Centistes auristigma Aguirre, Almeida & Shaw

Aguirre, Helmuth, Almeida, Luis Felipe Ventura De & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2017, Revision of the genus Centistes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae: Centistini) of Costa Rica, Zootaxa 4216 (1), pp. 1-46 : 12-14

Centistes auristigma Aguirre, Almeida & Shaw , sp. n.

( Figs 50–56 )

Female. Body length ( Fig. 50 ): 1.9–2.2 mm. Body color: head black-dark brown, except pedicel, scape, face, clypeus and basal half of gena yellow; mesosoma black except pronotum, propleuron and legs yellow; wings hyaline; metasoma dark brown. Head ( Figs 51–52 ): antenna with 19–20 flagellomeres; flagellar length/width ratios as follows: F1 = 4.0, F10 = 3.5, last flagellomere = 3.7; last flagellomere terminating apically in a rounded point; pedicel 1.1 × longer than wide; scape 1.5 × longer than wide; mandibles when closed overlapping for 0.3–0.5 × mandible length; mandible width basally 0.4–0.6 × mandible length; malar space 0.4–0.5 × eye height, and 1.5–2.0 × basal mandible width; gena sparsely pubescent; shortest distance between eyes 1.3–1.4 × greater than clypeus width; eye in lateral view 1.6–1.7 × taller than wide; lateral ocellus separated from compound eye by a distance 1.2 × ocellar width; frons glabrous; vertex with a few scattered setae; temple with few scattered setae; temple width 0.6–0.8 × eye width; occipital carina thick and complete. Mesosoma: pronotum glabrous; pronotum in lateral view mostly smooth, medially carinate; propleuron smooth; median mesonotal lobe anteriorly pubescent, posteriorly glabrous; lateral mesonotal lobes mostly glabrous with a single row of setae on lateral border; notauli either absent or only present anteriorly ( Fig. 54 ); pit on mesoscutum absent ( Fig. 54 ); scutellar sulcus with one carina; scutellar disc sparsely pubescent; mesopleuron centrally glabrous, borders and area below precoxal sulcus pubescent; precoxal sulcus foveate; metanotum mostly smooth except carinate on posterior border; metapleuron pubescent; propodeum pubescent except dorsum glabrous, and with a median-longitudinal dorsal carina absent ( Fig. 53 ). Legs: hind coxa 1.3 × longer than middle coxa; hind femora length 5.0–6.0 × maximum width; hind tibia length 10.5–11.7 × longer than maximum width; hind tibial spur 0.4 × as long as hind basitarsus; ratio of hind tarsomeres from basitarsus apically 11:6:5:5:7. Wings: fore wing length 2.3–2.4 mm; pterostigma 3.0 × longer than maximum width; length of marginal cell 2R1 along anterior wing margin 1.1–1.3 × the length of pterostigma; vein r-rs 0.4– 0.5 × as long as pterostigma width; vein Rs+M present as a short stub; vein m-cu basal with vein RS; hind wing with three sickle-shaped hamuli. Metasoma: first tergite basally 0.6–0.7 × as wide as apical width, and 1.7–1.8 × longer than apical width; sculpture of first tergite longitudinally costate with costae almost parallel ( Fig. 55 ); spiracle of tergum one situated on lateral margin near the basal quarter of segment; hypopygium ventrally convex, with dorsal margin rounded; ovipositor sheath 2.6–3.2 × longer than basal width, and 1.1–1.2 × as longer as basitarsus; ovipositor sheath pubescent, and terminating in a rounded point ( Fig. 56 ).

Male. Unknown.

Holotype female. COSTA RICA: San Jose, Cerro de la Muerte , Est. Cuerci, 2600 m, xii.1999, P. Hanson leg., Malaise. Deposited in UWIM.

Paratypes. COSTA RICA: One female, San Jose, Cerro de la Muerte , Est. Cuerci, 2600 m, xii.1999, P. Hanson. Deposited in UWIM.

Comments. Centistes auristigma and C. laticaudatus share several characters as detailed in the key, but C. auristigma is recognized by the presence of short and finger-like ovipositor sheaths, thinner femorae and a yellow stigma.

Etymology. The Latin prefix “auri”, meaning gold, emphasizes the yellow stigma on the fore wing.

Figures

FIGURES 50 – 56. Centistes auristigma sp. n. 50) Lateral habitus, 51) anterior head, 52) dorsal head, 53) propodeum, 54) mesoscutum, 55) dorsal metasoma, 56) lateral metasoma showing ovipositor sheaths and ovipositor partly protruded.