Trochantagathis Sharkey

Sharkey, Michael J. & Chapman, Eric, 2017, Ten new genera of Agathidini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) from Southeast Asia, ZooKeys 660, pp. 107-150 : 122-123

Trochantagathis Sharkey gen. n.

Type species.

Baeognatha marshi Bhat & Gupta, 1977

Etymology.

Trochanter comes from the Greek trochalos meaning running; here it is a reference the pair of ridges on the hind trochantellus which are diagnostic for the genus. Feminine.

Diagnosis.

Head (including posterior orbit of eye) and mesosoma black; metasomal tergites black or black and pale yellow. Fore wing hyaline, not infuscate in distal half. Antennal sockets not margined with carinae. Interantennal space with a flat triangular elevation that narrows to a short ridge posteriorly and then divides into two short indistinct carinae that approach the lateral margins of the median ocellus. Temple rounded in dorsal view. 3rd labial palpomere minute, barely visible, much smaller than apical palpomere. Notauli depressed and partly or entirely pitted. Scutellar triangle rugose. Dorsal margin of hind coxal cavities situated above ventral-most margin of metasomal foramen. Pegs on anterior surface of fore tibia present. Hind trochantellus with pair of longitudinal carinae. Second submarginal cell of fore wing varying from about the same diameter as vein Rs about 3x that diameter. First median tergite usually entirely striate, sometimes partly smooth, especially basally; lateral and medial carinae strong. Second median tergite wider than long and varying from completely and smoothly striate, to mostly smooth with weak smooth striae; semicircular pattern of striae usually present anteromedially.

Distribution and diversity.

Known from Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, but undoubtedly more widespread in the Oriental Region. Based on the analysis of sequence data presented in Figure 1 there are three species of Trochantagathis from Thailand. The females of these species are very similar whereas the males appear to be quite different from one another. Males of the more melanic species are almost entirely melanic whereas the males of the other species are only slightly more melanic than their female conspecifics. With the limited molecular data at hand, the sexual dimorphism, and the similarity of the females of the three putative species, it is not possible to tell with confidence which species, if any, corresponds with the type of Trochanter marshi . Therefore, we choose not to describe the two or three new species at this time. The specimens from Vietnam placed in Therophilus marshi , Achterberg and Long 2010 need verification. They match well with the type except for minor color differences, but so too do the three Thai species. The images of Figure 17 are of a congeneric (and perhaps conspecific) male and female (specimens H799 and H965). These images present better illustrations of the generic characters discussed above as well as the color sexual dimorphism.

Biology.

Unknown.

New combinations.

Trochantagathis marshi (Bhat and Gupta), comb. n., from Baeognatha .