Brachycyrtus pretiosus Cushman, 1936

Nascimento, Alexsandra C. & Fernandes, Daniell R. R., 2024, Synopsis of Brachycyrtus Kriechbaumer, 1880 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Brachycyrtinae) from Brazil, with description of two new species, Zootaxa 5430 (1), pp. 1-62 : 42-45

Brachycyrtus pretiosus Cushman, 1936

( Figs. 45 , 46 )

Brachycyrtus pretiosus Cushman, 1936: 19 . Holotype female, U.S. A. Florida (USNM) [ National Museum of Natural History , Smithsonian Institution].

Brachycyrtus crossi ( Blanchard, 1942) ; Gauld & Ward 2000: 29 (syn.).

Material examined. 3 ♀ ♀. Holotype ♀ (scanned image) ( Fig. 45 ). U.S.A., Hillsboro Co. / Fla. / R W Laws // Florida Fruit / Fly TrapSurv // Type No. 50623/ U.S. N.M. [National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution]// Brachycyrtus / pretiosus / type. Cush.// USNMENT 01520443 (http://n 2t.net/ark:/65665/3a8856a04-5843-4b29-9c3c- 72be7d23eb13) (1 ♀, USNM). BRAZIL. ES [Espírito Santo]: Vitória / Area Urbana / 03-04. x.2004, Manual / Kawada, R. col. [collector] // UFES n° [number] 96269 (1 ♀, UFES); same, except 22-27.vii.2000 // UFES n° [number] 121044 // Brachycyrtus Kriechbaumer, 1880 . H. C. Onody det. [determinant] 2013 (1 ♀, UFES).

Diagnosis. Brachycyrtus pretiosus can be differentiated from other Neotropical Brachycyrtus by the combination of the following characters: eye with a deep V-shaped impression opposite antennal insertion ( Figs. 45B ; 46B ); propodeum polished with dense setae and fine punctures, with area anterolateral black, area superomedia delineated in a "D"-shape, area dentipara delineated and separated from the area posteroexterna by a distinct carina ( Figs. 46D, 46G ).

Variation (n=2). Body length 3.59–4.73 mm. Antenna length 3.70–3.87 mm. Basal mandible width 0.09–0.10 mm. Ocellus diameter 0.18–0.28 mm. Distance between the anterior and posterior ocellus 0.04–0.05 mm. Shortest distance between the posterior ocellus and the compound eye 0.07–0.08 mm. Frons width 0.41–0.42 mm. Face width 0.37–0.38 mm. Malar space 0.05–0.06 mm. Region mesosternal with posterior transverse carina. Fore wing length 3.03–3.38 mm. Hind wing length 2.11–2.21 mm. Length tergite 1 0.77–0.84 mm; basal width tergite 1 0.11–0.13 mm. Length tergite 2 0.66–0.81 mm; basal width tergite 2 0.23–0.25 mm. Length tergite 3 0.56–0.62 mm; apical width tergite 3 0.52–0.53 mm. Length ovipositor 1.09–1.37 mm. Area anterolateral can be reddish-yellow; area occipital and the upper posterior part of the gena may be dark-brown; the longitudinal central band and the posterior lateromedian bands can be reddish-yellow, the scutellum whitish-yellow, with the posterior central part of the pronotum may be reddish-yellow, the mesopleuron can be whitish-yellow containing a diagonal reddish-yellow central band, the posterior and lateromedian area can be reddish-yellow; the propodeum can be whitish-yellow with all areas except the superomedia area centrally can be reddish-yellow, the metapleuron can be whitish-yellow. The hind legs can be a whitish-yellow with profuse brown spots on the thigh, trochanter, femur, and tibia. The Metasoma may be reddish-brown, with tergites 1–3 with a narrow yellow band near the posterior end, on tergites 4+ with this whitish-yellow area divided to form lateral spots. According to Gauld & Ward (2000), there is an extreme range of color variation in the species, especially in the mesoscutum and mesopleuron. In the United States in general the mesoscutum is red with yellow anterior areas, while farther south many specimens have a couple of yellow lines posteriorly; some have the mesoscutum shaded, and most North American specimens have the mesopleuron entirely reddish, while farther south the anteroventral part is black and often there is also a black diagonal patch. In extreme southern North America, these black areas are dark-brown and the areas in between are light yellow ( Gauld & Ward 2000).

