Meteorus acerbiavorus Belokobylskij, Stigenberg and Vikberg

Stigenberg, Julia & Ronquist, Fredrik, 2011, Revision of the Western Palearctic Meteorini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), with a molecular characterization of hidden Fennoscandian species diversity 3084, Zootaxa 3084 (1), pp. 1-95 : 44-45

Meteorus acerbiavorus Belokobylskij, Stigenberg and Vikberg

Fig. 31 , 82

Meteorus acerbiavorus Belokobylskij et al., 2011 . Holotype ♀, “ Finland 767:325. Enontekiö Lapland : Jehkats, June 2009, Harry Lonka leg”.

Diagnosis: A very distinctive species, large, dark and rugose. The colour and sculpture can vary between localities and rearings from black to brown and from heavily to more weakly rugose, almost smooth in certain parts. The petiolar tergum also varies from specimens without a dorsope to specimens with a distinct dorsope. M. acerbiavorus is most similar to M. rubens , being easily separated by colour (completely black or brownish in the former, varying from completely reddish to partially, but never completely, black in the latter), body sculpture (largely rugulosegranulate in the former, smoother with only certain parts rugose in the latter), and the shape of the ovipositor tip (with a distinct dorsal node at the tip of the ovipositor in the former, without a distinct node in the latter) (illustrated in Stigenberg et al. 2011).

Studied material: 13 specimens.

Description: Size 4.3–4.6 mm. Antennal articles 25–27. Head transverse. OOL=1.5. Eyes large and protuberant, weakly convergent. Malar space equal to width of mandible base. Face 1.3 times wider than high, rugose. Clypeus almost as wide as face and protuberant. Mandibles twisted. Precoxal sulcus wide and entirely coarsely rugose-reticulate. Propodeum roundly convex, strongly reticulate. Petiolar tergum with no dorsope, finely striate at apical end. Length of petiolar tergum about twice as long as apically broad. Ovipositor 1.2–1.4 times longer than petiolar tergum. Legs long; hind coxae entirely rugose; tarsal claws without lobe. Colour black. ♂ antennal articles 24–27.

Distribution: Finland.

Biology: Meteorus acerbiavorus is only known from specimens reared from cocoons of the arctiid moth Acerbia alpina collected in June in nothern Finland ( Stigenberg et al. 2011). It is gregarious and 39 to 98 parasitoid cocoons have been found in a single host cocoon.

Figures

FIGURES 26–32. Characters used in key to species. 26) ventral view of the petiolar tergum of M. versicolor, 27) head in lateral view of M. rubens, 28) head in lateral view of M. pulchricornis, 30) fore wing of M. colon, 31) habitus of M. acerbiavorus, 32) dorsal view of the head of M. lionotus.

FIGURES 80–133. Anterior view of the head of Meteorus species (except for M. politutele, which is depicted in lateral view).