Apanteles (Choeras) flavicorpus Song & Chen

Song, Sheng-Nan, He, Jun-Hua & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2014, The subgenus Choeras Mason, 1981 of genus Apanteles Foerster, 1862 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from China, with descriptions of eighteen new species, Zootaxa 3754 (5), pp. 501-554 : 514-516

Apanteles (Choeras) flavicorpus Song & Chen , sp. n.

( Figure 5. a–j )

Description. Female. Length of body 2.6 mm, of fore wing 2.7 mm.

Head. 1.7 times as wide as long, wider than the width of mesoscutum. Antenna with 18 segments, distinctly longer than the body, segments normally setose apically and sparsely setose basally, subapical antennal segments slightly elongated, length of 16th segment 0.9 times as long as 15th segment, length of third segment 1.1 times as long as fourth segment, length of third, fourth, 15th, 16th and penultimate segments 3.0, 2.9, 1.5, 1.6 and 1.6 times as long as their width, respectively. In dorsal view length of eye 1.2 times as long as temple. Ocellar triangle smooth and shiny, finely pubescent. Ocelli large, their diameter larger than the distance between the hind and fore ocellus, closer to each other than to the eyes, and ocelli in a moderately high triangle, the posterior transverse tangent to the median ocellus hardly touching the posterior pair. OOL: OD: POL = 13: 6: 9. Frons smooth and distinctly concave medially, narrowly punctulate and setose laterally and posteriorly. Clypeus densely punctulate and setose, softly shiny. Temple and vertex rather finely pubescent, shiny. Face distinctly punctulate and rather shiny, with distinct median longitudinal carina. Labrum smooth and sparsely setose. Length of malar space 0.8 times as long as basal width of mandible.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.4 times as long as its height. Side of pronotum finely rugose, sparsely setose and with a ventral furrow which with a few longitudinal carinae. Propleuron smooth. Prepectal carina completely absent. Precoxal sulcus very finely crenulate, almost 0.3 times as long as mesopleuron. Mesopleuron distinctly smooth and glabrous, but punctulate and setose dorsally and anteriorly. Mesoscutum densely punctulate but indistinct posteriorly, softly shiny and densely setose. Notauli absent. Scutellar sulcus very wide, its width about 1.1 times as long as scutellum, with visible and distinct crenulation. Scutellum almost flat and sparsely punctulate, with smooth and strongly shiny band postero-laterally. Side of scutellum with wide crenulate depression, lunula smooth and small-sized, transverse and almost linear. Propodeum largely and faintly rugose but rugose anterio-laterally, with a rugose median band which with a strong median carina.

Wings. Fore wing evenly covered with light brownish setae, denser towards the apex. Pterostigma relatively wide, 2.6 times as long as width. Vein 1-R1 1.6 times as long as pterostigma and about 6.8 times as long as the distance from it to the top of marginal cell. Vein r 0.9 times as long as 2-SR and slightly curved, vein r arising beyond the middle of pterostigma and shorter than breadth of pterostigma. Vein 2-SR straight. Stub of vein r-m of fore wing short, resulting in an open second areolet. 1-CU1: 2-CU1= 8: 11. Vein 1-SR pointing to the junction of 1- CU1 and 2-CU1. Hind wing evenly covered with brown setae. Vein cu-a strongly curved. Edge of vannal lobe beyond its widest part straight and here without a fringe of hairs.

Legs. Hind coxa rather sparsely punctulate dorsally and laterally, but densely punctulate ventrally. Length of hind coxa about equal to half of thorax. Tarsal claws setose. Longer spur of middle tibia not reaching apex of middle basitarsus. Length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 3.7, 5.6 and 4.4 times as long as their width, respectively. Length of hind tibial spurs 0.5 and 0.4 times as long as hind basitarsus respectively. Hind femur moderately sparsely punctulate and setose.

