Austroascogaster, Kittel & Austin, 2014

Braet, Yves, 2016, New species and new records of Betylobraconinae, Braconinae, Cheloninae, Helconinae and Rogadinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Papua New Guinea, Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 209, pp. 407-450 : 429-430

Genus AUSTROASCOGASTER Kittel & Austin, 2014

Austroascogaster Kittel & Austin, 2014: 5 .

Type species. Austroascogaster mellosa Kittel & Austin, 2014 .

DESCRIPTION — (Modified after Kittel & Austin 2014 to include the new species). Head. Ocelli in an isocele triangle, imaginary line between anterior margin of posterior ocelli not touching anterior ocellus; occipital carina interrupted dorsally; eyes oval, glabrous or sparsely setose with minute hairs; hypoclypeal depression small, almost absent; clypeus without tooth; occipital carina joining hypostomal carina; antenna slender to strongly swollen medially (four basal flagellomeres being only 1.4x as long as wide). Mesosoma. Notauli weakly developed; propodeal tubercles absent; precoxal sulcus present or absent; Wings. Vein r of fore wing arising from middle to near apex of pterostigma; pterostigma usually elongate; vein 1-SR+M present, emitted from parastigma; 1-cu1 postfurcal; 2-SR+M antefurcal or postfurcal; 2-R1 absent; R not reaching apex of wing; cu1b present (subdiscal cell closed); three radial abscissa present; mid-tibia without blister. Metasoma. Metasoma completely fused, without transverse sutures, apex of metasoma without teeth or lobes; posterior pit absent.

Figures 28-32

TYPE MATERIAL — Holotype male ( IRSNB), Papua New Guinea. Province Madang, Baiteta , 5°1’0’’S- 145°45’0’’E, leg O.Missa - Canopy Mission, FOG T1 , 19.III.1993.

DISTRIBUTION — Papua New Guinea.

DIAGNOSIS — Metasoma shorter than mesosoma; less than basal 0.25 of metasoma white; ventral flange of metasoma medium sized; wings weakly infuscate with a darker large patch below pterostigma.

DESCRIPTION (Holotype) — MALE: body length 3.3 mm, length of fore wing 3.0 mm. Head. Antenna damaged, 37 flagellomeres remaining; F1/F2 = 1.40; length of first and second flagellomeres 4.67 and 3.33x their width, respectively; ED/TD = 3.60; eyes glabrous; OOL:OD:POL = 6.00:3.00:4.00; frons densely punctate laterally, smooth medially, with a median longitudinal carina anteriorly; WF/HF = 1.11; MS/BM = 2.48; clypeus, face, gena and vertex finely punctate, face with a short tubercle medially; WC/HC = 1.25. Mesosoma. Mesoscutum punctate; mid-posterior area of mesoscutum rugulose; notauli present punctate anteriorly; scutellum shiny, finely punctate, weakly convex; propodeum smooth, with short longitudinal and cross carinae, anterior areola wide; mesopleuron largely shiny and smooth, punctate near subalar depression; precoxal sulcus impressed, punctate anteriorly; HMS/LMS = 0.74. Legs. Hind coxa finely punctate laterally, smooth dorsally; LHTI/LHTA = 1.07; LPS/LHBT = 0.44. Wings. LW/LB = 0.91; fore wing with SR1/PT = 1.30; LPT/ WPT =4.50; r: 3-SR: SR1: r-m = 7.00:4.00:35.00:7.00. Metasoma. LMS/LMT = 0.84; in dorsal view rounded, weakly wider posteriorly than anteriorly, WMT/LMT = 0.58; metasoma strongly curved in lateral view; ventral keel of metasoma large apically, weakly sinuate apically in posterior view; metasoma longitudinally rugose on anterior four fifths, its apical fifth finely punctate and dull. Color. Head, mesosoma black; hind coxa, all femur, apical two thirds of mid and hind tibiae dark brown; scapus, pedicel and first flagellomere, fore and mid coxae, fore tibia yellowish-brown; fore tarsi, basal third of mid and hind tibiae whitish; hind tarsi white but slightly infuscate; metasoma with a clear whitish patch anteriorly between longitudinal carinae, black elsewhere; wings infuscate with a transverse brown patch below the stigma.

ETYMOLOGY — Named after the type locality.