Aleiodes stewarti, 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 : 63-66

Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. Figures 104-106, 125

Description of holotype.

Female (holotype). Body length 9.1 mm; antenna length 9.4 mm; fore wing length 7.4 mm.

Color. Entire body yellowish brown to honey brown, darker dorsally; antenna basally dark brown, lightening gradually toward apex, apical 1/3 pale brown, scape light brown dorsally; face pale yellow, ocellar triangle black; lateral borders of mesoscutum, notauli and posterior depressed area brown; ovipositor sheaths mostly dark brown, basally whitish; wings slightly brown infuscate; veins dark brown except C+SC+R, stigma and R1 honey yellow.

Head. Antenna with 61 segments; flagellomeres about as long as wide, except apical 1/3 and basal 1/6 slightly longer than wide, apical flagellomere with small pointed apex; malar space as long as basal width of mandible, and 0.3 × eye height; temple narrow, in dorsal view about eyes 5 × longer than temples; occipital carina complete, reaching hypostomal carina; oral space small and circular, diameter about equal to basal width of mandible; clypeus weakly swollen; ocelli moderate, ocell–ocular distance about 1/2 diameter of lateral ocellus; face and gena rugose–costate, with mid-longitudinal ridge just bellow toruli, frons smooth and excavated, bordered by weak "W- shaped" carina; temples and vertex granulate.

Mesosoma. Sculpturing mostly granular; pronotum with median scrobiculate line; mesopleuron mostly shining granular–coriaceous, antero-dorsal corner rugose, central elevated area sharply defined and smooth, epicnemial carina complete; propodeum on posterior 1/3 smooth with longitudinal wrinkles, mid-longitudinal carina on anterior 2/3; metapleuron rugose posteriorly; notauli shallow and crenulate anteriorly, meeting rugose depressed area posteriorly; posterior margin of mesoscutum with carina interrupted laterally; scutellar sulcus with long median carina plus two pairs of incomplete lateral carina.

Wings. Fore wing: stigma 3.7 × longer than high; vein r 0.55 × length of 2RS, 0.45 × length of m-cu, and 0.7 × vein RS+Mb; vein 3RSa 0.46 × vein 3RSb, and 0.88 × vein 2M; vein 1CUa about 2 × vein 1cu-a; 1CUb 1.6 × length of 1CUa; vein 1M moderately curved at basal half. Hind wing: marginal cell widening toward apex, vein RS smoothly curved downward on base and well pigmented throughout; vein M+CU 1.3 × longer than 1M; vein 1M about 1.4 × longer than r-m; vein m-cu short, pigmented and non-tubular; vein 2-1A present and relatively long.

Legs. Tarsal claws strongly pectinate, with several relatively short bristles extending over the base of apical claw; basitarsus 3 × longer than inner apical spur of hind tibia.

Metasoma. T1 and T2 striate, longitudinal carina complete on T1, incomplete on posterior ½ of T2; T3 with weak striation on anterior corners; remainder visible terga smooth; petiole long, very narrow basally, T1 1.7 × longer than apical width; ovipositor sheaths about as long as hind tarsomere III.

Paratype variation. Essentially as holotype but antennomeres 60-64, scutellar sulcus with one or two pairs of lateral carina more or less defined and incomplete.

Male unknown.

Type material.

Type-locality: ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, Macucoloma trail, S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163 m, cloud forest, January 1-8, 2007, J. Simbaña col.

Type-specimen: Holotype female, point mounted. Top label: "ECUADOR: Napo Province / Yanayacu Biological Station / S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163m / 1-8 January 2007, J. Simbaña / Macucoloma trail, Malaise trap / NSF-BSI-07-17458, S.R. Shaw". (UWIM)

Paratypes. 2♀, same data as holotype; 3♀, same data as holotype, except: 1♀, black light, May 15, 2011, S.R. Shaw col; 1♀, June–December 2011, canopy malaise trap ( Chusquea ); 1♀, September 5, 2005, malaise trap (Pumayacu ridge). (UWIM)

Discussion.

Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. belongs to the pulchripes species-group. In the key to New World species ( S. Shaw et al. 1997), this species will run to Aleiodes rossi Marsh & Shaw, 1997. Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. can be distinguished from Aleiodes rossi by its mostly bronze color with a distinct color pattern on mesoscutum: notauli+posterior depressed area brown, all wing veins brown and antenna lightening apically (in Aleiodes rossi the body is entirely light yellow with all tarsi brown and apex of hind tibia black, the antenna is entirely brown with scape and pedicel yellowish). The bristles in tarsal claws in Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. are more numerous than in Aleiodes rossi and shortening apically, very similar to those on Aleiodes cazieri Marsh & Shaw, 1997 and Aleiodes vaughani Muesebeck, 1960. The first tergite of Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. is about 1.7 × longer than its apical width, distinctly more slender than the previous described species in pulchripes-group, in which this proportion is around 1.0 ×, but in Aleiodes colberti sp. n. it is 1.5 ×. Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. and Aleiodes colberti sp. n. are the only two species in Aleiodes pulchripes species-group found so far from Yanayacu. Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. differs from Aleiodes colberti sp. n. in the antenna dark brown basally, gradually lightening toward pale brown apex (black with mid white band in Aleiodes colberti sp. n.), wings uniformly weakly infuscate (with dark band bellow stigma in Aleiodes colberti sp. n.), ocelli about 2 × ocell–ocular distance (about 8 × in Aleiodes colberti sp. n.); body mostly honey brown (reddish brown in Aleiodes colberti sp. n.), tarsal claw pectination with several short bristles extending to base of claw (in Aleiodes colberti sp. n. the pectination have less and larger bristles, and a distinct gap with claw base).

Comments.

Since Aleiodes stewarti sp. n. is described based on several females and Aleiodes colberti sp. n. is described based on one male, and considering the geographical distribution and sexual dimorphism in the group, there is a possibility of these two species are one single species with very extreme sexual dimorphism. However, we do not think that it is likely because none of the known species in Aleiodes pulchripes species-group, having both males and females described, exhibit anything close to such extreme variation, which compels us to maintain these two entities as distinct species.

Etymology.

This species is named after Jon Stewart (John Stuart Leibowitz), an American comedian, political satirist, writer, director, actor, and television host of The Daily Show.