Diachasmimorpha dicrocarinata, Wu & Chen & He, 2005

Wu, Qiong, Chen, Xue-Xin & He, Jun-Hua, 2005, The genus Diachasmimorpha Viereck (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Opiinae) from China, Zootaxa 1022 (1), pp. 37-56 : 43-45

Diachasmimorpha dicrocarinata sp. nov. (Figs. 10–14)

Holotype, ♀, length of body 3.5 mm, of forewing 4.8 mm.

Head. Antenna 1.4 times length of forewing, with 49 segments, length of third segment 0.9 times fourth segment, length of third, fourth and penultimate segments 2.0, 2.1 and 3.4 times their maximum width, respectively; scape compressed, outer side glabrous, remainder setiferous; length of maxillary palp 1.0 times height of head, segments slender; OOL: diameter of posterior ocellus: POL = 6.6: 2.2: 1.0; frons slightly concave behind sockets, glabrous medially, punctulate and setiferous laterally; length of eye in dorsal view 1.9 times temple; vertex and temple punctulate and setiferous; dorsal part of temples narrower than its ventral part behind eyes; occipital carina present up to 3/4 level of eye in lateral view; face densely punctate and setose; anterior tentorial pits distinct and mediumsized; clypeus mostly smooth, sparsely setiferous, broadly protruding ventrally, in lateral view separated from mandibles, protruding ventrally; in anterior view hypoclypeal depression absent; length of malar space 1.2 times basal width of mandible; mandible twisted apically, with a ventral carina near to and slightly ventrad the base of occipital carina.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.3 times its height; pronope medium­sized and deep; propleuron flattened, setiferous; side of pronotum mostly glabrous, crenulate dorsally; precoxal sulcus deep, wide and rugose, not reaching base of mesocoxa; mesopleuron crenulate anteriorly, densely setose postero­ventrally, remainder of mesopleuron sparsely setiferous; ventral half of pleural sulcus crenulate; metapleuron with long setae and irregularly depressed margins, slightly rugose ventrally; mesosternal sulcus shallow, narrow and weakly crenulate; notauli shallow, crenulate anteriorly, moslty obsolescent posteriorly, mesoscutal midpit shallow, slitlike; mesoscutum finely punctate and setiferous; scutellar sulcus wide, deep, with three carinae; scutellum slightly convex, densely setose and crenulate posteriorly; propodeum with strong and short median carina, irregularly rugulose medially, incompletely areolate posteriorly, relatively smooth in each areola.

Wings. Forewing: 1­M straight anteriorly, curved posteriorly; r: 3­SR: SR1 = 1.0: 4.5: 17.1; 1­SR+M distinctly sinuate; SR1 nearly straight and ending close to apex of wing; cu­a oblique and straight; 1­CU1: 2­CU1 = 1.0: 3.7; 2­SR: 3­SR: r­m = 1.8: 1.7: 1.0; first subdiscal cell robust and widened apically; CU1b medium­sized, not longer than 3­ CU1; m­cu slightly postfurcal, and slightly converging to 1­M posteriorly. Hindwing: SR only present as an unpigmented fold except absent basally; m­cu long and straight as unpigmented fold posteriorly; length of 1­M slightly longer than 1r­m; M+CU: 1­M = 1.1: 1.0.

Legs. Hind coxa densely setose and punctulate; tarsal claws setiferous, lobe absent; length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 3.3, 8.8 and 4.6 times as long as their width, respectively.

Metasoma. Length of first tergite 1.2 times its apical width, its surface longitudinally costate medially and slightly concave basally, its dorsal carinae strong basally, united posteriorly, then bifurcate and reaching apex of tergite; spiracle of first tergite small, situated laterally; laterope medium­sized and moderately deep; dorsope absent, but strong dorsal carina gives the impression of presence; second tergite entirely smooth, its spiracle on notum, setae of third and following tergites forming submedial row; ovipositor straight, ribbon­shaped apically, with a minute dorsal protuberance and three ventral teeth, length of ovipositor sheath 0.6 times forewing and 4.2 times first metasomal tergite; sheath setose, apical spine absent; hypopygium large, not surpassing apex of metasoma, subtruncate apically.

Colour. Rufous; head dark brown; antenna, mesoscutum (except yellowish brown area along notauli and mesoscutal midpit), propodeum anteriorly and first tergite brown; pronotum anteriorly, fore and middle legs (except rufous trochanters and femora), apex of hind femur and hypopygium yellowish brown; ovipositor sheath blackish; wing membranes subhyaline, with dark patch near vein CU1b, pterostigma and veins brown.

Material. Holotype, ♀, China: Jinding, Fanjingshan , Guizhou province, 12.VII.1993, Songlin Yao, No. 936706 ( ZJUH).

Note. This species is morphologically similar to D. aino ( Watanabe, 1938) but can be separated from the latter in having the precoxal sulcus deep, wide and sculptured, the length of the femur of the hind leg 3.3 times as long as its width, the dorsal carinae of the first tergite strong basally and reaching the apex of the tergite and the fore femur and the metasoma (but the first tergite brown) reddish brown.

Etymology. From “ dicr ” (Latin for “bifurcate”) and “ carina ” (Latin for “carina”), the specific epithet refers to the furcal dorsal carina of the first metasomal tergite.