Apanteles longidiscus Liu & Chen, 2020

Liu, Zhen, He, Jun-Hua, Chen, Xue-Xin & Gupta, Ankita, 2020, The ater-group of the genus Apanteles Foerster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from China with the descriptions of forty-eight new species, Zootaxa 4807 (1), pp. 1-205 : 111-113

Apanteles longidiscus Liu & Chen , sp. nov.

( Figures 53 , 101 )

Description. Holotype. Female. Body length 2.8 mm, fore wing length 3.4 mm.

Head. Transverse in dorsal view, 2.0× as wide as long, nearly as wide as mesoscutum. Vertex between eye and posterior ocellus slightly shiny, rough without punctures. Temple rough, uneven with shallow punctures, not constricted. Face 0.8× as high as wide, dull with hairy bumps, inner margin of eyes parallel-sided. Ocelli large, posterior tangent to anterior ocellus touching posterior ocelli, distance between fore and hind ocellus slightly shorter than diameter of hind ocellus, POL:OD:OOL=5.0:3.0:5.2. Antenna almost as long as body length, loosely articulated, penultimate flagellomere about 1.6× longer than wide.

Mesosoma. Length:width:height = 57.0:34.0:38.0. Disc of mesonotum rather long, 0.9× as long as wide, densely pubescent, dull with tiny sparse punctures, interspaces much larger than diameter of puncture, no trace of rugosity between punctures at posterior end of notaulic courses. Scutellar sulcus nearly straight, extremely narrow with dense carinae inside. Scutellum slightly shiny and smooth entirely, except for some indefinite punctures laterally, median length indistinctly longer than basal width. Lateral polished field of scutellum reaching half length of scutellum. Propodeum shiny, long, areola indefinite by rugosity, depressed with some short transversal carinae inside, without costulae, spiracle enclosed by hind keels, elsewhere shiny, polished, save for some carinae posterior later- ally. Mesopleuron shiny, anterior parts shallowly and sparsely punctate.

Legs. Hind femur thick, 2.8× longer than wide. Hind coxa rough with extremely shallow punctures above (basally). Spines on outer side of third tibia relatively dense. Inner spurs of hind tibia fully half length of hind basitarsus, outer spur 1/3. Basitarsus of hind leg about as long as tarsomeres 2–4 combined, claws of normal size.

Wings. Pterostigma 3.3× as long as its widest part. Vein 1-R11.2× longer than pterostigma, 5.3× as long as its distance from apex of marginal cell. Vein r arising from middle of pterostigma, perpendicular to the latter, 1.3× longer than width of pterostigma, 1.4× longer than 2-SR, indistinctly angled at junction, 2-M 2/3 as long as 2-SR, the latter as long as m-cu, 1-SR slightly shorter than 2-SR+M, the latter almost as long as 2-M. First discal cell of fore wing weakly wider than high. Second submarginal cell of hind wing as wide as high. Vein cu-a strongly curved at apical half, slightly longer than 1-1A. Hind wing broad, length of 1-M distinctly shorter than distance between its distal extremity and apex of vannal lobe, and vannal lobe beyond its widest part nearly straight and hairless.

Metasoma. 1.2× longer than mesosoma. T1 nearly parallel-sided, long, 2.4× longer than hind width, concave at basal two-fifths, turned-over part dull, subrugoso-punctate laterally, longitudinal channel narrow with regular transversal carinae inside, and apical tubercle polished. T2 slightly shiny, weakly uneven with indefinite punctures posterio-laterally, trapezoid, 3.0× wider than long in the middle, slightly curved into T3 apically. T3 2.4× longer than T2. Tergites posterior to T2 shiny, smooth and pubescent. Hypopygium not longer than apex of metasoma. Ovipositor sheath 1.4× longer than length of hind tibia, relatively wide, hairs long and dense, apical attenuation of ovipositor indistinct and short.

Colour. Black. Tegula dark brown. Palpi and spurs white. Antenna and ovipositor sheath dark brown. Labrum and mandible dark brown. Legs dark brown to black, except apex of fore femur, fore tibia with tarsus, extreme apex of mid femur, mid tibia with tarsus, and extreme basal part of hind tibia bright yellow. Wing membrane hyaline, C+SC+R, 1-R1, border of pterostigma, r, 2-SR and 2-M light yellowish brown, other alar veins more or less pale yellowish brownish, pterostigma pale yellowish.

Male. Body length 1.8–1.9 mm, fore wing length 2.6 mm. Similar to female mostly, except: T1 more constrict- ed apically; T1 without longitudinal channel and mostly shiny and smooth; T2 subtriangular and smooth; punctures on hind of mesoscutum fade out; and legs darker (last seven segments missing).

Host. According to the label, Malacosoma neustria testacea Motsch.

Material examined. Holotype: 1♀, Liaoyang, Liaoning, 1991.VI, Wei Hua , ex Malacosoma neustria testacea Motsch, No. 9612011 . Paratypes: 2♂♂, ditto .

Distribution. China (Liaoning).

Etymology. The specific name “ longidiscus ” derives from the Latin “longi-” and “ discus ”, referring to the disc of mesonotum rather long.

Remarks. This species is very similar to A. prominens Liu & Chen , sp. nov., but differs in the following: T1 2.4× longer than hind width (hardly 2.0× in latter); ovipositor sheath 1.4× longer than length of hind tibia (nearly 1.2× in latter); and T2 over half length of T3 (not half in latter).

Figures

FIGURE 53. Apanteles longidiscus Liu & Chen, sp. nov. Holotype. a. habitus, lateral view; b. hind wing; c. mesopleuron; d. propodeum; e. head, dorsal view; f. metasoma, dorsal view; g. mesonotum and scutellum, dorsal view; h. head, frontal view. Scale line = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 101. 48–59: Distribution map of ater-group of the genus Apanteles Foerster, 1862. 48: A. latericarinatus Song & Chen, 2001; 49: A. lateroglabris Liu & Chen, sp. nov.; 50: A. latisulca Chen & Song, 2004; 51: A. Apanteles limus Liu & Chen, sp. nov.; 52: A. longicoxa Liu & Chen, sp. nov.; 53: A. longidiscus Liu & Chen, sp. nov.; 54: A. longirostris Chen & Song, 2004; 55: A. lunata Song & Chen, 2004; 56: A. magastigma Liu & Chen, sp. nov; 57: A. masoni Chen & Song, 2004; 58: A. medon Nixon, 1965; 59: A. muscosalis Liu & Chen, sp. nov.