Meteorus monoceros, Almeida, Luis Felipe Ventura De & Dias, Angélica Maria Penteado, 2015

Almeida, Luis Felipe Ventura De & Dias, Angélica Maria Penteado, 2015, Five new species of Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) from Brazil, Zootaxa 4057 (2), pp. 231-247 : 239-241

Meteorus monoceros n. sp.

Figs 22–29 , 40

Diagnosis. Occipital carina incomplete; mandibles twisted; head height 1.62–1.71× eye height; frons smooth, with a protuberance bellow the median ocellus ( Fig. 23 ); wings infuscate; second submarginal cell of fore wing strongly narrowed anteriorly; notauli distinctive; mesonotal lobes black and punctate ( Fig. 26 ); propodeum yellow; hind coxa yellow with a black or brown stripe; dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite separated basally and joined apically; ovipositor 1.91–2.05× T1 length.

Body color. Antenna black; head orange, except area between ocelli black; propleuron yellow; pronotum dorsally black-dark brown, ventrally yellow; mesonotum black except orange area medially ( Fig. 26 ); mesopleuron, metapleuron and propodeum yellow; fore and mid legs yellow except telotarsus dark brown; hind legs yellow, except coxa with black stripe dorsally, trochanter and apical tip of tibia black, tarsus black except basal half of basitarsus yellowish ( Fig. 22 ); T1–T3 yellow T4–T8 black with lateral borders yellow ( Fig. 29 ); sterna yellow; wings infuscate.

Body length. 4.86 mm.

Head. Antenna with 30 flagellomeres; flagellomere length/width ratio as follows: F1 = 3.45; F2 = 2.72; F3 = 2.72; F28 = 2.22. F29 = 2.00; F30 = 2.88; head width 1.25× head height; head height 1.68× eye height; face maximum width 1.14× its minimum width; face minimum width 1.06× clypeus width ( Fig. 25 ); malar space length 0.90× mandible width basally; temple length 0.59× eye length in dorsal view; ocellar-ocular distance 1.33× ocellar diameter ( Fig. 24 ); occipital carina incomplete; vertex in dorsal view descending vertically behind the lateral ocelli; mandibles twisted; frons smooth, with a small protuberance below the median ocellus ( Fig. 23 ); face smooth; clypeus finely rugulose;

Mesosoma . Notauli distinctive; mesonotal lobes well defined ( Fig. 26 ); scutellar furrow with one carina; pronotum smooth, except medially carinate; propleuron smooth; notauli rugose-carinate; central lobe of mesoscutum punctate; mesopleuron puncticulate, except precoxal sulcus carinate; precoxal sulcus long and narrow; metapleuron smooth dorsally, carinate-rugulose ventrally; propodeum areolate-rugulose, with a median depression and without transversal and longitudinal carinae ( Fig. 27 ).

Legs. Tarsal claw simple; hind coxa punctate.

Wings. Fore wing: length 4.09 mm; vein r 1.71× length of vein 3 Rsa; vein 3 Rsa 0.37× length of vein r-m; second submarginal cell strongly narrowed anteriorly; vein m-cu antefurcal. Hind wing: vein 1M 1.83× length of vein cu-a 1.83; vein 1M 1.57× length of vein r-m.

Metasoma. Dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite separated basally and joined apically; first tergite costate, with costae almost parallel ( Fig. 28 ); remaining tergites smooth; ovipositor thickened basally and straight; ovipositor 1.77× T1 length.

Female variation. Body length 4.35–4.66 mm; antenna with 29–31 flagellomeres; T2–T3 brown dorsally; T3 black apically; stripe on hind coxa very faint, light brown; head width 1.26–1.31× head height; head height 1.62– 1.71× eye height; face maximum width 1.11–1.15× its minimum width; face minimum width 1.06–1.12× clypeus width; malar space length 0.80–0.91× mandible width basally; temple length 0.47–0.61× eye length in dorsal view; ocellar-ocular distance 1.27–1.50× ocellar diameter; tarsal claw simple, or with small lobe. Fore wing:

length 3.63–4.09 mm; vein r 1.83–2.16× length of vein 3 Rsa; vein 3 Rsa 0.30–0.43× length of vein r-m. Hind wing: vein 1M 1.71–1.89× length of vein cu-a; vein 1M 1.55–1.65× length of vein r-m; central lobe of mesoscutum with a weak median longitudinal carina; precoxal sulcus carinate, or carinate-rugulose; first tergite costate, with costae slightly convergent; ovipositor 1.91–2.05× T1 length.

Comments. Meteorus monoceros n. sp. is most similar to M. atlanticus n. sp, M. eaclidis and M. townsendi , all of which have an incomplete occipital carina, dorsope absent, second submarginal cell strongly narrowed anteriorly, twisted mandibles and notauli distinctive. Meteorus monoceros can be distinguished from all the previous species by having a protuberance on the frons and mesonotal lobes punctate and black. In the key provided by Aguirre et al. (2015) M. monoceros keys near M. papiliovorus Zitani , but can be easily separated by the presence of a protuberance on the frons and T1 yellow.

Holotype. 1 female, DCBU 13009 Ubatuba, SP, Brasil, PESM- Núcleo Picinguaba, Armadilha Malaise 2, S 23 20' 0.8'' W 44 49' 57.2", 09.xi.2009, Perioto, N. W. e eq. col.

Paratypes. 4 females, DCBU 0 7034 idem holotype except, Armadilha Malaise 1, S 23 20' 2.7'' W 44 49' 57.5", 18.xi.2010; DCBU 23083 idem holotype except, Armadilha Malaise Pto. 1, S 23 20' 2.7'' W 44 49' 57.5", 18.x.2010; DCBU 0 1559 Iguape, SP, Brasil, Estação Ecológica Jureia-Itatins, S 24 31' 19.8'' W 47 12' 0.8'', Armadilha Malaise 1, 19.i.2010, N. W. Perioto e eq.; DCBU 0 6969 idem holotype except, 18.xi.2010.

Distribution. Meteorus monoceros n. sp. occurs in Ubatuba and Iguape in the State of São Paulo, Brazil ( Fig. 40 ).

Etymology. This species is named in reference of its distinctive protuberance on the frons, resembling a small horn, the Latin word “ monoceros ” meaning unicorn.

Figures

FIGURES 22 – 29 Meteorus monoceros n. sp., female. 22. Lateral habitus. 23. Head, dorso-lateral view, arrow showing protuberance on the frons. 24. Head, dorsal view. 25. Head, frontal view. 26. Mesoscutum, dorsal view. 27. Propodeum, dorsal view. 28. T 1, dorsal view. 29. Metasoma, dorsal view.

FIGURES 37 – 44 Geographical distribution of Meteorus spp. in Brazil. 37. Meteorus atlanticus n. sp. 38. Meteorus ferruginosus n. sp. 39. Meteorus itatiaiensis n. sp. 40. Meteorus monoceros n. sp. 41. Meteorus strigatus n. sp. 42. Meteorus jerodi. 43. Meteorus laphygmae 44. Meteorus megalops.