Metasoma. Tergite I quadrangular, less narrowed apically, lateral sides largely straight and apical half slightly concave, its basal width 2.0 times as long as its apical width which is equal to median length of tergite II; basal half with a wide and shallow excavation which is smooth and shiny, the remainder rugose and coarsely sculptured. Tergite II transversely subrectangular, apical side almost straight which is 2.8 times as long as basal width and its length; medially smooth and rugose laterally, rather sparsely punctulate posteriorly. Tergite III mat and sparsely setose, longer than tergite II. Remaining tergites smooth and sparsely setose. Ovipositor sheath sparsely hairy, very slender at base, but broadening conspicuously toward apex, length of it (total length) 0.8 times as long as hind tibia. Hypopygium subhyaline and largely sclerotized but membranous only near the median line, tightly folded along the middle line, with longitudinal creases laterally, acute apically.

Colour. Black. Head yellow. Face, mandible, clypeus and labrum yellow. Scape yellow but brown ventrally. Pedicel yellow. Flagellum yellowish brown basal segments and remainder brown. Ocellar triangle much darker than other area. Mesosoma yellow but strong median longitudinal carina of propodeum dark brown. Wing membrane hyaline. Pterostigma and veins of fore wings brown, except 1-SR, 1-SR+M and 1-M yellowish. Veins of hind wings weakly pigmented. Fore and middle legs yellow except distal tarsi black. Hind coxa, trochanter and femur yellow, remainder part of hind leg yellowish brown. Tibial spurs yellow. Basal 0.6 part of tergite I yellowish brown, the remainder blackish brown. Tergite II brown medially and blackish-brown laterally. Remaining tergites yellow with indefinite brown streaks. Ovipositor yellow, its sheath yellow basally and yellowish brown apically.

Variation. Body length 1.8–2.6 mm. Fore wing length 2.0– 2.7 mm. The paratype with the same characteristics as holotype, but slightly different in colour pattern.

Biology. Unknown

Material examined. Holotype, ♀, China, Hainan Prov., Jianfengling, 2007. VI. 4–7, Zeng Jie, No. 200711070 ( ZJUH). Paratypes (all in ZJUH): 1♀, China, Hainan Prov., Wuzhishan, 2007. V. 16–20, Liu Jingxian, No. 200703166; 1♀, China, Hainan Prov., Jianfengling, 2007. VI. 5–7, Xiao Bin, No. 200806892; 1♀, China, Hainan Prov., Wuzhishan, Shuimanxiang, 2007. V. 15–20, Weng Liqiong, No. 200803861; 1♀, China, Hainan Prov., Jianfengling, 2007. VI. 7, Liu Jingxian, No. 200702409; 1♀, China, Yunnan Prov., Hekou, Nanxizhen, 2003. VII. 20–21, Xu Zaifu, No. 20055218.

Distribution. China (Hainan, Yunnan) ( Fig. 21 ).

Remark. The new species is similar to Apanteles (Choeras) ruficornis (Nees, 1834) , but can be distinguished by the subapical antennal segments slightly elongated (the latter at least three preapical segments more or less cubic); the longer spur of middle tibia not reaching apex of middle basitarsus (the latter almost reaching apex of middle basitarsus); and the edge of vannal lobe beyond its widest part without a fringe of hairs (the latter with distinct fringe throughout).

Etymology. The specific name “ flavicorpus ” derives from the Latin adjective “flavus” and noun “corpus”, referring to the yellow shiny body.

Figures

FIGURE 21. Distribution map of Choeras species in China II. ●: Apanteles (Choeras) flavicorpus Song & Chen, sp. n.; ■: Apanteles (Choeras) fujianensis Song & Chen, sp. n.; ▲: Apanteles (Choeras) grammatitergitus Song & Chen, sp. n.; Δ: Apanteles (Choeras) infirmicarinatus Song & Chen, sp. n.; ┼: Apanteles (Choeras) longitergitus Song & Chen, sp. n.; ○: Apanteles (Choeras) longus Song & Chen, sp. n..

FIGURE 5. a – j. Apanteles (Choeras) flavicorpus Song & Chen, sp. n. a, habitus, lateral view; b, antenna; c, fore wing; d, hind wing; e, head, dorsal view; f, head, frontal view; g, T 1 – T 3, dorsal view; h, mesosoma, dorsal view; i, metasoma, lateral view; j, mesosoma, lateral view.