Batotheca nigriceps ( Cameron, 1897 )

Gupta, Ankita, Achterberg, Cornelis Van, Reddy, P. Maheshwara & Sushil, S. N., 2024, Review of the subtribe Spinariina van Achterberg (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) from India with description of one new species, Zootaxa 5399 (4), pp. 347-364 : 357

Batotheca nigriceps ( Cameron, 1897)

( Figs 7–11 )

Spinaria nigriceps Cameron, 1897: 37 .

Batotheca nigriceps ; Shenefelt, 1978: 1459; van Achterberg, 2005: 68-69.

Material examined.— One female and one male on card; India: Karnataka: Rajankunte ; ex caterpillar feeding on Psidium guajava L.; 30.x.2008; coll. NBAIR; code—NIM/ NBAIR /Hym/Brac/Bato/301008 (NIM) .

Brief diagnosis.—Head and propodeum blackish; mesoscutum and scutellum yellowish-brown; fore and middle femora brownish-yellow; hind femur and tibia dark brown or blackish; propodeum with large punctures with some reticulate sculpture; metasoma with a blackish pattern.

Distribution.— China, India (Bihar, Karnataka, Kolkata, Sikkim), Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.

Biology. Both B. nigriceps specimens were reared from two separate caterpillars feeding on guava leaves which later turned into two solitary brown mummified caterpillars ( Fig. 12 ).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Batotheca nigriceps (Cameron)- Female in dorsal aspect.

FIGURE 8. Batotheca nigriceps- Female in lateral aspect.

FIGURE 9. Batotheca nigriceps Female. A. Head in frontal aspect, B. Head in dorsal aspect, C. Mesosoma in dorsal aspect, D. Mesopleuron, E. Wings, F. First tergite, G. Metasoma in dorsal aspect.

FIGURE 10. Batotheca nigriceps -Male in lateral aspect.

FIGURE 11. Batotheca nigriceps Male. A. Head and mesosoma in dorsal aspect, B. Metasoma in dorsal aspect.

FIGURE 12. Mummified caterpillars of Batotheca nigriceps, with opening of emergence of parasitoid.