Apanteles vulgaris (Ashmead, 1900)

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Whitfield, James B., Rodriguez, Josephine J., Smith, M. Alex, Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie D., Hajibabaei, Mehrdad, Burns, John M., Solis, M. Alma, Brown, John, Cardinal, Sophie, Goulet, Henri & Hebert, Paul D. N., 2014, Review of Apantelessensu stricto (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, with keys to all described species from Mesoamerica, ZooKeys 383, pp. 1-565 : 291-292

Apanteles vulgaris (Ashmead, 1900) Fig. 162

Urogaster vulgaris Ashmead, 1900: 286.

Apanteles vulgaris (Ashmead, 1900). Transferred by Szépligeti (1904: 111).

Urogaster xanthopus Ashmead, 1900: 288.

Apanteles xanthopus (Ashmead, 1900). Transferred by Szépligeti (1904: 111). Synonymized by Mason 1981: 52.

Type locality.

ST. VINCENT, Lesser Antilles.

Holotype.

♂, BMNH (examined).

Material examined.

2 ♀, 1 ♂; St. Vincent Island, 1972, Malaise Trap (CNC).

Description.

Female. Body color: head dark, mesosoma dark with parts of axillar complex pale, metasoma with some mediotergites, most laterotergites, sternites, and/or hypopygium pale or head and mesosoma mostly dark, metasoma with some tergites and/or most of sternites pale. Antenna color: scape and/or pedicel pale, flagellum dark. Coxae color (pro-, meso-, metacoxa): pale, pale, pale. Femora color (pro-, meso-, metafemur): pale, pale, pale. Tibiae color (pro-, meso-, metatibia): pale, pale, pale. Tegula and humeral complex color: both pale. Pterostigma color: dark. Fore wing veins color: mostly dark (a few veins may be unpigmented). Antenna length/body length: antenna about as long as body (head to apex of metasoma); if slightly shorter, at least extending beyond anterior 0.7 metasoma length. Body in lateral view: not distinctly flattened dorso–ventrally. Body length (head to apex of metasoma): 2.9-3.0 mm or 3.1-3.2 mm. Fore wing length: 3.1-3.2 mm. Ocular–ocellar line/posterior ocellus diameter: 1.4-1.6. Interocellar distance/posterior ocellus diameter: 1.4-1.6. Antennal flagellomerus 2 length/width: 2.9-3.1. Antennal flagellomerus 14 length/width: 1.4-1.6. Length of flagellomerus 2/length of flagellomerus 14: 2.3-2.5. Tarsal claws: simple. Metafemur length/width: 3.0-3.1. Metatibia inner spur length/metabasitarsus length: 0.6-0.7. Anteromesoscutum: mostly with deep, dense punctures (separated by less than 2.0 × its maximum diameter). Mesoscutellar disc: mostly smooth. Number of pits in scutoscutellar sulcus: 7 or 8 or 9 or 10. Maximum height of mesoscutellum lunules/maximum height of lateral face of mesoscutellum: 0.4-0.5 or 0.6-0.7. Propodeum areola: completely defined by carinae, including transverse carina extending to spiracle. Propodeum background sculpture: partly sculptured, especially on anterior 0.5. Mediotergite 1 length/width at posterior margin: 1.7-1.9. Mediotergite 1 shape: more or less parallel–sided. Mediotergite 1 sculpture: with some sculpture near lateral margins and/or posterior 0.2-0.4 of mediotergite. Mediotergite 2 width at posterior margin/length: 3.6-3.9. Mediotergite 2 sculpture: mostly smooth. Outer margin of hypopygium: with a wide, medially folded, transparent, semi–desclerotized area; usually with 4 or more pleats. Ovipositor thickness: about same width throughout its length. Ovipositor sheaths length/metatibial length: 0.6-0.7. Length of fore wing veins r/2RS: 1.4-1.6. Length of fore wing veins 2RS/2M: 2.1 or more. Length of fore wing veins 2M/(RS+M)b: 0.7-0.8. Pterostigma length/width: 3.1-3.5. Point of insertion of vein r in pterostigma: clearly beyond half way point length of pterostigma. Angle of vein r with fore wing anterior margin: clearly inwards, inclined towards fore wing base. Shape of junction of veins r and 2RS in fore wing: distinctly but not strongly angled.

Male. Resembles the female, but metacoxa is fully brown and metasoma is much darker, mostly brown with only laterotergites 1 and 2 yellow.

Molecular data.

One male, collected in 1972 from St. Vincent Island, rendered a partial barcode of 164 bp, which is unique in the BOLD database.

Biology/ecology.

Solitary. Hosts: Crambidae ( Diatraea lineolata and Diatraea saccharalis ).

Distribution.

Argentina, Brazil, Grenada, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent, Uruguay. There is no suggestion that this species occurs in ACG.

Comments.

The description of female characters is based on two specimens collected in 1972 and deposited in the CNC. Because those females were collected in the type locality, altogether with a male that closely resembles the holotype of Apanteles vulgaris , it is assumed that they all are the same species. The species is characterized by extensive yellow-orange coloration, smooth mesoscutellar disc, and relatively broad mediotergite 1 (its length 1.8 × its width at posterior margin). The known hosts (boring Crambidae , Diatraea spp.), are unique among all Mesoamerican species with extensive yellow-orange coloration.