Cotesia rufiventris ( Bingham, 1906 )

Fagan-Jeffries, Erinn P. & Austin, Andrew D., 2020, Synopsis of the parasitoid wasp genus Cotesia Cameron, 1891 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) in Australia, with the description of seven new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 667 (667), pp. 1-70 : 48-51

Cotesia rufiventris ( Bingham, 1906)

Figs 3B , 28

Protapanteles rufiventris Bingham, 1906: 127 (lectotype, ♀, OXUM).

Apanteles rufiventris – Wilkinson 1928a: 104 (transferred to Apanteles and redescription).

Cotesia rufiventris – Austin & Dangerfield 1992: 22 (transferred from Apanteles s.l., lectotype designation).

Diagnosis

Cotesia rufiventris can be separated from all other species of Cotesia currently described from Australia and Papua New Guinea by the following combination of characters: T1 evenly broadening towards posterior margin, almost wedge shaped; scutellar disk smooth with shallow punctures associated with setae; mesosoma not dorsoventrally flattened; hind coxa and metasoma significantly paler than mesosoma, dorsal metasoma light brown to yellow.

Material examined

Paralectotype

AUSTRALIA • ♀; Queensland; F.P. Dodd leg.; 1902-319; NHMUK .

Other material

AUSTRALIA • 1 ♀; Queensland, 14 km WSW of Torrens Creek; 20.80502° S, 144.88722° E; emg. 20 May 2009; M.F. Braby and N. Collier leg.; reared from larva of Ogyris zosine Hewitson, 1853 (Lep: Lycaenidae ) coll. 9 May 2009; ANIC 32 130299 .

Redescription

Female (from paralectotype)

COLOUR. Head and mesosoma dark, antenna and T1 light brown, rest of metasoma pale to light brown to orange; (fore-, mid-, hind coxa) pale, pale, pale; femora (fore-, mid-, hind femur) pale, pale, pale; tibiae (fore-, mid-, hind tibia) pale, pale, light brown; tegula and humeral complex pale; pterostigma light brown; fore wing veins light brown.

BODY LENGTH. Head to apex of metasoma: 3.0 mm.

HEAD. Antenna approximately equal to body length; OOL/posterior ocellus diameter 1.6; POL/posterior ocellus diameter 2.1; antennal flagellomere 2 length/width 3.1; antennal flagellomere 14 length/width 1.8.

MESOSOMA. Anteromesoscutum punctate reticulate, denser along lines of notauli; number of pits in scutoscutellar sulcus 13; scutellar disc with shallow punctures associated with setae; maximum height of mesoscutellum lunules/maximum height of lateral face of mesoscutellum 0.6.

WINGS. Fore wing length 2.9 mm; length of veins r/2RS 1.8; length of veins 2RS/2M 1.0; length of veins 2M/(RS+M)b 0.8; pterostigma length/width 2.5.

LEGS. Hind tibia inner spur length/metabasitarsus length 0.6.

PROPODEUM. Medial carina distinct but only in posterior half, absent in centre of propodeum, rest of propodeum irregularly rugose, other than carinae around spiracles, rugosity much less defined than medial carina.

METASOMA. T1 length /T1 width at posterior margin 1.1; broadening posteriorly, with curved posterior corners, smooth and shiny, some very shallow punctate reticulate sculpturing in posterior third; T2 width at posterior margin/ T2 length 2.5, trapezoid shaped with curved lateral sides, very shallow indistinct sculpturing; T2 length /T3 length 0.7; T3 sculpture smooth and shiny; ovipositor sheaths length/hind tibial length 0.17.

Male

Not examined (nor examined by Wilkinson 1928a), male described by Bingham (1906) as slightly shorter with abdomen shorter and more truncate posteriorly.

Distribution

Only known from Queensland.

Host

Ogyris zosine (Lycaenidae) , gregarious. Record from Dodd (1906) and examined material.

Figures

Fig. 3. A. Cotesia ruficrus (Haliday, 1834), scutellar disk (ANIC 32 130230). B. C. rufiventris (Bingham, 1906), scutellar disk (paralectotype NHMUK).

Fig. 28. Cotesia rufiventris (Bingham, 1906), paralectotype, ♀ (NHMUK). A. Mesosoma in dorsal view and T1–3 B. Habitus in dorsal view and fore wing C. Habitus in lateral view.