Taphaeus pseudohiator Yan

Yan, Cheng-Jin, Achterberg, Van & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2012, The genus Taphaeus Wesmael, 1835 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Helconinae) from China with description of a new species, Zootaxa 3519, pp. 85-88 : 85-86

Taphaeus pseudohiator Yan , van Achterberg et Chen, sp. n.

( Figures 1–9 )

Material examined. Holotype: Ƥ, China, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Longde Liupan Mountain Sutai tree farm, 2100m, 22.VI.2008, Liu Jingxian, No. 200902146 ( ZJUH). Paratypes: 2Ƥ 1033, 22.VI.2008, China, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Longde Liupan Mountain Sutai tree farm, 2100m, Liu Jingxian, No. 200902124, 200902150, 200902157, 200902156, 200902154, 200902147, 200902142, 200902136, 200902129, 200902134, 200902151, 200902125; 2Ƥ 13, China, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Longde Liupan Mountain Sutai tree farm, 2100m, 23.VI.2008, Zhang Tingting, No. 200902345, 200902343, 200902347; 13, China, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Longde Liupan Mountain Sutai tree farm, 2100m, 23–24.VI.2008, Liu Jingxian, No. 200903091; 1Ƥ13, China, Hebei Prov., Small Wutai Mountain Dongling Mountain, 2100m, 21.VIII.2005, Zhang Hongying, No. 200608085, 200508021 ( ZJUH).

Description. Holotype, female, body length (excluding ovipositor sheath) 4.5 mm, length of extended part of ovipositor 3.5 mm, fore wing length 4.5 mm.

Head. Antennal segments 26; length of third segment 0.8 times fourth segment; length of third, fourth and penultimate segments 2.9, 4.2 and 1.1 times their width, respectively. Maxillary palp 6-segmented; labial palp 3- segmented; length of maxillary palp 1.1 times height of head. Frons punctate laterally, punctate-striate medially. Length of eye 1.3 times temple in dorsal view. Malar suture distinct. Length of malar space 0.6 times basal width of mandible, 0.2 times maximum width of eye. POL: OD: OOL=9: 5: 16. Vertex and temple sparsely punctate and shiny ( Fig. 3 ). Face 0.5 times as high as wide and 1.5 times as wide as eye height and 0.6 times as wide as head. Face shiny below, variably punctate and with a few transverse aciculation near antennal sockets, only slightly elevated centrally. Tentorial pits distinct, distance between pits 1.5 times from pit to eye. Clypeus almost smooth, convex, distinctly separated from face by epistomal suture, its apical margin round ( Fig. 2 ).

Mesosoma. Length 1.6 times as long as its height in lateral view. Side of pronotum crenulate, postero-ventrally sparsely punctate ( Fig. 7 ). Mesoscutum punctate, shiny. Notauli wide and deep, crenulate, with a medial carina posteriorly ( Fig. 8 ). Scutellum densely punctate, with several striae posteriorly. Prepectal carina distinct. Precoxal sulcus deep, crenulate ( Fig. 7 ). Scutellar sulcus with one carina. Metanotum without a complete median carina. Propodeum punctate baso-laterally, remainder irregularly rugose-punctate, with an irregularly longitudinal carina anteriorly ( Fig. 6 ).

Wings. Fore wing about 3 times as long as wide. Pterostigma twice as long as wide. 1-M straight. r: 3-SR: SR1=5: 9: 58. 2-SR: 3-SR: r-m=19: 7: 12. 1-M: m-cu=29: 12. SR1 almost straight. cu-a inclivous, postfurcal ( Fig. 5 ). 1-CU1 short. r-m inclivous. Hind wing, 1-M: 1r-m=6: 3. cu-a almost vertical ( Fig. 4 ).

Legs. Length of fore tarsus 1.1 times fore tibia. Length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 4, 8 and 7 times their width, respectively. Length of outer and inner hind tibial spur 0.4 and 0.3 times basitarsus, respectively. Metasoma. First tergite widened posteriorly, rugose-reticulate, dorsal carinae distinct in basal 0.5 times of tergite ( Fig. 9 ). Length of first tergite 1.1 times its apical width. Second tergite medio-basally obscurely punctate, remainder smooth. Third tergite and following tergites smooth and shiny. Ovipositor sheath 1.8 times as long as metasoma, 2.3 times as long as hind tibia, twice as long as mesosoma, and 0.8 times as long as fore wing.

Colour. Black. Palpi and tegula whitish yellow. Antennal scapus, pedicel, 1st–4th flagellomeres, clypeus, mandible, pronotum, propleuron and mesoscutum yellowish brown. First tergite apico-laterally, second tergite baso-medially and first-third abdominal sterna light reddish brown. Legs (except tarsi brown), rest of second tergite and basal half of third tergite yellow. Rest of metasoma reddish brown. Pterostigma and ovipositor sheath dark brown. Wing membrane faintly darkened fumose, veins light brown to brown.

Variation. Body length (excluding ovipositor sheath) 3.7–4.5 mm, length of extended part of ovipositor 3–3.5 mm, fore wing length 4.1–4.5 mm. Sometimes length of first tergite 1.3 times its apical width.

Male: Similar to females in colour, sculpture and morphometrics except the following: body length 3.5–4.7 mm; antennal segments 25–26; fore wing, r: 3-SR: SR1=7: 10: 83; first metasomal tergite 1.2–1.4 times as long as wide; sometimes the first-fourth tergites yellow.

Diagnosis. This new species is morphologically similar to T. hiator (Thunberg, 1824) , but differs in having the apical margin of the clypeus round (the latter truncate); length of the eye in dorsal view 1.3 times the temple (the latter almost equal) and the ovipositor sheath longer, about 0.8 times as long as body (the latter 0.7 times).

Distribution. China (Ningxia, Hebei).

Etymology. Pseudo means false in Latin, refers to this species very similar to T. hiator

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 9. Taphaeus pseudohiator, sp. n. 1. habitus, lateral aspect; 2. head, frontal aspect; 3. head, dorsal aspect; 4. hind wing; 5. fore wing; 6. propodeum, dorsal aspect; 7. mesosoma, lateral aspect; 8. mesonotum, dorsal aspect; 9. first and basal second abdominal tergites, dorsal aspect. Scale bar: 5 mm.