Rhaconotus (Rhaconotus) sudanensis Wilkinson, 1927

Belokobylskij, Sergey A. & Achterberg, Cornelis Van, 2021, Review of the braconid parasitoid subfamily Doryctinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, European Journal of Taxonomy 765 (1), pp. 1-143 : 127-130

Rhaconotus (Rhaconotus) sudanensis Wilkinson, 1927

Figs 59–60

Rhaconotus sudanensis Wilkinson, 1927: 36 .

Rhaconotus sudanensis – Nixon 1941: 489. — Yu et al. 2016.

Rhaconotus carinatus – Edmardash et al. 2020: 58 (auct.).

Material examined

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES • 1 ♀; “United Arab Emirates, Fujairah (1314), light tr., 13–19.iv.2005, 25°0′ N, 56°2′ E. A.v. Harten, RMNH’05”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Sharjah Desert Park (2049–2074), light tr., 30.iv–31.v.2005, 25°1′ N, 55°4′ E. A.v. Harten, RMNH’05”; RMNH • 1 ♂; “ United Arab Emirates, Wadi Safad (3121–3130), light tr., 26.xii.2005 – 2.i.2006, 25º1′ N, 56º1′ E, A.v. Harten, RNMH’06”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Wadi Safad (5550), at light, 1–8. vii.2006, 25º1′ N, 56º1′ E, A.v. Harten, RNMH’06”; RMNH • 1 ♀; same label data as for preceding; ZISP • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Wadi Safad (5867–5902), at light, 31.i–21.ii.2006, 25º1′ N, 56º1′ E, A.v. Harten, RNMH’06”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Al-Ajban (5937), Malaise tr., 27.v–26. vi.2006, 24º36′ N, 55º01′ E, A.v. Harten, RNMH’06”; RMNH • ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Sharhah x Khor Kalba (6319–6320), light trap, 16–31.i.2006, A.v. Harten, RNMH’06”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Sharhah x Khor Kalba (6327–6337), light trap, 24–30.vi.2006, A.v. Harten, RMNH’06”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Wadi Safad (6435), at light, 14–21.vi.2006, 25º1′ N, 56º1′ E, A.v. Harten, RNMH’06”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Wadi Maidaq (6474), light trap, 27.iv– 4.v.2006, 25º1′ N, 56º0′ E, A.v. Harten, RNMH’07”; RMNH • 1 ♀; same label data as for preceding; ZISP • 1 ♀; “ United Arab Emirates, Sharhah x Khor Kalba (6599), light trap, 24–30.v.2006, A.v. Harten, RMNH’06”; RMNH .

YEMEN • 4 ♀♀, 1 ♂; “Yemen (no 2989), Ta’izz, light trap, 1–3.iv.1998, A.v. Harten & Ahmad Ahwad, RMNH’98”; RMNH • 2 ♀♀; same label data as for preceding; ZISP • 1 ♀; “Yemen (no 3111), Ta’izz, light trap, 26–28.v.1998, A.v. Harten & Ahmad Ahwad, RMNH’98”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “Yemen (3698), Sana’a, v.1999, Light-trap, A.v. Harten, RMNH’00”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “Yemen (4054), Al Kowd , viii.1999, light-trap, A.v. Harten & S. Al Haruri, RMNH’00”; RMNH • 2 ♀♀; “ Yemen (4055), Al Kowd , ix.1999, light trap, A.v. Harten & S. Al Haruri. RMNH’00”; RMNH • 3 ♀♀; “Yemen, Al Kowd , v–vi.2000, light tr., no. 4719, A.v. Harten & S. Al Haruri. RMNH’01”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “Yemen, Lahj , xi–xii.1999, Mal. tr., no 4291, A.v. Harten & A. Sallam, RMNH’02”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “Yemen (5404), Hammam ‘Ali, from coffee-berries (with Ceratitis capitata ?), 14.iii.2001, A.v. Harten, RMNH’02”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “Yemen, Al Kowd , ii.2001, light tr., no. 5484, A.v. Harten & S. Al Haruri, RMNH’01”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “Yemen (5700), Ar Rujum , 9.iv–5.vi.2001, Mal. trap; A.v. Harten RMNH’02”; RMNH • 1 ♀; “Yemen (5750), Al Kowd , 8–12.vii.2001, light trap, A.v. Harten & S. Al Haruri. RMNH’02”; RMNH • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; “Yemen (6158), Al Lahima , 17.ix–14.ii.2001, Malaise trap, A.v. Harten, RMNH’02”; RMNH .

Hosts

Sphenoptera gossypii Kerremans, 1892 , S. neglecta (Klug, 1835) ( Coleoptera : Buprestidae ); Coniesta ignefusalis (Hampson, 1919) ( Lepidoptera : Crambidae ).

Distribution

* Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, * UAE, * Yemen.

Remarks

After careful study of the photos of the Rhaconotus species determined as Rh. carinatus Polaszek, 1994 by Edmardash et al. (2020), and the examination of numerous specimens from the UAE and Yemen, we are now sure that the specimen listed by Edmardash et al. (2020) is actually Rh. sudanensis . Therefore, Rh. carinatus has to be excluded both from the faunistic list of Saudi Arabia and of the Arabian Peninsula.

Sometimes, a few specimens from Yemen are distinctly infuscate with the head dorsally dark brown to almost black. Additionally, a few specimens from Yemen have a slightly longer ovipositor, with the sheath as long as or only weakly shorter than length of metasoma.

Figures

Fig. 59. Rhaconotus (Rh.) sudanensis Wilkinson, 1927, ♀ (RMNH). A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head and mesoscutum, dorsal view. C. Head, front view. D. Basal segments of antenna. E. Apical segments of antenna. F. Head and mesosoma, lateral view. G. Mesosoma, dorsal view. H. Third to fifth metasomal tergites, dorsal view.

Fig. 60. Rhaconotus (Rh.) sudanensis Wilkinson, 1927, ♀ (RMNH). A. Wings. B. Metasoma, dorsal view. C. Metasoma, lateral view.