; CL 1.32 mm; CW 0.36 mm; CL/CW 3.6.

Description.

Color. Head brownish black, mandibles yellow, blackish brown apically; apical margin of clypeus orange; palpi yellowish white; antennae brown with scape and pedicel and first flagellomere (basal) yellowish white; mesosoma mostly orange except posterior half of mesopleuron black, metapleuron, and propodeum black; middle and fore legs yellowish white; hind leg mostly yellowish white except apical portion of coxa brown; wings suffused with light yellowish brown pigment, darker area below stigma covering apical half of 1st submarginal cell and anterior portion of 2nd submarginal cell; venation yellowish brown; basal third of carapace yellowish white and apical 2/3 of carapace blackish brown.

Head. HW 0.9 mm; HL 0.75 mm; HW/HL 1.2; face, genae, vertex and ocellar triangle rugulose-punctate; frons depressed, weakly punctate with fine parallel lineation lateral to weak median carina; clypeus punctate and apical margin rounded; occipital carina complete.

Mesosoma. Pronotum foveate antero-laterally to foveolate-rugose at propleural margin; propleuron weakly areolate-rugose; mesoscutum medially with irregular parallel pitted grooves between notauli difficult to distinguish and appears areolate-rugose; notauli distinct and visible anteriorly; median and lateral mesonotal lobes rugose-punctate; scutellar sulcus with 5 well-defined depressions, all longer than wide; scutellar disc punctate; mesopleuron anteriorly rugose, medially deeply foveate, wide scrobiculate groove at precoxal sulcus, foveate postero-ventrally; propodeum coarsely areolate-rugose with distinct transverse carina raised into small and roughly equal medial and lateral flanges.

Metasoma. Carapace completely areolate-rugose; in dorsal and posterior views, carapace apex terminates in single small point; in lateral view apex terminates in broad point at midline.

Variation of paratype females.HW 0.85-0.95 mm; HL 0.725-0.8 mm; HW/HL 1.17-1.2; BL 2.6-3.2 mm; FWL 2.7-2.47 mm; CL 1.24-1.4 mm; CW 0.36-0.4 mm; CL/CW 3.1-3.8.

Paratype males. No males.

Material examined.

Holotype female: GUANACASTE, P. N. Santa Rosa, site #12, Bosque Humedo mature evergreen dry forest more or less fully shaded as possible, 300 m, 27. ix– 18.x.1986 (I. Gauld & D. Janzen) [UWIM]. Paratype data: 1♀, same data as holotype; 3♀, same data except site #5, Bosque San Emilio, 50 year old deciduous forest in clearing fully insolated part of the day, 6-27.ix.1986; 1♀, same data except more or less fully shaded as possible, 18. x– 8.xi.1986.

Remarks.

Leptodrepana schuttei may be confused with L. atalanta . They are similar in color and the carapace apex of both species terminates in a single point. Leptodrepana schuttei may be distinguished from this species by the following combination of characters. The notauli of L. schuttei is narrow and a scrobiculate groove is present at the precoxal sulcus. The posterior mesopleuron and the propodeum are black. The basal third of the carapace is completely yellowish white. The notauli of L. atalanta are wide and shallow. There is a wide band at the precoxal sulcus formed by at least two shallow foveate grooves. The mesopleuron and propodeum are entirely orange. The carapace has a baso-median patch of yellowish white that does not extend to the lateral margins of the carapace.

Etymology.

This species is a patronym for Vincent Paul Schutte. After all the science fiction watched together, it seemed fitting that something as “alien” as a koinobiont parasitoid should bear his name.