Homolobus stevestroudi Sharkey, 2021

Sharkey, Michael J., Baker, Austin, McCluskey, Kathryn, Smith, Alex, Naik, Suresh, Ratnasingham, Sujeevan, Manjunath, Ramya, Perez, Kate, Sones, Jayme, D'Souza, Michelle, Jacques, Brianne St., Hebert, Paul, Hallwachs, Winnie & Janzen, Daniel, 2021, ? Addendum to a minimalist revision of Costa Rican Braconidae: 28 new species and 23 host records, ZooKeys 1075, pp. 77-136 : 77

? Homolobus stevestroudi Sharkey sp. nov.

Diagnostics.

Figures 23 , 24 .

BOLD data.

BIN: BOLD:AAA7060. The nearest neighbor: Homolobus sp. BOLD:ACM2462 is separated by a p-distance of only 1.12%. Consensus barcode: TATTTTATATTTTATATTTGGAATTTGAGCTGGAATTTTAGGTATATCAATAAGAATTATTATTCGAATAGAATTAAGAATACCAGGTAATTTAATTGGTAACGATCAAATTTATAATAGTATTGTTACTGCTCATGCATTTATTATAATTTTTTTTATAGTTATACCAATTATAATTGGAGGGTTTGGAAATTGATTAATTCCTTTAATATTAGGATGTGTTGATATAGCTTTTCCTCGAATAAATAATATAAGATTTTGATTATTAATTCCATCATTAATTTTATTAATTTTAAGAAGAATTTTAAATGTTGGTGTTGGTACTGGATGAACTGTTTATCCTCCTTTATCTTTAAATATTGGTCATGGAGGTTTATCTGTTGATTTAGCTATTTTTTCTTTACATTTAGCTGGAATTTCTTCAATTATAGGAGCTATTAATTTTATTACTACTATTTTAAATATACGATCTAATTTAATTACAATAGATAAAATTTCTTTATTAAGTTGATCAATTTTAATTACTGTAATTTTATTATTATTATCTTTACCAGTTTTAGCTGGGGCTATTACAATATTATTAACTGATCGTAATTTAAATACATCTTTTTTTGATCCATCTGGTGGAGGGGATCCAATTTTATATCAACATTTATTT.

Morphological data.

The specimen keys to Homolobus infumator in van Achterberg’s (1979) key and is very similar morphologically. Subtle differences include the shape of vein R1a of the hind wing, which is longer in H. stevestroudi and the size of the basal tooth of the hind tarsal claws, which are longer in H. stevestroudi . The convincing difference can be found by looking at the NJ tree produced from the BOLD website; H. stevestroudi is found in its own BIN, far removed from any other species of Homolobus and particularly distant from specimens identified as H. infumator from Norway. The type locality of H. infumator is England. All nine specimens in the unnamed nearest neighbor are from Canada. They might represent the same species as the Costa Rican specimens, but more sampling will need to be done between Canada and Costa Rica to confirm or refute. There are no obvious morphological differences based on the BOLD images of the Canadian specimens.

Holotype?: Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Sector Cacao, Sendero Toma Agua, 1140 m, 10.928 -85.467; host caterpillar collection date: 23/iv/2009, parasitoid eclosion: 18/v/2009; depository CNC, holotype voucher code: DHJPAR0035530, GenBank accession: MW627552.

Holotype host data.

Pherotesia minuisca ( Geometridae ) feeding on Zygia palmana ( Fabaceae ), caterpillar voucher code: 09-SRNP-35488.

Etymology.

Homolobus stevestroudi is named in honor of Steve Stroud as the primary supporter of the BioAlfa Malaise trapping at the Hacienda Barú Wildlife Refuge, Savegre, ACOPAC, Costa Rica, as well as decades of support for the Area de Conservación Guanacaste.

Figures

Figure 23. Homolobus stevestroudi, holotype.

Figure 24. Tough-walled silk cocoon of Homolobus stevestroudi. Note shiny surface of the inside visible just inside the cut off right-hand end. That hard smooth surface makes the cocoon wall extremely tough and difficult to penetrate with an insect pin. The terminal circular cut exit hole is characteristic of most genera of large bodied ACG Braconidae and many small ones as well.