Meteorus stenomastax Stigenberg, 2011

Stigenberg, Julia & Ronquist, Fredrik, 2011, Revision of the Western Palearctic Meteorini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), with a molecular characterization of hidden Fennoscandian species diversity 3084, Zootaxa 3084 (1), pp. 1-95 : 70-71

Meteorus stenomastax Stigenberg sp. nov.

Fig. 38, 39 , 46 , 79F , 126

Diagnosis: The body has a unique colour combination of light red and darker red-brown patches and that in combination with the slender antennae and long, yellow-brown coloured pterostigma distinguish Meteorus stenomastax from related species. In Huddleston’s key it runs to M. cinctellus but the long and slender antennae and ovipositor length (length of ovipositor 1.8 times petiolar tergum in the former and 2.0– 2.5 in the latter) distinguish it from M. cinctellus , which has rather stout antennae.

Studied material: 6 ♀. Holotype: 1 ♀ SE. Vb. Vindelns kommun. Kulbäckslidens försökspark. 01.ix– 22.ix.2003. (leg. SMTP), NHRS – HYME 5052 , DNA 17 . DNA voucher specimen. Paratypes: 3 ♀ SE. Lapl. Kiruna kommun. Abisko national park. 08.vii–05.viii.2004. One dry-pinned (left hind leg damaged and glued separately) NHRS – HYME 5051 , and one in ethanol DNA 16, and the third is a mounted SEM specimen and DNA 119 (leg. SMTP), in NHRS. SE. Sö. Huddinge kommun. Sofielunds återvinningsanläggning. 16.vi. 30.vi.2004. (leg. SMTP), NHRS – HYME 5213 , DNA 173 . 1 ♀ Dalarna, ( UUZM) .

Description: Body 4.4 mm, fore wing 3.7 mm.

Head: Length of eye 1.6 times length of temple in dorsal aspect; eyes large, convergent and protuberant; face as wide as high; OOL=1.9; vertex smooth; frons with a prominent tubercle; clypeus as wide as minimum width of face, protruding and distinctly divided from face, convex with large punctuation; tentorial pits distinct; length of malar space 0.5 times basal width of mandible; mandibles twisted; antennal articles 28; 3rd antennal article 3.5 times longer than wide and 4th antennal article 3.25 times longer than wide; all articles longer than wide, subapically at least 1.5 times longer.

Mesosoma: Precoxal sulcus broader than narrow.

Wings: Fore wing: r/3–SR=0.3; C+SC+R/SR1=1.6; m–cu antefurcal; pterostigma yellow–brown. Hind wing: 1–M/cu–a=1.1;

Legs: Hind coxa granulate; hind femur 6.2 times longer than wide; tarsal claws small with lobe.

Metasoma: Petiolar tergum 2.25 times longer than wide apically, 4.5 times fore wing; dorsope absent; ventral folds of petiolar tergum not joined, a little gap remaining; ovipositor straight; length of ovipositor 1.8 times petiolar tergum, and 0.45 times fore wing; propodeum convex, reticulate–rugose and with a central longitudinal carina; Colour: Frons black; occiput and vertex brown; otherwise yellow–brown; pronotum and mesopleuron red–brown; propodeum black with a red–brown patch laterally; petiolar tergum black; 3rd abdominal tergite yellow rest is brown; legs dark yellow to brown.

Distribution: Sweden.

Biology: We found 5 specimens within the SMTP. Three specimens were caught in alpine birch forest, one was caught in spruce/larch forest, and one was caught in a recycling facility in a spruce forest. The specimens were caught from the end of June to the middle of September.

Etymology: The name stenomastax is derived from the Greek words steno (narrow), and mastax (mouth), referring to the narrow clypeus of this species.

Figures

FIGURE 79. Habitus images of the seven new species described in this paper. A) Meteorus artocercus, B) M. densipilosus, C) M. eklundi, D) M. longipilosus, E) M. sibyllae, F) M. stenomastax, G) M. subtilisulcus.

FIGURES 33–40. Characters used in key to species. 33) habitus of M. versicolor, 34) head in lateral view of M. micropterus, 35) fore wing of M. micropterus, 36) habitus of M. micropterus, 37) dorsal view of the mesosoma of M. fialtor, 38) dorsal view of the mesosoma of M. stenomastax sp. nov., 39) fore wing of M. stenomastax sp. nov., 40) antennae of M. filator.

FIGURES 41–48. Characters used in key to species. 41) antennae of M. eadyi, 42) fore wing of M. cinctellus, 43) fore wing of M. tenellus, 44) antennae of M. cinctellus, 45) antennae of M. tenellus, 46) habitus of M. stenomastax sp. nov., 47) metasoma of M. tenellus, 48) metasoma of M. artocercus sp. nov.

FIGURES 80–133. Anterior view of the head of Meteorus species (except for M. politutele, which is depicted in lateral view).