Triraphis ikelosops 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 : 521-523

Triraphis ikelosops Valerio , sp. nov.

Figures 10 , 53–58 , 106 .

Description. Female. Body color: yellow, with antenna basal 1/3 dark brown as scape and pedicel; head brownish yellow as tarsal claws, telotarsus; hind coxae honey yellow as fore and hind femur. Fore wing: 1 – 1A basal tip as M+CU distal tip black, remainder yellow; infumate area at pterostigma (as a band) and at vein 1 – CUa as an irregular spot; hind wing: union of veins 1M, r – m, 2M brownish yellow, remainder yellow, wing hyaline. Body length = 6.93 mm; fore wing length = 5.78 mm.

Head: Head height/head length = 1.34; maximum height of compound eye/maximum width of compound eye = 1.46; distance between basal edges of tentorial pits and the basal area of toruli/Maximum width of face measured at dorsal edge of clypeus = 1.13; width of vertex/minimal distance between toruli and the medial ocellus = 2.95; width of oral opening/height of oral opening = 1.89; distance between tentorial pits = 0.55 mm; minimal distance between external edge of tentorial pits and compound eye = 0.07 mm. Antenna with 47 flagellomeres all longer than wide; malar space slightly narrower than basal width of mandible; occipital carina present and divided dorsally, not fused with hypostomal carina, clearly separated; median ocellus as big as Lateral ocellus; space between lateral ocellus black; ocell-ocular distance 1/3 Lateral ocellus width.

Mesosoma: Length of mesosoma in dorsal view/width of mesosoma = 2.76; height of mesosoma = 1.53 mm; propleuron dorso-lateral area basally with defined colliculate sculpturing, remainder nitid; notauli laterally punctulate; medial longitudinal pit?; mesonotum nitid; sternauli punctulate, union with prepectal carina mostly absent with scattered striate sculpturing when present, area below with less defined colliculate sculpturing; mesopleuron immaculate except dorso-lateral area with rugose sculpturing, remainder mesonotum with less defined colliculate present; metapleuron granulate, ventral 1/3 with rugose sculpturing present; propodeum with finely granulate sculpturing, spiracles sub – oval; first lateral areas of propodeum with light areolate-rugulose sculpturing, remainder with spaced areolate-rugulose sculpturing; medial carina <1/4 Propodeum length; areola triangular; ventral tubercles present without carinae over them and densely granulate.

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

Wings: fore wing: 1Cub/RS+Ma = 1.12; 3RSa/1RS = 4.13; pterostigma length/width = 1.71; r = 0.35 mm. hind wing: 1M/r – m = 1.66; 1A/cu – a = 1.64; m+cu = 0.81 mm; m+cu interstitial with 2RS; 2RS bent to wing base; angle at union of veins 2RS – 2M acute; pterostigma black with tips yellow.

Metasoma: Length of first metasomal tergum/width of first metasomal tergum = 0.75; length of second metasomal tergum/width of second metasomal tergum = 0.93; length of third metasomal tergum/width of third metasomal tergum = 0.40; basal width of first metasomal tergum = 0.53 mm; hypopygium = 0.69 mm. first metasomal tergum dorso – basal triangular area of first metasomal tergum close with carinae present, medial carina cristate at basal 1/3; first metasomal tergum lineate sculpturing more spaced and sinuate than second metasomal tergum sculpturing; second metasomal tergum lineate sculpturing denser than first metasomal tergum sculpturing; third metasomal tergum lineate sculpturing as dense as second metasomal tergum sculpturing, but finer, nearer and less conspicuous, not reaching third metasomal tergum distal edge; fourth metasomal tergum without lineate sculpturing.

Male. Unknown.

Female holotype. Costa Rica, Heredia, Estac. Biol. La Selva, 10.28N / 84.01W, 50 – 150 m. iv/1996, Col. INBio – OET. Holotype deposited at the RMSEL.

Distribution. The altitudinal distribution of this species is lowlands. The type of forest present at site of collecting was tropical moist/wet forest.

Biology. Specimens reared from a larva of Arawakis sp. ( Lycaenidae ) feeding on Solanum jamaicense (Solanaceae) .

Comments. Type specimen with notauli partially covered by the entomological pin. This species is similar to Triraphis melasops and T. willei by the head light brown/brownish yellow, the acute angle at union of veins 2RS – 2M and the union of veins 1M, r – m, 2M brownish yellow, but can be identified by the ocell-ocular distance that is 1/3 of lateral ocellus width, the carinae of propodeum well-defined and the fore wing ratio of veins 1M/r – m greater than 2.4x.

Etymology. This species name is based on the head color similarity with T. melasops ; “ ikelosops ” in Greek means “similar” face.

Figures

FIGURE 7 – 12. Triraphis sicbaios, 7, head, dorsal view; 8, T. fasciipennis, ovipositor, lateral view; 9, T. fusciceps, ovipositor, lateral view; 10, T. ikelopsops ovipositor, lateral view; 11, T. simphlex, ovipositor, lateral view; 12, T. willei, ovipositor, lateral view. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURE 53 – 58. Triraphis ikelopsops, 53, dorsal habitus; 54, lateral habitus; 55, mesosoma, dorsal view; 56, mesosoma, lateral view; 57, head, anterior view; 58, 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.