Psyttalia romani (Fahringer, 1935)

Wu, Qiong, Achterberg, Cornelis van, Tan, Jiang-Li & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2016, Review of the East Palaearctic and North Oriental Psyttalia Walker, with the description of three new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Opiinae), ZooKeys 629, pp. 103-151 : 128-129

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Psyttalia romani (Fahringer, 1935) Figs 65, 66-76

Opius (Marginopius) romani Fahringer, 1935: 9.

Opius romani : Fischer 1961: 13-15 (redescription), 1972: 346-347.

Opius (Psyttalia) romani : Tobias 1998: 613.

Psyttalia romani : Tobias 2000: 12; Chen and Weng 2005: 152.

Material.

2 ♀ (ZISP), "[Russia:], Amurskaja oblast, s. Novorossijka, r. Selemdzha, 1-10.viii.1966, D. Kasparjan"; 1 ♀ (ZISP), "[Russia:], Primorskij kraj, okr. Nachodki, dubnjak kustarnik, 20.viii.1985, Belokobylskij"; 1 ♀ (ZISP), id., but Baradazh-Levada, 2.ix.1978, " Opius romani Fahr., det. Tobias 1994"; 1 ♀ (ZJUH), "[NW. China:] Shaanxi, Dasanguan, 4.ix.1999, Ping Cai, No. 200011724".

Comparative diagnosis.

In the East Palaearctic region the only similar Psyttalia species known is Psyttalia sakhalinica (Tobias) because of the similar gradually narrowed head in dorsal view (Figs 72, 84). Psyttalia romani differs by having mesosoma orange brown, contrasting with mainly black metasoma (vs meso- and metasoma mainly black or dark brown in Psyttalia sakhalinica ), hind femur 2.9-3.3 times as long as wide (vs 3.5-3.9 times), fore wing distinctly infuscate (vs slightly infuscate) and legs yellowish brown (vs brownish yellow).

Description.

Redescribed after ♀ from Novorossijka, length of body 4.4 mm, of fore wing 4.4 mm.

Head. Antenna with 47 segments, bristly and erect setose and 1.4 times as long as fore wing; third segment 1.6 times as long as fourth segment, length of third, fourth and penultimate segments 3.4, 2.2 and 1.9 times their width, respectively (Figs 70, 75-76); length of maxillary palp equal to height of head; length of eye in dorsal view 2.2 times temple (Fig. 72); temple in dorsal view shiny, smooth and with sparse setae; OOL: diameter of ocellus: POL = 14:5:8; area behind stemmaticum flat (Fig. 72); face coarsely punctate with most interspaces wider than diameter of punctures, shiny and smooth medio-longitudinal convexity dorsally and widened ventrally (Fig. 71); frons slightly depressed behind antennal sockets and in front of anterior ocellus slightly impressed, shiny, smooth and glabrous but laterally with few setae (Fig. 72); labrum slightly depressed; clypeus transverse, convex, with some coarse punctures and its ventral margin protruding, with fringe of long setae and rather thin (Fig. 71); width of clypeus 3.4 times its maximum height and 0.7 times width of face; hypoclypeal depression wide and deep (Figs 67, 71); malar suture indistinct except for deep depression near eye, sparsely punctate-rugose between malar suture and clypeus (Fig. 74); mandible not twisted, apically moderately narrowed and with both teeth wide; mandible normal basally and with narrow ventral carina (Fig. 74); occipital carina remains far removed from hypostomal carina and dorsally largely absent; hypostomal carina rather wide ventrally.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.2 times its height; dorsal pronope absent; pronotal side largely smooth, but posteriorly grooves with some crenulae (Fig. 67); propleuron flattened; epicnemial area smooth dorsally; precoxal sulcus anteriorly and medially rather narrowly crenulate, absent posteriorly (Fig. 67); remainder of mesopleuron smooth and shiny except for some crenulae dorsally; pleural sulcus smooth ventrally except for a few short crenulae; mesosternal sulcus deep, narrow and finely crenulate; postpectal carina absent; mesoscutum very shiny and glabrous (Fig. 68); notauli only anteriorly as smooth impressions and absent on disc; scutellar sulcus deep and with 5 short crenulae, parallel-sided medially; scutellum slightly convex and smooth, but laterally sparsely punctulate and setose (Fig. 68); metanotum with short longitudinal carina antero-medially and finely crenulate posteriorly; surface of propodeum smooth dorsally but posteriorly and area near distinct and reversed Y-shaped median carina rugose (Fig. 68), lateral grooves shallow and irregularly rugose.

Wings. Fore wing: 1-SR distinctly longer than wide and linear with 1-M (Fig. 66); pterostigma triangular and r linear with postero-basal border (Fig. 66); 1-R1 ending at wing apex and 1.6 times as long as pterostigma; r linear with 3-SR and medium-sized; r-m not tubular; r:3-SR:SR1 = 10:40:73; 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 22:40:13; 1-M and SR1 slightly curved; m-cu distinctly antefurcal, converging to 1-M posteriorly and slightly curved, 2-SR+M rather widened (as apex of M+CU1: Fig. 66); cu-a distinctly postfurcal and 1-CU1 widened; 1-CU1:2-CU1= 3:22; first subdiscal cell closed; CU1b medium-sized; only apical fifth of M+CU1 sclerotized. Hind wing: 1-M straight; M+CU:1-M:1r-m = 22:23:15; cu-a straight; m-cu absent; SR slightly indicated apically.

Legs. Length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 2.9, 6.8 and 4.2 times as long as width, respectively (Fig. 73); hind femur with long setae, tarsus and tibia densely setose (Fig. 73).

Metasoma. Length of first tergite equal to its apical width, convex medio-posteriorly, its surface largely coarsely rugose (Fig. 69), dorsal carinae strong in its basal half and with depressed area below; second suture slightly indicated; pair of basal depressions of second tergite large and tergite 0.9 times as long as third tergite; second and following tergites smooth, shiny and sparsely setose; combined length of second and third metasomal tergites 0.25 times total length of metasoma; length of setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.56 times fore wing, 4.9 times first tergite, 2.4 times hind femur and 1.7 times hind tibia; hypopygium 0.6 times as long as metasoma, distinctly acute apically and surpassing apex of metasoma (Fig. 73).

Colour. Orange brown, but stemmaticum and metasoma (except mainly reddish brown first tergite, lateral patches of sternites and tergites and hypopygium dorsally brown), tegulum pale yellowish and humeral plate infuscate; palpi, scapus and pedicellus ventrally and legs yellowish brown, but telotarsi infuscate; pterostigma and veins dark brown; fore wing membrane distinctly infuscate, especially near veins.

Variation. Length of fore wing 4.4-4.7 mm; antenna of ♀ with 47 segments; dorsal pronope absent or present as small round pit; vein 3-SR of fore wing 1.4-1.8 times as long as vein 2-SR; hind femur 2.9-3.2 times as long as wide; setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.46-0.56 times as long as fore wing and 1.5-1.7 times hind tibia.

Distribution.

China (Gansu, *Shaanxi), Russia Far East, Korea.

Biology.

Unknown.