Geographical records. Brazil (São Paulo, Espírito Santo *), Costa Rica, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, USA and Venezuela ( Cushman 1936; Blanchard 1942; Townes 1945; Townes & Townes 1951; Walkley 1956; Walkley 1958; Townes & Townes 1960; Carlson 1979; Gauld & Ward 2000; Onody et al. 2009; Yu et al. 2016; Yanez et al. 2020; Fernandes et al. 2023) ( Fig. 47 ).

Biological note. The host of this species is so far unknown. It is reported that B. pretiosus was bred from the cocooned prepupae of Leucochrysa (Nodita) pavida ( Hagen, 1861) ( Chrysopidae ) in the United States ( Cushman 1936).

Discussion. Kreibohm de la Vega (1940) published the monotypic genus Brachycyrtomorpha with the species Brachycyrtomorpha crossi without intending to validate its name. Therefore, the author did not publish an associated description, which, according to article 13 of the ICZN (1999), invalidates the publication of this name. The authorship of the species is by Blanchard, who published in 1942 the manuscript describing Brachycyrtomorpha crossi ( Blanchard, 1942) . However, several authors ( Townes 1945; Townes & Townes 1951; Townes & Townes 1960; Gauld & Ward 2000), perhaps because they were unaware of Blanchard's work, continued to erroneously refer to this species under the authorship of Kreibohm de la Vega (1940). In 1945, Townes synonymized Brachycyrtomorpha with Brachycyrtus , but did not specify the synonymy of Brachycyrtomorpha crossi with Brachycyrtus pretiosus or with any other species of the genus Brachycyrtus ( Townes 1945) . This act was only done in 2000 by Gauld & Ward. In synthesis, " Brachycyrtomorpha crossi Kreibohm de la Vega, 1940 " is a nomen nudum, reinforced by Walkley (1958) and Carlson (1979), and according to the ICZN this name should not be used. In 2000, Gauld & Ward synonymized Brachycyrtomorpha crossi Kreibohm de la Vega, 1940 with Brachycyrtus pretiosus Cushman, 1936 erroneously, since that name was invalid ( Gauld & Ward 2000). Brachycyrtus pretiosus has a propodeum with a complete set of carinae with all areas outlined and is distinct from all other species.

Remarks. Additional characters from the material examined of the states of Espírito Santo ( Brazil) (n=2) (♀) are the following: Head. Dorsal view ( Fig. 46C ), distance between the posterior ocellus 0.12 mm. Eye height 0.68 mm. Front view ( Fig. 46B ), Frons with fine setae, polished and convex. Face Punctate with fine setae, polished and convex. Mesosoma. Dorsal view ( Fig. 46E ), mesoscutum with notaulus present, barely discernible. Scutellum polished, punctate with sparse fine setae, as wide as it is long, moderately convex. Lateral view ( Fig. 45A , 46A ), propleuron polished with sparse fine setae. Mesopleuron polished, smooth with fine setae; epicnemial carina ascending about middle from the anterior margin of the mesopleuron and ventrally approaching the posterior carina of the sternum; sternaulus short. Metapleuron punctate with short and dense setae. Wings. Fore, 2m-cu with two bullae. Hind, abscissa CU spectral. Metasoma. Apical width tergite 1 0.21 mm. Apical width tergite 2 0.47 mm. Basal width tergite 3 0.48 mm. Apex of ovipositor with five teeth and without nodus ( Fig. 46F ).

Figures

FIGURE 45A–D. Brachycyrtus pretiosus Cushman, 1936, holotype female. (A) habitus; (B) head, frontal view; (C) body, dorsal view; (D) tags. Photos: (A, B, C and D) Natasha Yong.

FIGURE 46A–G. Brachycyrtus pretiosus Cushman, 1936, female.(A) Lateral habitus. (B) Head, Frontal view. (C) Head, dorsal view. (D) Propodeum, dorsal view. (E) Body, dorsal view. (F) Ovipositor, lateral view. (G) SEM of propodeum, dorsal view.

FIGURE 47. Map of geographical records of Brachycyrtus pretiosus Cushman, 1936 (Legend: the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Espírito Santo where the species occurs are highlighted in gray. Blue circle for new record, red triangle for previous record and yellow star for type locality).