Meteorus martinezi Aguirre, Almeida & Shaw

Aguirre, Helmuth, de Almeida, Luis Felipe, Shaw, Scott Richard & Sarmiento, Carlos E., 2015, An illustrated key to Neotropical species of the genus Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae), ZooKeys 489, pp. 33-94 : 64-65

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Meteorus martinezi Aguirre, Almeida & Shaw sp. n. Figures 121-127

Diagnosis.

Occipital carina complete; face parallel in frontal view, face maximum width 1.1 × minimum width; mandibles twisted; notauli shallow, not distinctive and rugose; hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe; dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; ovipositor 2.3 × longer than first tergite; body mostly dark.

Body color.

Antenna brown; annulus absent; face, clypeus and gena yellow-orange; frons, temple and vertex dark brown. Propleuron dark brown except interior and posterior borders yellow; pronotum dorsally dark brown, ventrally yellow; mesonotal lobes black-dark brown, area between them and scutellum orange; mesopleuron dark brown close to the tegula, then gradually turns brown and light brown toward the middle coxa; metanotum dark brown; metapleuron light brown; propodeum dark brown. Prothoracic legs yellow; mesothoracic coxa, trochanter and trochantellus white, remaining leg dark brown; metathoracic coxa dorsally dark brown and ventrally yellow, trochanter, trochantellus and femur basally yellow, remaining leg brown. T1 black except the basal portion white-yellow; T2 basally yellow, remaining tergite surface brown; sterna yellow. Wings hyaline; stigma on front wing brown.

Body length.

4.4 mm.

Head.

Antenna with 31 flagellomeres; flagellar length/width ratios as follows: F1 = 3, F2 = 3, F3 = 2.6, F29 = 1.8, F30 = 1.5, F31 = 2; head 1.2 wider than high; occipital carina complete; ocellus-ocullar distance 1.1 × ocellar diameter; head height 1.5 × eye height; temple length 0.7 × eye length in dorsal view; vertex in dorsal view descending vertically behind the lateral ocelli; frons strigulate; face maximum width 1.1 × minimum width; face strigulate; face minimum width 1.2 × clypeus width; clypeus strigulate; malar space length 0.8 × mandible width basally; mandibles twisted.

Mesosoma.

Pronotum in lateral view rugose-foveate-carinate; propleuron mostly smooth except apically rugulose; notauli shallow, not distinctive and rugose with a pronounced longitudinal carina; mesonotal lobes well defined; central lobe of mesoscutum punctate; scutellar furrow with two carinae; mesopleuron mostly puncticulate, rugose close to the tegula; precoxal sulcus rugose-foveate; metapleuron mostly smooth, rugose close to the coxa; propodeum aerolate-carinate-rugose, longitudinal carina present, median depression absent.

Legs.

Hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe.

Wings.

Wing length 4.2 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.7 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; length of vein 3RSa 0.9 × length of vein r-m; vein m-cu intersticial. Hind wing: length of vein 1M 0.9 × length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M 0.7 × length of vein r-m.

Metasoma.

Dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; first tergite with costae parallel; ovipositor thickened basally and straight; ovipositor 2.3 × longer than first tergite.

Cocoon.

Unknown.

Female variation.

Unknown.

Male variation.

Unknown.

Type locality.

COSTA RICA, Heredia, Vara Blanca, Finca Georgina, 2100 m.

Type specimen.

Holotype female (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Heredia, Vara Blanca, Finca Georgina, 2100 m, collected III–IV.1990, Paul Hanson leg., UWIM.

Paratype. Unknown.

Distribution.

Costa Rica, province of Heredia.

Biology.

Unknown.

Comments.

Meteorus martinezi is similar to Meteorus carolae in having the occipital carina complete, mandibles totally twisted, notauli shallow and not distinct, tarsal claw with a large lobe, first metasomal tergite without dorsopes, ventral borders of first tergite joined along ½ of segment, mesopleuron completely brown-black, first tergite bicolored and propodeum totally black-dark brown. Meteorus martinezi can be separated from Meteorus carolae by the hind coxa dorsally dark brown and ventrally yellow (hind coxa completely dark brown in Meteorus carolae ), antenna with 31 flagellomeres (antenna with 24-27 flagellomeres in Meteorus carolae ) and the parallel eyes in frontal view, face maximum width/minimum width = 1.1 (convergent eyes in Meteorus carolae , face maximum width/minimum width = 1.4-1.6).

Etymology.

This species is named in honor of Dr. Juan Jose Martinez, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia" curator of insects.