Triraphis defectus Valerio

Valerio, Alejandro A. & Shaw, Scott R., 2015, Thirteen new Costa Rican species belonging to the genus Triraphis Ruthe (Braconidae: Rogadinae) with their host records, Zootaxa 3904 (4), pp. 501-540 : 513-515

Triraphis defectus Valerio , sp. nov.

Figures 5 , 29–34 , 107 .

Description. Female. Body color: light yellow; antennal basal 1/3 dark brownish yellow as tarsal claws; scape and pedicel with dorsal area yellow as metasoma terga (except first metasomal tergum and second metasomal tergum medial 2/3 whitish yellow), remainder brownish yellow as tarsomeres; legs honey yellow. Fore wing: 1 – 1A brownish yellow as M+CU, C+SC+R yellow; hind wing: union of veins 1M,r – m, 2M brownish yellow, remainder veins yellow. Wings hyaline. Body length = 6.81 – 7.81 mm; fore wing length = 6.00 – 6.67 mm.

Head: Head height/head length = 1.25 – 1.33; maximum height of compound eye/maximum width of compound eye = 1.52 – 1.58; distance between basal edges of tentorial pits and the basal area of toruli/Maximum width of face measured at dorsal edge of clypeus = 0.98 – 1.08; width of vertex/minimal distance between toruli and the medial ocellus = 2.25 – 2.18; width of oral opening/height of oral opening = 1.84 – 2.13; distance between tentorial pits = 0.22 – 0.24 mm; minimal distance between external edge of tentorial pits and compound eye = 0.08 – 0.10 mm. Antenna, flagellomeres all longer than wide, between 35 – 61; malar space as wide as basal width of mandible; occipital carina present dorsally, not divided and fused with hypostomal carina; median ocellus as big as Lateral ocellus; space between lateral ocellus black; ocell-ocular distance slightly bigger than 1/3 Lateral ocellus width.

Mesosoma: Length of mesosoma in dorsal view/width of mesosoma = 2.82 – 3.28; height of mesosoma = 1.35 – 1.65 mm; propleuron dorso-lateral area with basal 2/3 granulate, nitid; notauli finally punctate, less defined medially; medial longitudinal pit present and smooth, without longitudinal punctate sculpturing; sternauli finely striate as union with prepectal carina, area below with few less defined colliculate sculpturing; mesopleuron immaculate except dorso-lateral area with few rugose sculpturing; metapleuron granulate, ventral 1/2 with rugose sculpturing; propodeum with sculpturing and carinae weakly defined; spiracles sub – oval; first lateral areas of propodeum with light areolate-rugulose sculpturing; medial carina smaller than or equal to 1/5 Propodeum length; ventral tubercles present, with carinae over them and densely granulate.

Legs: basal lobe of hind tarsal claws elongate and acute at tip.

Wings: fore wing: 1Cub/RS+Ma = 1.06 – 1.08; 3RSa/1RS = 3.44 – 4.46; pterostigma length/width = 2.18 – 2.31; r = 0.29 – 0.35 mm. hind wing: 1M/r – m = 2.36 – 2.76; 1A/cu – a = 1.60 – 1.77; m+cu = 0.88 – 0.97 mm; m+cu interstitial with 2RS; 2RS straight; angle at union of veins 2RS – 2M wide; pterostigma yellow.

Metasoma: Length of first metasomal tergum/width of first metasomal tergum = 1.30 – 1.55; length of second metasomal tergum/width of second metasomal tergum = 0.80 – 0.82; length of third metasomal tergum/width of third metasomal tergum = 0.38 – 0.36; basal width of first metasomal tergum = 0.47 – 0.53 mm; hypopygium = 0.73 – 0.84 mm. first metasomal tergum dorso – basal triangular area of first metasomal tergum close with carinae present, medial carina cristate throughout; first metasomal tergum lineate sculpturing as second metasomal tergum sculpturing; third metasomal tergum lineate sculpturing finer, closer and less conspicuous than second metasomal tergum sculpturing, not reaching third metasomal tergum distal edge; fourth metasomal tergum with very fine lineate sculpturing.

Male. Similar to females.

Female holotype. Costa Rica, Guanacaste, ACG, sector Santa Rosa, Bosque San Emilio, 26/vi/1991, Col. D.J. Janzen. Paratypes: 3 females, 1 male; Guanacaste, ACG, Sector Santa Rosa: Río Calera, Manglar, 11/vi/1996, Col. D.H. Janzen; Bosque San Emilio, 25/vii/1996, Col. D.H. Janzen; 1 male same data except date, 8/vii/1993. The specimen with voucher number 96 – SRNP – 208.13 provided by D.H. Janzen does not have locality or date of collection.

Holotype and paratypes have been deposited at the RMSEL.

Distribution. The altitudinal distribution of this species is Pacific lowlands. The type of forest present at site of collecting was tropical dry forest.

Biology. Specimens reared from limacodid larvae feeding on Casearia corymbosa (Flacourtiaceae) ; Parasa wellesca (Limacodidae) feeding on Annona reticulata (Annonaceae) ; Vipsania rosabella (Limacodidae) feeding on Conocarpus erecta (Combretaceae) ; and male reared from limacodid larva feeding on Exostema mexicanum (Rubiaceae) .

Comments. This species is similar to Triraphis melasops by the almost unsculptured propodeum, but can be identified from all other species by the notauli punctulate throughout, the yellow head, the lack of infumate wing pattern and the diffused/weakly sculpturing and carinae present on the propodeum.

Etymology. This species is named for the weak sculpturing present at the propodeum; “ defectus ” in Latin means weakened.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Ocell-ocular distance for: 1, Triraphis cortazari; 2, T. guarusa; 3, T. simphlex; 4, T. balteus; 5, T. defectus; 6, T. paraholos. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURE 29 – 34. Triraphis defectus, 29, dorsal habitus; 30, lateral habitus; 31, mesosoma, dorsal view; 32, mesosoma, lateral view; 33, head, anterior view; 34, metasoma, dorsal view. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURE 101 – 108. Wing venation and wing pattern for: 101, Triraphis balteus; 102, T. fusciceps (Cresson); 103, T. chinusi; 104, T. guarusa; 105, T. cortazari; 106, T. ikelops; 107, T. defectus and 108, T. melasops.