Notiospathius flavotestaceous (Ashmead)

Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro & Jesús-Bonilla, Vladimir Salvador De, 2010, Redescription of species of the Neotropical parasitoid Notiospathius Mathews et Marsh (Braconidae: Doryctinae) based on their nineteenth and early twentieth century types, Zootaxa 2543, pp. 31-42 : 33

Notiospathius flavotestaceous (Ashmead) ( Figs 1 A–D)

Spathius flavotestaceous Ashmead, 1895

Female. — Colour: entire body honey yellow; flagellum honey yellow to light brown to the tip; palpi light brown. Legs honey yellow; wings hyaline, veins and stigma yellow, tegula white. Body length, 3.6 mm; ovipositor broken. Head: temple about 0.53 times eye width; face transversally striate-rugose; frons rugose; vertex striate-rugose; temple and gena smooth; malar space 0.37 times eye eight; ocell-ocular distance 2.25 times diameter of lateral ocellus; scape, pedicel and first flageromere coriaceous; antennae complete, with 23 flageromeres. Mesosoma: propleuron costate; pronotum costate-coriaceous; median and lateral mesonotal lobes coriaceous; notauli scrobiculate and wide; mesopleuron porcate-coriaceous dorsally, coriaceous medially and ventrally; venter of mesosoma coriaceous; sternaulus scrobiculate and wide; propodeum entirely rugose, without distinct median carina or areola, with poorly defined spines over hind coxa and at apicallateral corners. Legs: hind coxa weakly coriaceous anteriorly, rugose to costate-rugose posteriorly. Metasoma: first metasomal tergite longitudinally costate-rugose, 3.4 times longer than wide (narrowest area); basal sternal plate (acrosternite) about 0.75 times length of tergum; second tergum rugose mid-basally, weakly costate at upper half, smooth at basal half; remaining terga smooth.

Male. Unknown.

Holotype. Grenada: female, “Mount Gay Est. (Leeward side), W. I. H. H. Smith”. NHM type HYM 3c 529.

Comments. This small species can be distinguished morphologically from the remaining described species of its genus, except from N. badius and N. melosus , by having an entire body colour honey yellow. Notiospathius flavotestaceous mainly differs from the latter two species by having the face, frons and vertex rugose or striate-rugose (costate and striate and partially smooth in N. badius and N. melosus , respectively), the mesopleuron and venter of mesosoma coriaceous (entirely smooth and longitudinally costate dorsally in N. badius and N. melosus , respectively), and the antennal segments honey yellow to light brown to the tip (apical 10–14 flageromeres white in N. badius , flageromeres 15–20 white and apical two brown in N. melosus ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Notiospathius flavotestaceous: A) head, lateral view; B) head, dorsal view; C) mesosoma, lateral view; D) metasoma, dorsal view.