Pseudapanteles christianafigueresae Fernandez-Triana & Whitfield

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 : 14-15

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Pseudapanteles christianafigueresae Fernandez-Triana & Whitfield sp. n. Figs 42- 47

Holotype.

♀ in CNC. COSTA RICA, Alajuela Province, ACG, Sector San Cristobal, Bosque Trampa Malaise, 815m, 10.86280, -85.38460, 13.xii.2007. ACG database code: DHJPAR0025960.

Paratypes.

17 ♀, 41 # (BMNH, CNC, INBio, INHS, NMNH). COSTA RICA, ACG database codes: DHJPAR0024675, DHJPAR0024987, DHJPAR0025702, DHJPAR0025895, DHJPAR0025902, DHJPAR0025985, DHJPAR0025966, DHJPAR0026012, DHJPAR0026026, DHJPAR0026065, DHJPAR0026081, DHJPAR0026084, DHJPAR0026088, DHJPAR0026652, DHJPAR0026717, DHJPAR0027075, DHJPAR0027138, DHJPAR0027164, DHJPAR0027242, DHJPAR0027392, DHJPAR0027591, DHJPAR0027621, DHJPAR0027627, DHJPAR0027646, DHJPAR0027655, DHJPAR0027656, DHJPAR0027657, DHJPAR0027658, DHJPAR0027661, DHJPAR0027663, DHJPAR0027664, DHJPAR0027667, DHJPAR0027699, DHJPAR0027670, DHJPAR0027673, DHJPAR0027675, DHJPAR0027689, DHJPAR0027690, DHJPAR0027691, DHJPAR0027693, DHJPAR0027698, DHJPAR0027700, DHJPAR0027701, DHJPAR0031297.

Diagnosis.

It belongs to the annulicornis species-group, and can be separated from other species within that group based on the combination of head mostly brown-black posteriorly, but orange on most of frons and face, flagellomeres 6-10 (and posterior half of flagellomere 5) white, anteromesoscutum entirely brown to black, and metatibia and metatarsus entirely yellow to orange.

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: central flagellomere white-yellow, rest dark brown to black. Mesosoma color: entirely dark 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: pale/pale/pale but with anterior 0.1-0.2 dark. Metatibia color: pale, rarely mostly pale, with posterior 0.1-0.2 dark. Metatarsus color: pale, rarely dark. Pterostigma color: entirely dark. Mediotergite 1 length/width at posterior margin 4.1-4.5 ×. Mediotergite 1 maximum width/width at posterior margin 2.3-2.4 ×. Mediotergite 2 width at posterior margin/length: 3.6-3.7 × or 3.8-3.9 ×. Mediotergite 2 sculpture: Mostly with longitudinally striate sculpture (sometimes with small, smooth area centrally). Ovipositor sheaths length: 1.0 × as long as metatibia or 1.1 × as long as metatibia.

Male. As female, but with all flagellomeres brown.

Molecular data.

Sequences in BOLD: 47, barcode compliant sequences: 38.

Biology/ecology.

Malaise-trapped.

Distribution.

Costa Rica, ACG rain forest.

Etymology.

This species is named in honour of Sra. Christiana Figueres for her persistent interest in ACG survival since the early 1990's, and up through her magnificent current efforts to get the world to reverse its climate change via the UN organizational capacity.