Aleiodes colberti, Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2014

Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2014, Twenty-four new species of Aleiodes Wesmael from the eastern Andes of Ecuador with associated biological information (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae), ZooKeys 405, pp. 1-81 : 25-28

Aleiodes colberti sp. n. Figures 31-33, 36, 121

Description of the holotype.

Male (holotype). Body length 8.8 mm; antenna length 8.5 mm; fore wing length 8.3 mm.

Color. Mostly reddish brown. Head mostly dark brown to black; yellowish stripe around eyes on frons, temple and gena; palp dark brown. Antenna black with white middle band between flagellomeres 20-29 (+/- 1). Mesosoma mostly reddish brown; pronotum brown dorsally, laterally irregularly yellowish brown; propleuron brown, lighter posteriorly; mesoscutum infuscate except on notauli region; scutellum brown medially and postero-laterally. Wings weakly infuscate with dark band just bellow stigma; veins brown and stigma dark brown; tegula brown.

Head. 54 antennomeres, flagellomeres as long as wide, except apical 1/3 and basal 1/6, slightly longer than wide, apical flagellomere with distinctly pointed apex; malar space very short, 0.5 × basal width of mandible and 1/6 of eye height; temple very narrow, in dorsal view eyes 5.5 × longer than temples; occipital carina complete thought irregular dorsally, ventrally barely reaching hypostomal carina; oral space small and circular, diameter about equal to basal width of mandible; clypeus weakly swollen; ocelli extremely large, ocell–ocular distance 1/8 diameter of lateral ocellus; face, gena and temples transverse rugose–costate, with mid-longitudinal ridge just bellow toruli, face granulose medially, clypeus granular–rugose, frons smooth and excavated, bordered by “W-shaped” carina, vertex coarsely granulate.

Mesosoma. Sculpturing mostly opaque granular; pronotum with median scrobiculate line; epicnemial carina incomplete dorsally; propodeum laterally with few wrinkles, mid-longitudinal carina on anterior 1/2, posterior half with irregular wrinkles; metapleuron rugose posteriorly; notauli virtually absent, only indicated anteriorly and meeting rugose depressed area posteriorly; posterior margin of mesoscutum bordered by short carina just in front of scutellar sulcus; scutellar sulcus with five complete and well defined carina.

Wings. Fore wing: stigma 4 × longer than high; vein r about 0.7 × vein 2RS, as long as vein RS+Mb, and 0.7 × vein m-cu; vein 3RSa 0.64 × vein 3RSb, and 0.85 × vein 2M; vein 1CUa 1.33 × vein 1cu-a; vein 1CUb 2.25 × vein 1CUa; vein 1M moderately curved at basal half. Hind wing: vein m-cu absent; vein M+CU slightly shorter 1M; 1M about 2 × length of r-m; vein RS well pigmented, almost straight, gradually diverging from wing margin; vein M dark brown, well pigmented; vein 2-1A present and relatively long.

Metasoma. T1 and T2 granular–striate, longitudinal carina complete on T1 and T2; remainder visible terga granular; T4-T6 with small circular median dorsal pits, these terga densely setose except on median line, pubescence around the bare line directed to it; T1 length 2 × apical width.

Legs. Tarsal claws pectinate, with 6-7 thick bristles, and distinct gap between apical claw and basal pectination; hind basitarsus 1.7 × longer than inner apical spur of hind tibia.

Female unknown.

Type material.

Type-locality: ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, Macucoloma trail, S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163 m, cloud forest, March 2-5, 2006, S.R. Shaw col.

Type-specimen: Holotype male, point mounted. Top label: "ECUADOR: Napo Province / Yanayacu Biological Station / S00°35.9', W77°53.4' 2163m / 2-5 March 2006, S.R. Shaw / Ex. Yellow pan trap". (UWIM)

Discussion.

Aleiodes colberti sp. n. belongs to the pulchripes species-group. This species can be distinguished from other New World species of this group by the infuscate band on the forewing just below the pterostigma, and the white middle band on antenna. Despite these characters, it is similar to Aleiodes earinos Shaw, 1997, differing from which in its mostly black head and some dark stains on the mesoscutum and scutellum, as compared with the unicolored body in Aleiodes earinos . The pattern of wing veins resembles Aleidoes arizonensis Marsh & Shaw, 1997, mainly by the very long second submarginal cell. The infuscation below the stigma is also present in the Cuban and Costa Rican species Aleiodes pedalis Cresson, 1869, but Aleiodes pedalis also has distinct infumation apically, not present in Aleiodes colberti sp. n., as well as the apical hind tibia black, as opposed to reddish in Aleiodes colberti sp. n. In the key to New World pulchripes species ( S. Shaw et al. 1997), Aleiodes colberti does not run easily to any of the described species. Considering the body color it will be forcibly run to Aleiodes notozophus Marsh & Shaw, 1997, but differs from that species by the large gap between apical claw and basal pectination, which is absent in Aleiodes notozophus . The male of Aleiodes colberti sp. n. has small setose pits on terga 4-6 (4-7 in Aleiodes notozophus ). Disregarding the presence of the pits it will run to Aleiodes vaughani Muesebeck, 1960, but the ocelli are larger in the new species.

Etymology.

This species is named after Stephen Tyrone Colbert, an American comedian, political satirist, writer, actor, and host of The Colbert Report.