Mesostenus hypsipylaphagous Herrera-Florez, 2017

Herrera-Florez, Andres Fabian, Diaz, John Alexander Pulgarin & Quiroz-Gamboa, Jhon A., 2017, A new species of Mesostenus Gravenhorst (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae) from Colombia, Zootaxa 4306 (4), pp. 593-600 : 594-598

Mesostenus hypsipylaphagous Herrera-Florez , sp. n.

Figs 1–9

Material examined. Holotype: male, Colombia, Antioquia, San Roque, San José del Nus Corpoica. En: dentro de tallos de Cedrela odorata parasitando pupas de Hypsipyla grandella Febrero 2016 JA Pulgarin (MEFLG NC 36529).

Paratypes: 1 male,Colombia, Antioquia, San Roque, San José del Nus Corpoica. En: dentro de tallos de Cedrela odorata parasitando pupas de Hypsipyla grandella Febrero 2016 JA Pulgarin (MEFLG NC 36530); 1 male, Colombia, Antioquia, San Roque, San José del Nus Corpoica. En: plantación de Cedrela odorata volando JA Pulgarin 3-Enero-2017 (MEFLG NC 36531); 1 male

Colombia, Antioquia, San Roque, San José del Nus Corpoica. En: pupa de Hypsipyla grandella perforando Cedrela odorata JA Pulgarin 29-XII-2016 (MEFLG NC 36532).

Diagnosis. Mesostenus hypsipylaphagous sp. n. can be differentiated from the other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: black and white metasoma; propodeum with posterior transverse carina complete.

Description. Male (holotype). Fore wing length 7.2 mm; hind wing length 4.8 mm. Antenna with 36 flagellomeres; first flagellomere 5.3 × as long as wide; flagellomeres 35 and 36 slightly flattened. Clypeus high and strongly convex in lateral view, its lower margin almost straight; malar space long, about 1 × as long as basal width of mandible; face with rather sparse and fine punctures with setae; gena short, very strongly narrowed behind the eyes and impressed along occipital carina; occipital carina at the level of lower margin of eyes slightly curved; hypostomal carina behind the mandible raised to a lobe. Mesosoma smooth with sparse setiferous punctures; notauli converge but do not fuse; epomia absent; pronotum smooth with hind margin striate; mesopleuron with coarse punctures in the upper margin (close to the tegula), its central part with more punctures; speculum polished; sternaulus reaching half part of mesopleuron; metapleuron centrally with coarse punctures and dorsally striate; propodeum with area basalis smooth and shiny; propodeum with anterior transverse carina and posterior transverse carina present and complete (anterior transverse carina stronger); lateromedian longitudinal and lateral longitudinal carinae absent; area between propodeal apophyses and anterior transverse carina striate; apex of propodeal apophyses sharp; pleural carina anteriorly (until anterior transverse carina) and posteriorly (from hind margin of propodeum until posterior transverse carina) present (absent between anterior transverse carina and posterior transverse carina). Metasoma with tergites II to VII with sparse setiferous punctures. Fore wing with areolet about 1.5 × as wide as long and about 0.3 × as long as the portion of second recurrent vein above the bulla; hind wing with distal abscissa of Cu1 joining cu-a closer to 1A than to M. Hind legs rather slender; hind femur about 6.1 × as long as wide. Metasomal tergite 1 polished.

Color: Antenna mostly black, scape dorsally black, ventrally yellowish; flagellomeres 9–18 whitish; head mostly white, with central part of frons, interocellar area, part of the gena close to occipital carina and occiput, and distal 0.3 of mandible black. Pronotum with anterior and posterior margins yellow, the rest black; mesopleuron mostly yellow, with black spot below subalar prominence; mesoscutum mostly black, with a central yellow spot around the notaulus; metapleuron orange; tegulae, in dorsal view, mostly yellow; scutellum mostly yellow with a central black spot; postscutellum yellow; propodeum mostly orange with area before anterior transverse carina with a transverse blackish strip anteriorly, and 2 blackish spots below spiracles; propodeum with central longitudinal black strip from anterior transverse carina to the hind margin of the propodeum. Fore legs mostly yellowish with tarsomeres IV and V brownish, tarsal claws brownish; mid legs mostly orange with tarsomeres III, IV and V brownish, tarsal claws brownish; hind legs mostly orange, femur basally with a black spot, tibia basally and distally brownish; tarsomeres mostly whitish, with tarsomere I basally, slightly brownish; fore tibial spurs brownish, mid tibial spurs orange, hind tibial spurs dark brown; tarsal claws brownish. Metasoma with tergite I mostly orange, with apical part (after spiracles) mostly blackish; tergite II basally and distally mostly white, centrally black; tergite III-VII basally black, distally white; tergite VIII mostly black; sternite I mostly orange, laterotergites II to VIII mostly white, with a blackish spot; gonosquama mostly blackish with a basal whitish spot. Wings hyaline, pterostigma brown, distal margin of fore wing slightly infuscate.

Variation. Male (Paratype). Fore wing length 7.6 mm; hind wing length 5.4 mm. First flagellomere 5 × as long as wide; malar space about 0.7 × as long as basal width of mandible. Hind femur 5.8 × as long as wide.

Fore wing with areolet about 2 × as wide as long and about 0.4 × as long as the portion of second recurrent vein above the bulla.

Color: Propodeum mostly orange centrally with a smaller black spot.

Host records. The new species of Mesostenus described here was reared from Hypsipyla grandella ( Zeller, 1848) pupae ( Pyralidae , Lepidoptera ).

Etymology. The name of this new Mesostenus species refers to its host, Hypsipyla grandella .

Remarks. Mesostenus hypsipylaphagous sp. n. belongs to the group of species with black and white metasoma; this group includes nine species that can be identified with the following key:

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Photographs of Mesostenus hypsipylaphagous sp. n. holotype male, 1, Lateral habitus; 2, Dorsal habitus; 3, Mesoscutum.

FIGURES 4 – 5. Photographs of Mesostenus hypsipylaphagous sp. n. holotype male, 4, Antennae (lateral view); 5, Propodeum (dorsal view).

FIGURES 6 – 9. Photographs of Mesostenus hypsipylaphagous sp. n. holotype male, 6, Fore wing; 7, Hind wing; 8, Metasoma (lateral view); 9, Metasoma (dorsal view).