Centistes acuticaudatus 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 : 9-10

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

( Figs 36–42 )

Female. Body length ( Fig. 36 ): 2.4–2.9 mm. Body color: head black, except pedicel and scape yellow, and flagellomeres dark brown; mesosoma black except legs yellow; wings hyaline; metasoma black-dark brown. Head ( Figs 37–38 ): antenna with 22–24 flagellomeres. Flagellar length/width ratios as follows: F1 = 4.0, F10 = 2.2, last flagellomere = 2.3; last flagellomere terminating apically in a sharp point; pedicel 0.7–1.2 as long as wide; scape 1.6–2.1 × longer than wide; mandibles when closed overlapping for 0.3–0.5 × mandible length; mandible width basally 0.4–0.5 × mandible length; malar space 0.2–0.3 × eye height, and 0.8–1.5 × basal mandible width; gena sparsely pubescent; shortest distance between eyes equal to clypeus width; eye in lateral view 1.7–1.8 × taller than wide; lateral ocellus separated from compound eye by a distance 0.9–1.3 × 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 foveate, posteriorly carinate; propleuron with anterior and medial margins rugose, remaining surface smooth; median mesonotal lobe anteriorly pubescent, posteriorly glabrous; lateral mesonotal lobes glabrous, except lateral borders pubescent; notauli either absent or only present anteriorly ( Fig. 40 ); pit on mesoscutum small and oval ( Fig. 40 ); scutellar sulcus with one carina; scutellar disc sparsely pubescent; mesopleuron centrally glabrous, borders and area below precoxal sulcus pubescent; precoxal sulcus foveate; metanotum carinated; metapleuron pubescent; propodeum pubescent except dorsum glabrous; propodeum subdivided into anterior and posterior halves by a strong transverse carina ( Fig. 39 ), and without a median-longitudinal dorsal carina; propodeum with surfaces mostly smooth except medially and laterally rugulose. Legs: hind coxa 1.2–1.8 × longer than middle coxa; hind femora length 4.2–4.8 × maximum width; hind tibia length 9.1–11.2 × longer than maximum width; hind tibial spur 0.4–0.6 × as long as hind basitarsus; ratio of hind tarsomeres from basitarsus apically 20:11:9:6:13. Wings: fore wing length 2.4–3.4 mm; pterostigma 2.8–3.2 × longer than maximum width; length of marginal cell 2R1 along anterior wing margin equal to the length of pterostigma; vein r-rs 0.3–0.5 × 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 0.7–0.8 × as wide as apical width, and 1.5–1.8 × longer than apical width; sculpture of first tergite longitudinally costate with costae almost parallel, sometimes a smooth area basally ( Fig. 41 ); spiracle of tergum one situated on lateral margin near the basal quarter of segment; hypopygium long, ventrally flat or rounded, and with dorsal margin rounded; ovipositor sheath 1.5–2.4 × longer than basal width, and 1.0–1.6 as long as basitarsus; ovipositor sheath pubescent, and rounded apically ( Fig. 42 ).

Male. Unknown.

Holotype female. COSTA RICA: Cartago, 4 Km, N.E. Cañón Génesis II, 2350 m, vi.1995, P. Hanson leg., Malaise. Deposited in UWIM.

Paratypes. COSTA RICA: Two females, San Jose, Zurqui de Moravia , 1600 m, vii.1992, P . Hanson leg., Malaise. One female, San Jose, Zurqui de Moravia , 1600 m, x-xii.1990, P . Hanson leg., Malaise. One female, Cartago, 4 Km, N.E. Cañón Génesis II, 2350 m, vi.1995, P . Hanson leg., Malaise. One female, Cartago, 4 Km N.E. Canon Genesis II, 2350 m, vii.1995 . P. Hanson leg., Malaise. All paratypes deposited in UWIM.

Comments. Centistes acuticaudatus and C. cabecares look similar, mainly by the shape of ovipositor sheaths, but C. acuticaudatus differs by having the vein Rs+M present as a short stub (vein Rs+M absent in C. cabecares ). Etymology. The name of this species comes from the Latin prefix “acuti”, meaning acute, and the Latin stem “caudatus”, meaning tail, because of the narrow distal end of the ovipositor sheaths.

Figures

FIGURES 36 – 42. Centistes acuticaudatus sp. n. 36) Lateral habitus, 37) anterior head, 38) dorsal head, 39) propodeum, 40) mesoscutum, 41) dorsal metasoma, 42) lateral metasoma showing part of ovipositor enclosed by ovipositor sheaths.