Platygaster laticeps THOMSON, 1859

Buhl, P. N., 2006, Taxonomical And Distributional Notes On New And Known Palaearctic Platygastrid Species (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 52 (3), pp. 287-311 : 298-300

Platygaster laticeps THOMSON, 1859

( Figs 24–27 )

Female – Length: 1.7 mm. Black, antennae hardly lighter, mandibles and legs dark brown. Head from above ( Fig. 24 ) 2.2 times as wide as long, 1.1 times as wide as mesosoma; occiput distinctly reticulate-coriaceous, medially with a few longitudinal wrinkles behind some transverse wrinkles; vertex reticulate-coriaceous, with some weak transverse carinae between ocelli; frons smooth, with a few transverse wrinkles above antennae. OOL = LOL. Head in frontal view 1.25 times as wide as high; antenna ( Fig. 25 ) with A1 0.8 times as long as height of head; A8-A9 each about 1.2 times as long as wide. Mesosoma 1.4 times as long as wide, hardly 1.1 times as long as wide. Sides of pronotum smooth, distinctly reticulate-coriaceous in upper and anterior half. Mesoscutum with few hairs; mid lobe roughly reticulate-coriaceous, distinctly longitudinally so in more than posterior half; lateral lobes only reticulate-coriaceous posteriorly along inner margin, rest smooth; notauli complete and deep, meeting in a point hardly touching base of scutellum; scuto-scutellar grooves broadly triangular, with a few inconspicuous hairs. Mesopleuron smooth. Scutellum ( Fig. 26 ) distinctly reticulate-coriaceous, smoother along middle, almost bare. Metapleuron with pilosity all over. Propodeal carinae short, parallel, area between them much transverse, smooth. Fore wing almost reaching apex of metasoma, about 2.5 times as long as wide; marginal cilia very short. Hind wing 4.7 times as long as wide, with two hamuli; marginal cilia one-sixth the width of wing. Metasoma ( Fig. 27 ) 1.5 times as long as head and mesosoma combined, about as wide as mesosoma. T1 unevenly crenulated. T2 striated between basal foveae to one-third of length, rest of tergite as well as the following tergites smooth; apical tergites with scattered, superficially implanted hairs, moderately convex, e.g. T5 medially twice as wide as high; joint between T5 and T6 slightly thickened. Sternite 2 rather convex anteriorly.

Material examined: Lectotype female from Sweden, labeled “Sm.” (Småland), “Bhm” (Boheman), “Type”, “149”, “Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet Stockholm Loan no 1193/05”, “ Lectotype P.N. BUHL ” and “ Platygaster laticeps Th. P.N. BUHL det. 2006”, hereby designated. Additional material: 1 female, Denmark, North East Jutland , Høstemark, summer 2002, Malaise trap. P.N. BUHL leg. Preserved in ZMUC.

Differs from P. munita WALKER, 1835 in having differently shaped and smoother apical tergites, from P. tisias WALKER, 1835 in having more elongate A8–A9 and more transverse head, and shorter metasoma. Cf. VLUG (1985). Head not so much wider than mesosoma as indicated by THOMSON (1859).

Figures

Figs 24–27. Platygaster laticeps Th. female: 24 = head in dorsal view, 25 = antenna, 26 = scutellum in lateral view, 27 = metasoma in dorsal view.