Grotea santandereana, Herrera-Flórez, 2018

Herrera-Flórez, Andrés Fabián, 2018, Three new species of Grotea Cresson (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Labeninae) from Colombia, Zootaxa 4444 (2), pp. 195-200 : 197

Grotea santandereana sp. n.

(Figs 5–8)

Material examined. Holotype: female, COLOMBIA: Santander: Mun. Gambita, Vereda Cuevas : 5°56´44´´N 73°20´39´´ W, 2400 m., 28-VI-1994, leg. Juan Manuel Vargas ( ICN).

Paratype: female, COLOMBIA: Norte de Santander: Pamplona, Universidad de Pamplona, Campo Experimental CISBEV: 7°23´21´´N 72°39´0´´ W, 2.347 m., 31-X-2017, Jama, leg. Marcela Patricia Sierra-Bello ( Colección de Entomología de la Universidad de Pamplona, Código 7502).

Diagnosis. Head in dorsal view with gena flat behind eyes, postgenal process present, laterally indistinct, ventroposteriorly evident, apex spatulate; antenna with 32 flagellomeres. Propodeum with anterior transverse carina indented centrally, thus not forming a smooth arc from side to side; area spiracularis enclosed (lateral longitudinal carina present and complete); area lateralis enclosed (pleural carina present).

Description. Female. Fore wing 11.5 mm long. Head. In dorsal view with gena behind eyes flat, not concave; posterior ocellus separated from eye by 1.1 × its own maximum diameter; postgenal process laterally indistinct, ventroposteriorly present (i.e. horizontally oriented to inside of the oral cavity) apex of lobe spatulate; antenna with 32 flagellomeres.

Mesosoma. Mesoscutum smooth with isolated inconspicuous punctures, scutellum in profile convex; hind wing with 1A not reaching the margin as a pigmented vein; propodeum about 1.6 × as long as broad; anterior transverse carina indented centrally, not forming a smooth arc from side to side; pleural carina present; posterior transverse carina, centrally absent; lateral longitudinal carina complete; area spiracularis enclosed, area lateralis fully enclosed, elongately rectangular, about 3.0 × as long as broad.

Metasoma. Tergite I slender, slightly shorter than mesosoma from pronotal collar to posterior margin of pronotum; ovipositor, at rest, extending beyond the apex of metasoma by 2.4 × the length of the hind tibia.

Coloration. A mostly reddish species. Head: antenna, mandible, frons, vertex, interocellar area, gena and occiput black; maxillary palp, labrum, most of the clypeus, most of the face yellow. Mesosoma: pronotum mostly reddish, with longitudinal yellow stripes; propleuron black; mesopleuron mostly reddish with a dorsal longitudinal yellow stripe; mesosternum mostly reddish with two longitudinal yellow stripes; metapleuron mostly reddish; mesoscutum mostly reddish, scutellum laterally yellow, centrally reddish, posteriorly black; postscutellum yellow; metanotum anteriorly yellow; propodeum: area basalis, externa, superomedia and dentipara black, area lateralis reddish, area petiolaris, postero-externa and most of the area spiracularis yellow. Fore legs: coxa, trochanter and trochantellus yellow; femur with outer and inner sides yellow, the rest black, tibia mostly yellow, tibial spur reddish, tarsi yellowish. Mid legs: coxa, trochanter, trochantellus, most of the femur,, most of the tibia, tibial spurs and most of the tarsi yellow. Hind legs mostly black. Wings hyaline (Fig. 7). Metasoma mostly reddish: tergite I and II with laterotergites and posterior margin yellow, middle area black, tergites III, IV and V with laterotergites yellow, posterior margin yellow, middle part reddish, remaining tergites reddish; ovipositor sheaths black.

Remarks. Both Grotea santandereana sp. n. and G. villosissima Herrera-Flórez 2014 have been found in high altitudes. However, G. santandereana occurs around 2.400 m and G. villosissima above 3.400 m. Besides this altitudinal difference, the color pattern between the two species is clearly different (predominantly reddish in G. santandereana , predominantly black in G. villosissima ). They also differ in the number of flagellomeres: 32 in G. santandereana sp. n. and 35 in G. villosissima and in fore wing length: 11.5 mm in G. santandereana sp. n. and 7.4 mm in G. villosissima . Recently two females of G. villosissima were identified from Ecuador (Filippo Di Giovanni, personal communication); the specimens conserve the same general color pattern of the female Holotype.

Etymology. The name refers to the type locality: Santander Department of Colombia.