Apanteles muscosalis 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 : 122-124

Apanteles muscosalis Liu & Chen , sp. nov.

( Figures 59 , 101 )

Description. Holotype. Female. Body length 1.8 mm, fore wing length 2.3 mm.

Head. Transverse in dorsal view, nearly 2.1× as wide as long, almost as wide as mesoscutum. Vertex between eye and posterior ocellus shiny, superficially punctate. Temple shiny and almost impunctate, strongly constricted. Face 0.8× as high as wide, shiny and smooth, shallowly punctate, inner margin of eyes, slightly but distinctly, constricted towards apex, sparsely pubescent. Ocelli not large, posterior tangent to anterior ocellus just touching posterior ocelli, distance between fore and hind ocellus as long as diameter of hind ocellus, POL:OD:OOL=4.0:2.0:4.0. Antenna slightly longer than body length, thin, weakly closely articulated, penultimate flagellomere 1.8× longer than wide.

Mesosoma. Length:width:height = 35.0:24.0:23.5. Disc of mesonotum highly shiny and smooth with shallow punctures disappearing at large posterior part, interspaces not smaller than diameter of puncture. Scutellar sulcus curved, wide and deeply foveate. Scutellum highly shiny and polished entirely, median length slightly longer than basal width. Lateral polished field of scutellum reaching half length of scutellum. Propodeum dull and rugose-punctate anterio-laterally, areolation well defined with V-shaped apex, costulae less strongly defined, shiny and polished inside areolation and posterio-laterally. Mesopleuron highly shiny, anterior part with shallow punctures.

Legs. Hind femur relatively thick, 2.7× longer than wide. Hind coxa somewhat shiny, almost impunctate above (basally). Spines on outer side of third tibia long and sparse. Inner spurs of hind tibia 2/5 length of hind basitarsus, outer spur 0.3. Basitarsus of hind leg weakly shorter than tarsomeres 2–4 combined (17.0:18.0), claws of normal size.

Wings. Pterostigma 3.2× as long as its widest part. Vein 1-R1 1.1× longer than pterostigma, 4.4× as long as its distance from apex of marginal cell. Vein r arising from middle of pterostigma, perpendicular to the latter, 1.2× longer than width of pterostigma, r 1.5× longer than 2-SR, distinctly angled at junction, 2-M 2/3 length of 2-SR and as long as 1-SR, 2-SR as long as 2-SR+M, and cu-a as long as width of pterostigma. First discal cell of fore wing weakly (1.1×) wider than high. Second submarginal cell of hind wing 1.5× wider than high. Vein cu-a straight. Hind wing narrow, length of 1-M hardly shorter than distance between its distal extremity and apex of vannal lobe, and vannal lobe beyond its widest slightly concave and without setae.

Metasoma. 0.9× as long as mesosoma. T1 parallel-sided, slightly constricted at apical fourth, long, 1.5× longer than hind width, concave at basal third, turned-over part distinctly longer than wide, slightly shiny and finely rugose medially, shiny and smooth apical third. T2 shiny and smooth, 3.7× wider than long in the middle, straight apically. T3 2.0× longer than T2. Tergites posterior to T2 shiny, smooth, pubescent. Hypopygium not longer than apex of metasoma. Ovipositor sheath 0.7× length of hind tibia.

Colour. Black. Tegula brown. Palpi and spurs pale yellowish. Antenna and ovipositor sheath yellowish brown. Labrum and mandible dark reddish brown. Legs bright yellow, except coxae all black, extreme apex of hind femur, apical half of hind tibia, and hind tarsus infuscate. Wing membrane hyaline, C+SC+R, 1-R1, border of pterostigma, r, 2-SR and 2-M pale yellowish brown, pterostigma and the rest more or less pale yellowish.

Variation. Body length 1.9–2.2 mm, fore wing length 2.4–2.7 mm.

Male. Body length 1.6–1.8 mm, fore wing length 2.2–3.0 mm. Similar to female, except: T1 longer, 2.1 longer than hind width; T2 narrower.

Host. According to the label, the parasitoid of Locastra muscosalis Walker.

Material examined. Holotype: 1♀, Yuhang, Zhejiang, 1972.IX.26, Xu Tiansen, No. 72011.7, ex Locastra muscosalis Walke . Paratypes: 1♀, Mt. Wuyi , Fujian, 2007.VIII.22–25, Zeng Jie, No. 200806224 ; 11♀♀ 13♂♂, Yuhang , Zhejiang, 1972.IX.26, Xu Tiansen, No. 72011.9, 72011.7, ex Locastra muscosalis Walker .

Distribution. China (Fujian, Zhejiang).

Etymology. The specific name “ muscosalis ” derives from its host Locastra muscosalis Walker.

Remarks. This species is similar to A. aglaus Nixon , but differs in the following: mesopleuron without rugosity (with a line of rugosity extending downwards into posterior impression of mesopleuron from subalar groove in latter); inner margin of eyes, slightly but distinctly, convergent (not at all convergent in latter); and vertex between eye and posterior ocellus shiny, superficially punctate (with distinct rugose-punctation in latter).

Figures

FIGURE 59. Apanteles muscosalis Liu & Chen, sp. nov. Holotype. a. habitus, dorsal view; b. mesonotum and scutellum, dorsal view; c. head, frontal view; d. propodeum; e. ovipositor sheath; f. mesopleuron; g. head, dorsal view; h. hind wing; i. metasoma, dorsal 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.