Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chalcididae

Brachymeria olethria (Waterston, 1914)

Chalcis olethria Waterston, 1914: 257 (♂, Nigeria, Ibadan, (BMNH) (examined)).

Brachymeria olethria; Narendran 1989: 245, 271.

Brachymeria raoi Joseph, Narendran & Joy, 1972: 21 (♀, India (BMNH) (synonymised with Brachymeria oletria by Narendran 1989)).

Material.

2 ♀ (BPBM), "Vietnam, 14.x.1960, C.M. Yoshimoto".

Diagnosis.

This species resembles Brachymeria menoni Joseph, Narendran & Joy, but differs from it in having: 1) scrobe not reaching anterior ocellus (in Brachymeria menoni scrobe reaches anterior ocellus); 2) AOL about 0.5 × of POL (in Brachymeria menoni AOL 0.3 × POL); 3) metasoma distinctly longer than pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum combined (in Brachymeria menoni metasoma shorter than pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum combined).

Description.

♀, length of body 4.0-4.2 mm.

Colour. Black; tegulae pale yellowish brown; all coxae and trochanter black or brownish black; fore and mid femora black or brownish black with a pale reddish brown or yellow brown tip; hind femur completely black or brownish black with tip pale yellowish brown; fore and mid tibiae brownish black except the brownish black or brownish yellow tip; hind tibia brownish black or black with tip yellowish brown tip; all tarsi pale.

Head. Head with scrobe not reaching anterior ocellus; area below scrobe at middle fairly smooth but not clearly demarcated; length of eye 2.3 × its width; AOL about 0.5 × POL; interocular space a little over 2.3 × POL; pre- and post-orbital carinae present; post-orbital carina reaching geno-temporal margin; anterior genal angle nearly rectangular and rounded; hind genal angle rectangular. Antenna with scape not reaching anterior ocellus, longer than F1 to F3 combined; pedicel longer than wide; F1 almost as long as wide; F2, F3, F4 and F5 almost equal in length; clava about 2.1 × as long as F7, and about 1.6 × its width.

Mesosoma. Mesosoma reticulate, rounded, umbilicate and close pits; interstices of pits narrower than diameter of a pit, rugose; apex of scutellum weakly emarginate.

Wings. Fore wing 2.5-2.6 × as long as wide; MV a little shorter than half SMV; PMV a little shorter than half MV; STV about half of PMV.

Legs. Hind coxa without an inner ventro-mesal tooth; hind femur about 1.7 × as long as its width, without an inner basal tooth, outer ventral margin with a row 9-12 differently sized teeth.

Metasoma. Metasoma longer than pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum combined; hardly a little more than twice its height, highest at middle; T1 smooth and shiny, reaching middle length of metasoma; T2 micro-sculptured; T6 rugose with few punctures and sparse pubescence.

Male. Similar to ♀ except T1 with delicate reticulation medially; F1 wider than long; apex of scutellum rounded.

Hosts.

Lepidoptera ( Pyralidae; Gelechiidae, and Momphidae) and Hemiptera ( Pseudococcidae) (Noyes 2011).

Distribution.

Africa, India, Vietnam, China, Malaysia (Borneo) and Indonesia (Java) (Joseph, Narendran & Joy 1973 and Narendran 1989).