Pseudapanteles maureenballesteroae Fernandez-Triana & Whitfield

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie, Whitfield, James B., Smith, M. Alex & Kula, Robert, 2014, Revision of the genus Pseudapanteles (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with emphasis on the species in Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, ZooKeys 446, pp. 1-82 : 20-21

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Pseudapanteles maureenballesteroae Fernandez-Triana & Whitfield sp. n. Figs 105- 109

Holotype.

♂ in CNC. COSTA RICA, ACG, Alajuela Province, Sector San Cristobal, Estación San Gerardo, 575 m, 10.88009, -85.38887, 15.iv.2008. ACG database code: DHJPAR0026281.

Diagnosis.

It belongs to the gouleti species-group, and can be separated from other species within that group by the combination of pterostigma yellow-white, with very thin brown margins, propodeum only slightly sculptured on posterolateral corners and differentiated into elevated central area (which is shiny) and depressed posterolateral corners, and metasoma tergites dark brown except for anterior 0.6 of T1 which is yellow.

Description.

Male. Body length 2.0-2.1 mm. Fore wing length 2.2-2.3 mm. Head color: mostly dark brown to black, except for yellow clypeus, labrum, mandibles, and spot on lower corner of gena near oral foramen. Mesosoma color: entirely dark brown to black. Metasoma color (dorsally): mostly dark brown to black, except for yellow-orange anterior 0.4-0.6 of mediotergite 1. Coxae color: pale/pale/mostly or completely dark. Metatibia color: mostly pale, with posterior 0.1-0.2 dark. Metatarsus color: dark. Pterostigma color: pale, with thin dark margins.

Female. Unknown.

Molecular data.

Sequences in BOLD: 1, barcode compliant sequences: 1.

Biology/ecology.

Malaise-trapped.

Distribution.

Costa Rica, ACG rain forest.

Etymology.

This species is named in honour of Sra. Maureen Ballestero, Diputada from Guanacaste, and stimulator and promoter of ACG’s efforts to develop its geothermal resources as part of its quest for financial independence and conservation through non-damaging biodiversity development.