Aleiodes (Hemigyroneuron) arabiensis, Butcher, Buntika A. & Quicke, Donald L. J., 2015

Butcher, Buntika A. & Quicke, Donald L. J., 2015, First record of Aleiodes (Hemigyroneuron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) from the Arabian Peninsula: description of new species with remarkable wing venation convergence to Gyroneuron and Gyroneuronella, Zootaxa 4033 (2), pp. 275-279 : 276-279

Aleiodes (Hemigyroneuron) arabiensis sp. nov. ( Figs 2–3 )

Holotype female: “Arabia, Lith, 10m. inland. 1.1945, Dr. B.P. Uvarov” ( BMNH). Length of body 5.8 mm, of fore wing 5.7 mm; antennae broken.

Remaining part of left antenna with 38 flagellomeres; 1st flagellomere approximately 1.2 × longer than wide and 1.2 × longer than the 2nd and 3rd separately. Eyes very large, sharply and deeply emarginated opposite antennal sockets; width of head: width of face: height of eye = 3.5:1.0:2.3. Face irregularly rugulose. Ocelli extremely large, posterior ocelli hardly separated from eye. Occiput coriaceous. Occipital carina complete but irregular mediodorsally, joining hypostomal carina remote from base of mandible. Mesosoma 1.67 × longer than high. Mesoscutum coriaceous becoming rugulose posteriorly between weakly indicated notauli. Scutellar sulcus wide. Mesopleuron and mesosternum largely shiny with punctures at base of setae, with some fine striation dorsally and near episternal scrobe; precoxal sulcus not impressed nor indicated by change in sculpturation. Propodeum rugulose, with complete but weak and irregular midlongitudinal carina. Fore wing. Lengths of veins r-rs: 3 RSa: 3RSb = 1.0:1.5:4.1. Veins 1-M and m+cu approximately equal in length and each slightly longer than (RS+M)b. Subbasal cell with strongly enlarged, ovoid apical part, demarked basally by a tubular cross-vein running posteriorly from M+CU to approximately half way across the cell; swollen part with small medial sclerome, largely setose except for quadrant antero-distal to sclerome. Vein 1cu-a strongly curved and distally expanded. Hind wing. Vein M+CU 1.15 x 1 M. Vein m-cu entirely absent. Vein R more or less interstitial. Lengths of fore femur: tibia: tarsus = 1.0: 1.05:1.05. Lengths of hind femur: tibia: tarsus = 1.0:1.15:1.0. Hind femur robust 4.5 × longer than maximally deep. Claws with two strong pectin spines. Metasomal tergites 1, 2 and basal half of 3 finely longitudinally striate-coriaceous. Tergites 1-5 densely setose. Tergite 2 with distinct midbasal triangular area and weak but complete midlongitudinal carina; 2 × wider posteriorly than medially long, 1.15 × longer than tergite 3.

Coloration. Ochreous yellow, stemmaticum black, posterior metasomal tergites piceous. Wing venation pale brown but pterostigma (except extreme base), vein r-rs and veins forming the swollen distal part of the fore wing subbasal cell dark brown.

Etymology. Name based on the type locality.

Notes. The new species keys easily in Butcher & Quicke (2011) to couplet 16 which leads to three species ( A. (H.) plurivena Butcher & Quicke , glandularis Butcher & Quicke and sharkeyi Butcher & Quicke) that have a spur running posteriorly from fore wing vein M+CU demarking the basal end of the swollen part of the subbasal cell, and is clearly most closely related to A. (H.) plurivena in that the spurious transverse vein is tubuar, the precoxal sulcus absent, strongly striate axillae and very large eyes and ocelli. It can easily be separated from this and other species of the subgenus by its far more swollen distal part of the subbasal cell which is more than twice as high as the first subdiscal cell, by the differentiated distal part of fore wing vein M+CU greater than 0.65 x the length of the unmodified basal part as opposed to being at most 0.42 x in other Afrotropical species, and by the glabrous part of the subbasal cell being limited to the part anterodistal to the sclerome.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Aleiodes (Hemigyroneuron) arabiensis sp. nov. A, habitus; B, mesosoma and metasoma, dorsal view.

FIGURE 3. Aleiodes (Hemigyroneuron) arabiensis sp. nov. A, face; B, head dorsal view; C, mesosoma lateral view and head, posterolateral view; D, propodeum, tergite 1 and basal part of tergite 2.