Pholetesor Mason, 1981

Whitfield, James B., 2006, Revision of the Nearctic species of the genus Pholetesor Mason (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Zootaxa 1144 (1), pp. 1-94 : 11-13

Pholetesor Mason

Pholetesor Mason, 1981 , Mem. Entomol. Soc. Can. 115: 37. Type­species: Apanteles ornigis Weed , orig. designation.

Teremys Mason, 1981 , Mem. Entomol. Soc. Can. 115: 42. Type species: Teremys masneri Mason , orig, designation. New synonymy.

Head. —Clypeus transverse, separated from frons by indistinct impressed arched line; ventral edge concave, exposing labrum. Labrum weakly convex; exposed portion transverse­oval. Frons 1.1–1.5x broader at mid­height than long down middle; inner margins of eyes usually weakly converging. Frons, postgenae, vertex and occiput nearly smooth to distinctly punctate, often with fine radiating microsculpture producing dull satiny sheen. Antennae of typical microgastrine 18­segmented form; flagellomeres with two ranks of longitudinal placodes except apical 5–6 (females) or 3–4 (males), ranging from 2.5–3.5x longer than broad (flagellomere 2) to 1.1–1.5x longer than broad (terminal flagellomeres). Compound eyes hairy. Maxillary palpi 5­segmented; labial palpi 3­ segmented; all palpi unmodified. Lateral ocelli usually about 1 ocellar diameter from anterior ocellus, about 2.0–2.5 ocellar diameters from each other. Head in dorsal view 1.8– 2.1x broader than medially long.

Mesosoma . — Mesoscutum at broadest point subequal in width with head, indistinctly to distinctly punctate, punctation becoming less conspicuous posteriorly. Pronotal furrow with both dorsal and ventral arms impressed, crenulate to shallow and smooth; pronotum otherwise not strongly sculptured. Scutoscutellar scrobe fine, narrow, composed of 10–15 small, mostly distinct pits. Scutellar disc on same plane as mesoscutum, usually more sparsely punctate, slightly longer than its own maximum breadth and bounded posteriorly by a complete, narrow polished band. Scutellar lunules semicircular in outline; axillary troughs crenulate, rugose or nearly smooth. Mesopleural depression shallow, weak and broad, usually polished but occasionally with obsolescent crenulation in center; remainder of mesopleura peripherally hairy, weakly punctate. Metanotum with sharp, anteriorly projecting sublateral setiferous lobes; anterior margin weakly to strongly retracted from scutellum, often exposing portions of mesonotal postphragma; usually with partial to complete transverse carina at midlength or more anteriorly, sometimes reaching to bases of sublateral setiferous lobes, and to either side of U­shaped medial excavation. Metapleuron centrally smooth around spiracle, peripherally variably sculptured but usually weakly punctate and hairy. Propodeum 1.7–2.2x broader at than long at longest point; background sculpturing varying from vaguely rugulopunctate to coarsely rugose; superimposed carination varying from strong, pentagonal areola with costulae and short anterior medial carina to completely absent or only posteriorly suggested by ridging or medial depression.

Legs. —Proportions typical of Microgastrinae in general but hind coxae occasionally longer than in most Nearctic Apantelini ; hind tibiae with 20–35 small spines on their outer faces, usually all of one kind; hind tibial spurs subequal in lenght or inner one much longer; tarsal claws simple and small.

Wings. —Vein 2 r­m of fore wing absent; R1 somewhat shorter to 1.5x longer than stigma, 2–9x as long as distance from its distal end to end of 3Rs fold along wing edge. 2r and 1Rs usually subequal in length, meeting at rounded to distinctly 120–150­degree angled junction. Cu+cu­a of hindwing weakly reclivous (and arched) to strongly reclivous. Vannal lobe of hind wing evenly convex to weakly flattened, evenly fringed with hairs of variable length.

Metasoma. —First tergite broadening posteriorly and covering nearly entire breadth of dorsal surface to strongly narrowing posteriorly and dorsally exposing much of laterotergites near junction with second tergite; surface usually densely rugose to aciculate but occasionally virtually smooth and highly polished; anteromedially with broad, smooth excavation; lateral margins nearly straight to strongly rounded. Second tergite ranging from quadratem coarsely sculptured and slightly longer than third tergum to subtriangular, virtually sculptureless and much shorter than third tergum, never extremely transverse (i.e., more than 3x as broad as long); posterior margin usually straight but occasionally weakly concave, convex or faintly bisinuate. Third tergite raning from similar to posterior sculptureless terga (in which case a dorsal medial tergite is not differentiated from the lateral areas) to strongly sculptured as in the second tergite, either anteriorly or over entire surface; posterolateral corners occasionally rounded when tergite 3 is strongly sculptured; delineated from tergite 2 (to which it is immovably fused) by smooth to broadly crenulate furrow. Fourth and remaining terga unsculptured and partially overlapped by preceding terga except in P. masneri , in which the fourth tergum is fused to the third and strongly sculptured. Laterotergites of anterior terga weakly sclerotized, partially to entirely hidden in dorsal view. Hypopygium of female moderately short, evenly sclerotized to medial fold or submedially weakly creased, setting off more translucent and flexible narrow medial fold, never multiply creased and membranous medially; tip acuminate to evenly and somewhat acutely angled. Ovipositor sheaths produced at or beyond midlength of valvifers, almost always less than.75 length of hind tibiae, exserted, hairy and broadened over most of apical length; shape varying from spatulate and blunt apically to narrowly fusiform to weakly decurved, bladelike and with beveled point apically (point usually produced by a brush of short hairs at tip). Ovipositor usually strongly exserted, of moderate length and evenly decurved.

Coloration. —Body almost always black except often lighter (mostly yellowish) labrum, palpi, antennal bases, tegulae, laterotergites and very occasionally portions of the metasomal tergites. Legs variably patterned in black and honey­yellow, never reddish. Venation of fore wing mostly yellow­brown to greyish, sometimes deep brown or virtually colorless. Setae of wings usually pigmented but occasionally colorless, giving wings a milky appearance. Hind wing venation mostly weakly pigmented.

Sexual dimorphism.—Size tends to be roughly comparable in the two sexes but males tend to be darker in coloration, more weakly sculptured and shinier, with longer and more slender antennae and narrower anterior metasomal tergites. Males appear to be more variable intraspecifically than females, and consequently more difficult to separate interspecifically.

Final instar larva.—Mandibles slender, long, with bifurcate tip and 8–25 prominent, slender teeth; labium with either one pair of setae on small tubercles or 6–7 pairs of setae; maxillae each with 1, 2 or 3 setae; skin often darkly pigmented (when shed) and set with long bristles.

Diagnosis. —As is clear from the foregoing description and the figures, the species of Pholetesor vary widely in superficial appearance. The general features of the genus that are most diagnostic are: 1) the short, but hairy and relatively dorsally attached ovipositor sheaths; 2) the strong sublateral setiferous lobes of the metanotum; 3) the propodeal areola (when present) strongly pentagonal rather than oval or diamond­shaped; 4) the hypopygium medially folded but evenly sclerotized or only weakly translucent medially; 5) 2r­m of fore wing absent; 6) hosts almost always leafmining Lepidoptera .