Heterospilus cushmani 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 : 60-61

Heterospilus cushmani Marsh sp. n. Figure 35

Female.

Body size: 3.5 mm. Color: head dark brown, eye orbits and lower temple lighter brown; scape and pedicel yellow, flagellum yellow basally to brown apically; mesosoma dark brown; metasoma dark brown, apex of third tergum and following terga lighter brown; wing veins brown, stigma entirely brown; legs yellow. Head: vertex and frons transversely costate; face areolate or areolate-rugose; temple in dorsal view slightly less than half eye width; malar space about 1/3 eye height; ocell-ocular distance about twice diameter of lateral ocellus; 19+ flagellomeres (broken). Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes granulate, short white setae along notauli; notauli scrobiculate, meeting before prescutellar furrow in triangular rugose area; mesopleuron smooth, weakly costate dorsally; precoxal sulcus weakly scrobiculate, about 3/4 length of mesopleuron; scutellum weakly granulate; prescutellar furrow with 5 cross carinae; venter of mesosoma smooth; propodeum with basal median areas distinct and margined, basal median areas granulate, basal median carina absent, areola meeting anterior margin of propo deum, areola margined only apically, areola and propodeum laterally rugose. Wings: fore wing vein r about 3/4 length of vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a distinctly beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU shorter than vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum length equal to apical width, longitudinally costate, raised basal median area slightly rugose; second tergum apical width less than 3 times length, longitudinally costate, granulate between costae; anterior transverse groove weak, posterior transverse groove very weak, only slightly indicated medially; third tergum weakly costate at extreme base, remainder smooth; terga 4-6 smooth; ovipositor longer than metasoma, as long as metasoma and half mesosoma.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, partially printed and hand written) - Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] Santa Rosa Natl. Park [;] 300m. ex. Malaise trap [;] Site #: (blank) [;] Dates: 10-31.1987 (no month) [;] I. D. Gauld & D. Janzen. Second label (white, printed) - [BH] Bosque Humedo [;] mature evergreen dry forest [;] [O] in clearing, fully [;] isolate part of day. Third label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] cushmani [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

Known only from the holotype.

Comments.

This species is similar to Heterospilus nigricoxus but differs in having the stigma entirely brown (bicolored in Heterospilus nigricoxus ), the legs entirely yellow (hind coxa and femur brown in Heterospilus nigricoxus ), and granulate mesoscutal lobes without being rugose along notauli (as in Heterospilus nigricoxus ).

Etymology.

This species is named after R. A. Cushman who studied Braconidae in the early 1900s.