Paradelius neotropicalis Shimbori & Shaw, 2019

Shimbori, Eduardo M., Bortoni, Marco A., Shaw, Scott R., Souza-Gessner, Carolina Da S., Cerântola, Paula De C. M. & Penteado-Dias, Angélica M., 2019, Revision of the New World genera Adelius Haliday and Paradelius de Saeger (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Cheloninae: Adeliini), Zootaxa 4571 (2), pp. 151-200 : 190-193

Paradelius neotropicalis Shimbori & Shaw sp. n.

( Figs 114–121 )

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Type material. Holotype , ♀ (UWIM); top label: “ Costa Rica: San Jose / Cerro de la Muerte, 19 km / S. 3 W Empalme, 2600m / ii–iii.1993. Paul Hanson. Paratype, 1♂, same as holotype, IV–VII.1992. Description of holotype, ♀. Body length: 2.7 mm; fore wing length: 2.4 mm.

Color. Black. Scape apically, pedicel, outer side of first flagellomere, palpi, fore and mid legs with trochantellus, base and apex of femur, base of tibia and most of its inner side and spurs, hind legs limit of trochantellus and femur and base of tibia honey yellow. Wings hyaline with two fuscous bands medially separate by thin hyaline stripe, veins and stigma brown. Metasomal pleura and sheaths brown.

Head. Surface densely punctate; gena, clypeus and malar space weakly sculptured to smooth; face areolaterugulose. Malar suture present. Head 0.5× longer than wide in dorsal view. Frons 2× wider than long, virtually flat. Clypeus wide and convex, flat medially. Flagellum 18 segmented. Apical flagellomeres expanded anteriorly, distinctly wider than long, with denser patch of short setae. Antennae about long as the body. Scape 2.5× longer than wide, slightly longer than pedicel and first flagellomere combined. Eye height 3.6× longer than malar space.

Mesosoma. Pronotum with deep strongly crenulate ventral groove. Propleuron areolate-rugulose anteriorly and rugose-striate posteriorly. Mesoscutum and scutellum densely foveolate. Notauli absent. Scutellar sulcus narrow and deep, with 7 distinct divisions. Mesopleuron anteriorly shallowly foveolate and densely setose, with a polished and bar spot mid-posteriorly. Sternaulus strongly impressed and sinuate, extending throughout mesopleuron, crenulate rugose. Mesoscutellar trough and metanotum strongly rugose-costate. Propodeum strongly carinate rugose, only transversal and the lateral pair of carinae distinct. Metapleuron costate.

Wings. Fore wing vein r present, 2RS and 3RSa not connected with stigma, vein r 0.2× stigma height, R1 0.3× stigma length.

Legs. Inner spur of hind tibia 0.25× the hind tibia length. Mid coxa with wide transverse sulcus laterally. Hind coxa finely rugose dorsally, smooth and polished medially, ventrally covered with setae and weakly foveolaterugulose. Hind tibia enlarged apically, about as wide as hind femur, 4.5× longer than maximum width.

Metasoma. T1–3 entirely rugose-costate, basal area within dorsal carina on T1 areolate-rugose. T4–6 visible in dorsal view, smooth and polished. Spiracles on T1–2 close to lateral border, slightly more dorsal on T3. Line between T1 and 2 unclear. T1 and T2 shorter than its apical width. Groove separating T2 and 3 more distinct, crenulate medially. Hypopygium barely reaching apex of metasoma. Ovipositor sheaths very short; sheaths setose apically.

Male. Virtually identical to female. Body length 2.72 mm; fore wing length 2.55 mm.

Diagnosis. P. neotropicalis sp. n. resembles P. nigra in having the fore wing vein r present and by the mostly black body color. P. neotropicalis differs from P. nigra by the absence of a distinct groove separating T1 from T2, whereas in P. nigra the grooves between T1–2 and T2–3 are distinct and crenulate. Additionally, the propodeum in P. neotropicalis is entirely and strongly rugose, as compared with it being smooth except for carinae in P. nigra . The metapleuron is entirely costate in P. neotropicalis , as compared with the metapleuron being smooth anteriorly and rugose posteriorly in P. nigra .

Biology. The Malaise trap that yielded these specimens was situated in a pasture at the edge of a forest in the partial shade of a young oak tree (P. Hanson, pers. comm.). Since one other New World species, P. rubra , has been reared from leaf-miners on oak, this tree association might be significant.

Distribution. This species is known only from type locality in San Jose Province, Costa Rica, at a high elevation of 2,600 meters. Paul Hanson (pers. comm.) has verified that these specimens came from a Malaise trap situated at coordinates of 9° 39’ N, 83° 52’ W.

Etymology. This species is named after the Neotropical Region, as it is the first and only species known of that region so far.

Figures

FIGURES 114–121. Paradelius neotropicalis Shimbori & Shaw sp. n., holotype, ♀. 114, habitus, lateral; 115, head and mesonotum, dorsal; 116, mesosoma, lateral; 117, propodeum; 118, fore wing; 119, metasoma, lateral; 120, metasoma, dorsal; 121, head, frontal.