Heterospilus aesculapius Marsh

Marsh, Paul M., Wild, Alexander L. & Whitfield, James B., 2013, The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini, ZooKeys 347, pp. 1-474 : 197-198

Heterospilus aesculapius Marsh sp. n. Figure 133

Female.

Body size: 2.5 mm. Color: body dark brown or black, metasomal tergum 1 entirely and tergum 2 medially at base yellow; scape yellow with lateral longitudinal brown stripe, flagellum brown with apical whit annulus, apical 3-5 flagellomeres brown; wing veins including stigma brown; legs yellow. Head: vertex weakly granulate and partially smooth; frons weakly granulate or smooth; face granulate; temple in dorsal view broad but sloping behind eye, width equal to 1/2 eye width; malar space greater than 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance twice diameter of lateral ocellus; 26-27 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes weakly granulate and partially smooth; notauli weakly scrobiculate or smooth, junction with prescutellar furrow unsculptured and represented by longitudinal dimple; scutellum smooth; prescutellar furrow with 3-5 cross carinae; mesopleuron granulate; precoxal sulcus scrobiculate, shorter than mesopleuron; venter granulate; propodeum with basal median areas margined, granulate, basal median carina absent, areola not margined, areolar area areolate-rugose, lateral areas entirely rugose. Wings: fore wing vein r shorter than vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a interstitial with vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R absent, vein M+CU shorter than vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum longitudinally costate, length equal to apical width; second tergum longitudinally costate-granulate; anterior transverse groove present, straight; posterior transverse groove present; third tergum either entirely granulate except for costate transverse groove or costate-granulate at base and granulate at apex; terga 4-7 granulate; ovipositor slightly shorter than metasomal tergum 1.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, printed) - COSTA RICA: Puntarenas [;] Golfo Dulce, [;] 15km W. Piedras Blancas, [;] 100m [;] xi 1990, Paul Hanson; second label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] aesculapius [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, Costa Rica, Puntarenas [;] R.F. Golfo Dulce, 5km W. [;] Piedras Blancas, 100m [;] VI-VII-1993, P. Hanson (ESUW).

Comments.

The yellow markings on metasomal terga 1 and 2, the nearly smooth mesoscutum and granulate metasomal terga 3-7 are distinctive for this species.

Etymology.

Named for Aesculapius, the Roman god of health and medicine.