Pseudapanteles ruficollis (Cameron, 1911)

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie, Whitfield, James B., Smith, M. Alex & Kula, Robert, 2014, Revision of the genus Pseudapanteles (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), with emphasis on the species in Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, ZooKeys 446, pp. 1-82 : 26

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Pseudapanteles ruficollis (Cameron, 1911) Figs 166- 168

Xanthomicrogaster ruficollis Cameron, 1911: 325 (original description).

Apanteles ruficollis : Wilkinson 1930: 281 (revised combination).

Pseudapanteles ruficollis : Mason 1981: 86 (revised combination).

Lectotype.

♀ in BMNH (examined). GUYANA, no other locality or date information. Here we designate, to increase nomenclatural stability, a lectotype from the syntype series (which includes 4 ♀ and 4 ♂ all glued on the same card, with voucher code: "B.M. Type HYM. 3.c.985"). The lectotype is the female positioned at the lower row, left corner of the card (Figs 166, 168). The paralectotypes are conspecific with the lectotype.

Other material examined.

24 ♀, 11 ♂ (CNC, NMNH). COSTA RICA, ACG, Alajuela Province, Sector Rincon Rain Forest, Estacion Llanura, 135m, 10.93332, -85.25331. ACG database codes: DHJPAR0026267, DHJPAR0047117, DHJPAR0047133, DHJPAR0052908, DHJPAR0053737, DHJPAR0053754, DHJPAR0053787, 11-SRNP-76958, 13-SRNP-76587.

Diagnosis.

It belongs to the annulicornis species-group, and can be separated from other species within that group based on a combination of all flagellomeres brown, T2 light brown, metatibia yellow with posterior 0.1-0.2 dark brown to black, metatarsus dark brown to black, pterostigma pale with thin brown margins, and ovipositor sheaths 0.9 × as long as metatibia.

Description.

Female. Body length 2.4-2.5 mm or 2.6-2.7 mm. Fore wing length 2.6-2.7 mm. Head color: mostly dark brown to black; except for orange on most of frons and face, and yellow clypeus, labrum, mandibles, and spot on lower corner of gena near oral foramen. Flagellomere color: all flagellomere brown to black. Mesosoma color: mostly orange, with parts or all of propodeum, metapleuron, metascutellum, and axillar complex brown to black. Metasoma color (dorsally): mostly dark brown to black, except for yellow-orange anterior 0.4-0.6 of mediotergite 1. Coxae color: all pale. Metatibia color: mostly pale, with posterior 0.1-0.2 dark. Metatarsus color: dark. Pterostigma color: pale, with thin dark margins. Mediotergite 1 length/width at posterior margin 3.6-4.0 x, rarely 3.1-3.5 × or 4.1-4.5 ×. Mediotergite 1 maximum width/width at posterior margin 2.5-2.6 ×, 2.7-2.8 ×, rarely 2.9-3.0 ×. Mediotergite 2 width at posterior margin/length: 3.8-3.9 × or 4.0-4.1 ×. Mediotergite 2 sculpture: Mostly smoth and polished. Ovipositor sheaths length: 0.9 × as long as metatibia.

Male. Much darker coloration than female, especially on anteromesoscutum, propodeum, metacoxa, and metasoma.

Molecular data.

Sequences in BOLD: 5, barcode compliant sequences: 5.

Biology/ecology.

Hosts: Desmia ufeus , Desmia spp. with interim names Janzen18 and Janzen19; Spoladea recurvalis ( Crambidae ).

Distribution.

Cuba, Costa Rica (ACG), Guyana.

Comments.

The syntype series (from Guyana) is morphologically indistinguishable from the ACG specimens, so we treat them as conspecific. The description provided above is based on ACG specimens. All specimens of Pseudapanteles ruficollis in ACG have been reared from three species of Desmia caterpillars feeding on Vitaceae . In ACG, this wasp has not been reared from Spoladea recurvalis ( Crambidae ), the host reported for its rearing in Guyana, despite more than 190 rearing records for ACG Spoladea recurvalis (that produced no microgastrine braconids). This moth is host-specific to Amaranthaceae herbs, and no Desmia have been reared from any of the thousands of caterpillar rearing records from ACG Amaranthaceae . However, adult Spoladea are black with white spots, as are Desmia , and are frequently misidentified as "a species of Desmia ". It is very likely that the Guyana record of Pseudapanteles ruficollis is actually a rearing from a batch of Desmia caterpillars, since the caterpillar that produced the wasps obviously could not be directly identified from an adult.