Venanides Mason, 1981

Abdoli, Parisa, Talebi, Ali Asghar, Farahani, Samira & Fernandez-Triana, Jose, 2019, Venanides caspius sp. nov. from Iran, the first species of Venanides (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) described from the Palaearctic Region, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 59 (2), pp. 543-548 : 544-546

Venanides Mason, 1981

Type species. Venanides xeste Mason, 1981: 101 , holotype: ♀, Canada, Ontario, Cimcoe, reared from Dicohmeris ligulella Hbn. (CNC: No. 15755).

Diagnostic characters. Members of Venanides are diagnosed by having short and evenly sclerotized hypopygium; ovipositor sheaths short, smooth, and bearing minute setae near apex (or sheaths apparently without any visible setae); T1 usually evenly narrowing towards posterior end but sometimes parallel-sided, T1 length 2.5× its posterior width; T1 surface smooth or almost so; T2 with a partial or complete subtriangular area that is about as long as wide at posterior end and is laterally marked by grooves that diverge at an angle of less than 100°; propodeum almost smooth; anteromesoscutum and mesoscutellar disc shiny, weakly punctate, together forming an evenly flattened surface; antenna of female short and thick, the flagellomeres with a single row of placodes; legs short and stout, especially femora; upper outer surface of metacoxa usually flat, shiny, and impunctate; vannal lobe straight ( MASON 1981).

Venanides caspicus

Abdoli, Fernandez-Triana & Talebi sp. nov.

( Figs 1–9 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♀, “ Iran: Guilan province / Astaneh Ashrafi- yeh, Eshman kamachal / alt. 2 m / N:37°21.16′, E:49°57.93′ / 09.V.2010 / M. Khayrandish leg.” [a card with locality data and collector in English script, printed]; mounted on a triangular card ( TMUC) . PARATYPES: 1 ♀ and 4 JJ ( TMUC), 1 J ( CNC), same data as holotype.

Diagnosis. T1 long and evenly narrowing from anterior to posterior end; scutoscutellar sulcus very narrow, almost obliterated or weakly crenulate ( Fig. 4 ); wing veins pale or almost transparent ( Figs 8–9 ); head in frontal view without enlarged upper face (upper face slightly higher than lower face), head width 1.3× its height; metasoma dark brown; metafemur brown.

Description. Female (holotype). Body length 2.0 mm, antenna length 1.4 mm, fore wing length 2.0 mm.

Head. Antennae relatively short, not reaching beyond T2, and with single row of placodes; flagellomeres with scattered setae; scape longer than first flagellomere; length of 15th flagellomere 1.5× its width; length of 16th flagellomere 2.0× or slightly more than its width ( Fig. 1 ); antennal scrobe large, shallow and broadening, closed to eyes; in dorsal view, head width 1.8× its length, head (along with eyes) with dense long setae ( Fig. 2 ); head in frontal view without enlarged upper face (upper face slightly higher than lower face), head width 1.3× its height; lower face width 1.4× its height, smooth and shining, setose; clypeus width 3.5× its height; mouthpart with long setae ( Fig. 3 ).

Mesosoma. Strongly depressed, anteromesoscutum, mesoscutellar disc and propodeum almost in the same plane; anteromesoscutum almost smooth and shiny with fine punctures anteriorly and laterally, anteromesoscutum with disperse setae (median region less setose); notauli not defined; mesoscutellar disc smooth and less setose; scutoscutellar sulcus with narrow crenulation; propodeum almost smooth, with a few setae laterally and posteriorly ( Fig. 4 ); pronotum smooth; mesopleuron in anterior half faintly punctate and setose ( Fig. 5 ).

Wings. Fore wing areolet absent; wing surface with setae except for around veins M+CU1 and 1+1A less setose; pterostigma length 2.4× its width; discall cell length 1.3× its width, 1CUb vein 1.4× as long as 1CUa vein; R1 vein longer than pterostigma; r vein long, slightly shorter than pterostigma width ( Fig. 8 ); hind wing: vannal lobe flattened subapically, setae sparse or absent over flattened part of margin ( Fig. 9 ).

Legs. Protarsus short, probasitarsus as long as sum of second and third segments, fifth segment as long as sum of segments two to four; fifth segment of protarsus without modified seta projecting opposite to indentation ( Fig. 11 ); metacoxa large, depressed, smooth and shining, metacoxal length 1.5× its maximum width and metafemur length 2.5× its width; metafemur as long as metatibia; inner metatibial spur thick and longer than half of metabasitarsus; metabasitarsus as long as sum of segments two to four ( Fig. 6 ).

Metasoma. All terga polished; T1 gradually narrowing toward posterior end, smooth; T1 length 2.5× its basal width and 5.5× its posterior width; T2 with triangular median field, T2 width 1.5× its median length; suture between T2 and T3 poorly defined and somewhat concave, T3 1.5× as long as T2; T3 width 2.0× its median length ( Fig. 7 ); hypopygium short and sclerotized; ovipositor short, less than 1.3× as long as metatibia; ovipositor sheaths apparently without setae.

Colouration. Body black, with the exception of yellowish-brown antenna; face, clypeus and tergum blackish brown; mouthparts reddish- or whitish-yellow; tegula yellow; wings hyaline, fore wing venation whitish-yellow, pterostigma without pale spot basally ( Fig. 8 ); hind wing venation transparent; legs (except of brown metacoxa) yellow to reddish-yellow.

Male ( Fig. 10 ). All characters similar to female, with the exception of its darker colouration; antenna longer than body with two rows of placodes, scape shorter than first flagellomere, length of 15th flagellomere 2.9× its median width; metafemur thinner, length/width ratio 3.0; inner metatibial spur less thick.

Differential diagnosis. Venanides caspicus sp. nov. seems to be closest to V.flavus Fernández-Triana & van Achterberg, 2017 that has recently been reported from Yemen (FERNANDEZ- TRIANA & VAN ACHTERBERG 2017). In both species T2, T3 and posterior half of metasoma are entirely dark brown, but they can be separated as follows:

1. T1 almost parallel sided and rounded towards posterior margin; scutoscutellar sulcus with well-defined crenulae; wing veins brown. ............................................. .... V.flavus Fernandez-Triana & van Achterberg, 2017

‒ T1 long and narrowing towards posterior margin; scutoscutellar sulcus very narrow, obliterated or weakly crenulate ( Fig. 4 ); wing veins pale or almost transparent ( Figs 7–8 ). ............................ V. caspicus sp. nov.

Etymology. The new species is named after its type locality. The species name, caspicus , is an adjective derived from the Caspian Sea in the north of Iran.

Habitat. The habitat of the type series consisted mainly of mixed humid forests ranging from coniferous to deciduous trees in coastal areas of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran.

Distribution. Northern Iran: Guilan Province.

Figures

Figs 1–7. Venanides caspicus sp. nov., female: 1 – antenna; 2 – head, dorsal view; 3 – face; 4 – mesosoma, dorsal view; 5 – head and mesosoma, lateral view; 6 – hind leg; 7– metasoma, dorsal view.

Figs 8–11. Venanides caspicus sp. nov.: 8 – female, fore wing; 9 – female, hind wing; 10 – male, habitus; 11 – female, fore leg.