Aleiodes cultrarius Shaw and Marsh

Shaw, Scott R., Marsh, Paul M. & Fortier, Joseph C., 2006, Revision of Nearctic Aleiodes Wesmael (Part 8): the coxalis (Spinola) Species­Group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Rogadinae), Zootaxa 1314, pp. 1-30 : 10-11

Aleiodes cultrarius Shaw and Marsh , NEW SPECIES

Female. Body color: head honey yellow with brown on the temple, frons and face; antenna honey yellow on basal half turning brown on apical half; mesosoma, metasoma and legs honey yellow; wings hyaline, veins brown, stigma bicolored brown with yellow on basal 1/3. Body length, 5.0 mm; fore wing length, 4.5 mm. Head: eyes and ocelli small, not covering most of head; 41 antennomeres, most flagellomeres slightly longer than wide; malar space longer than basal width of mandible and about 3/4 eye height; temple about 3/4 eye width; occipital carina complete, meeting hypostomal carina; oral space small, circular, diameter about equal to basal width of mandible; ocelli small, ocellar diameter 1/2 ocellocular distance; face, frons and vertex rugulose coriaceous, lower temple coriaceous; maxillary palpus not swollen. Mesosoma: pronotum rugose; mesonotum and scutellum weakly coriaceous and shining, notauli weakly scrobiculate, meeting in small rugose area at scutellum; mesopleuron rugose coriaceous, strongly rugose along sternaulus, smooth above episternal scrobe, subalar sulcus not distinct from rugose mesopleuron; propodeum rugose, median carina complete, apical corners prominent. Legs: tarsal claws not pectinate, with several long spines at base; hind coxa coriaceous dorsally. Wings: fore wing with vein r 2/5 length of 3RSa and 1/2 langth of mcu, vein 1cu­a beyond 1M by distance slightly greater than length of 1cu­a, vein 1CUa 1/3 length of 1CUb; hind wing with vein RS slightly sinuate, marginal cell narrowest in middle, vein r­m about equal in length to 1M, vein 1M slightly longer than 1/2 M+CU, vein m­cu weakly indicated. Metanotum: terga 1–3 rugose costate; first tergum wider at apex than long, median carina complete; second tergum with basal width slightly longer than length, median carina complete; third terga with weak but complete median carina; remainder of terga coriaceous; ovipositor about 1/2 length of hind basitarsus.

Male. essentially as in female except mesosoma and metasoma occasionally marked with black.

Holotype. Female: CALIFORNIA, San Francisco, December 6, 1907, F. X. Williams collection, ex. Ly. xerces, Lake Merced, San Mateo, Co. Deposited in CAS.

Paratypes. CALIFORNIA: 1 male, same data as holotype; 1 male, Lake Merced, June 10, 1907, ex. larva of Lycaena antiacis xerces ; 20 females, 22 males, Davis, various dates in August 1955, 1956 and 1967, A. T. McClat, M. E. Irwin. Deposited in CAS, UCD.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in California.

Biology. Reared from caterpillars of the now extinct Xerces blue butterfly, Lycaena xerces .

Comments.— Aleiodes cultrarius is most similar to A. wyomingensis new species, but can be distinguished by the yellow mesosoma, weakly coriaceous mesonotum, and antenna with more than 35 antennomeres. The holotype was reared from the now extinct Xerces blue butterfly, emblem of the Xerces Society. The fact that additional paratypes were collected at later dates implies that this species has alternate hosts (possibly other subspecies of the same butterfly).

Etymology. The specific name is from the Latin cultrarius meaning "slayer of the sacrificial victim" in reference to this species having attacked (in the past) a host which is now extinct.