Apanteles balthazari (Ashmead, 1900)

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Whitfield, James B., Rodriguez, Josephine J., Smith, M. Alex, Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie D., Hajibabaei, Mehrdad, Burns, John M., Solis, M. Alma, Brown, John, Cardinal, Sophie, Goulet, Henri & Hebert, Paul D. N., 2014, Review of Apantelessensu stricto (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, with keys to all described species from Mesoamerica, ZooKeys 383, pp. 1-565 : 87-88

Apanteles balthazari (Ashmead, 1900) Fig. 146

Urogaster balthazari Ashmead, 1900: 284.

Apanteles balthazari (Ashmead, 1900). Transferred by Szépligeti (1904: 109).

Urogaster meridionalis Ashmead, 1900: 285. Synonymized by Muesebeck (1958: 431).

Type locality.

ST. VINCENT, Lesser Antilles.

Holotype.

♀, BMNH (examined).

Description.

Female. Body color: body mostly dark except for some sternites which may be pale. Antenna color: scape, pedicel, and flagellum dark. Coxae color (pro-, meso-, metacoxa): dark, dark, dark. Femora color (pro-, meso-, metafemur): pale, pale, pale. Tibiae color (pro-, meso-, metatibia): pale, pale, pale. Tegula and humeral complex color: tegula pale, humeral complex half pale/half dark. Pterostigma color: mostly pale and/or transparent, with thin dark borders. Fore wing veins color: mostly white or entirely transparent. Antenna length/body length: antenna about as long as body (head to apex of metasoma); if slightly shorter, at least extending beyond anterior 0.7 metasoma length. Body in lateral view: not distinctly flattened dorso– ventrally. Body length (head to apex of metasoma): 2.9-3.0 mm. Fore wing length: 3.1-3.2 mm. Ocular–ocellar line/posterior ocellus diameter: 1.7-1.9. Interocellar distance/posterior ocellus diameter: 1.7-1.9. Antennal flagellomerus 2 length/width: 3.2 or more. Antennal flagellomerus 14 length/width: 1.7-1.9. Length of flagellomerus 2/length of flagellomerus 14: 1.7-1.9. Tarsal claws: simple. Metafemur length/width: 2.8-2.9. Metatibia inner spur length/metabasitarsus length: 0.4-0.5. Anteromesoscutum: mostly with deep, dense punctures (separated by less than 2.0 × its maximum diameter). Mesoscutellar disc: mostly smooth. Number of pits in scutoscutellar sulcus: 7 or 8. Maximum height of mesoscutellum lunules/maximum height of lateral face of mesoscutellum: 0.6-0.7. Propodeum areola: completely defined by carinae, including transverse carina extending to spiracle. Propodeum background sculpture: mostly sculptured. Mediotergite 1 length/width at posterior margin: 1.1-1.3. Mediotergite 1 shape: more or less parallel–sided. Mediotergite 1 sculpture: mostly sculptured, excavated area centrally with transverse striation inside and/or a polished knob centrally on posterior margin of mediotergite. Mediotergite 2 width at posterior margin/length: 2.8-3.1. Mediotergite 2 sculpture: more or less fully sculptured, with longitudinal striation. Outer margin of hypopygium: with a wide, medially folded, transparent, semi–desclerotized area; usually with 4 or more pleats. Ovipositor thickness: about same width throughout its length. Ovipositor sheaths length/metatibial length: 1.4-1.5. Length of fore wing veins r/2RS: 1.1-1.3. Length of fore wing veins 2RS/2M: 2.1 or more. Length of fore wing veins 2M/(RS+M)b: 0.5-0.6. Pterostigma length/width: 3.1-3.5. Point of insertion of vein r in pterostigma: clearly beyond half way point length of pterostigma. Angle of vein r with fore wing anterior margin: clearly inwards, inclined towards fore wing base. Shape of junction of veins r and 2RS in fore wing: strongly angulated, sometimes with a knob.

Molecular data.

No molecular data available for this species.

Biology/ecology.

Hosts: Gelechiidae , Pectinophora gossypiella .

Distribution.

Brazil, Cuba, Grenada, St. Vincent. There is no suggestion that this species occurs in ACG.

Comments.

The original description from Ashmead (1900) does not match the holotype. His description of the T1 shape, T2 sculpture, and coloration of meso and metafemora are completely different from the actual specimen.