Bracon rosamondae Rodríguez-Sánchez et Zaldívar-Riverón, 2022

Rodríguez-Sánchez, Edna, Giraldo-Kalil, Laura J., Quicke, Donald L. J. & Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro, 2022, Two new species of the braconid wasp genus Bracon (Braconinae) from Los Tuxtlas region in Veracruz, Mexico, reared from fruits of three species of Lauraceae, Zootaxa 5162 (1), pp. 67-77 : 72-74

Bracon rosamondae Rodríguez-Sánchez et Zaldívar-Riverón , sp. nov.

( Figure 3A–F ).

Diagnosis. Bracon rosamondae sp. nov. can be distinguished from B. laurae sp. nov. and the remaining two species that belong to the phytophagus species-group by the morphological features that are mentioned in the diagnosis of the latter species.

Description. Female holotype: Body length 5.0 mm; fore wing 4.9 mm ( Figure 3A ). Ovipositor 3.8 mm. Colour. Head, mandible, antennae, mesoscutum and scutellar disk dark brown to black; eyes with some areas surrounded by a honey yellow stripe; apical edge of scapus and antennal socket honey yellow; maxillary and labial palps brown; notauli with a thin honey yellow stripe medially; anterior half of scutellar sulcus black, posterior half honey yellow; mesopleuron honey yellow to light brown; metapleuron, propodeum and first metasomal tergum mostly honey yellow to orange, with dark brown areas; remaining metasomal terga honey yellow to orange; legs dark brown to black, trochanters and trochanteli brown to honey yellow; hind and middle tarsi honey yellow to brown. Wings infuscate, stigma and veins brown to light brown. Sheaths dark brown to black, ovipositor light yellow, honey yellow apically.

Head. Width 1.5 times its median length. Frons distinctly excavated; vertex and temple smooth and polished, sparsely setose; face slightly coriaceous, with a longitudinal median carina anteriorly, with dense, long setae laterally ( Figure 3B ). Clypeus granulated, with long dense hairs at the base. Transverse diameter of eye 1.4 times wider than temple; eye large, 1.3 times as high as broad. Malar space 0.2 times height of eye. Antennae shorter than length of body, with 38 flagellomeres (one antenna broken); radicule punctate, scape and pedicel smooth and densely pilose; segments broad, cylindrical, roughly 1.3 times longer than wide; terminal flagellomere acuminate.

Mesosoma. Length 1.8 times than its maximum height, mostly smooth and polished. Pronotal groove wide, deep and smooth. Notauli distinct, wide and smooth, not joining, almost reaching the end of mesoscutum ( Figure 3D ). Scutellar disc smooth, with long, dense setae. Scutellar sulcus narrow, with 12 transversal carinae. Mesopleuron smooth, with a dense transversal row of setae ( Figure 3C ). Metapleuron smooth and densely pilose. Propodeum smooth and polished, with a complete median longitudinal carina.

Wings. Fore wing length 3.4 times its maximum width ( Figure 3F ). Pterostigma 3.1 times longer than width. Vein R1 1.5 times longer than pterostigma. Vein 3RSa 2.2 times longer than vein r, 0.6 times as long as vein 3RSb, 1.4 times longer than vein 2RS. First submarginal cell 1.8 times longer than wide, as long as first discal cell. Hind wing about 4.4 times longer than wide. Vein M+CU 0.5 times as long as vein 1M.

Legs. Coxae, femora and tibiae smooth, with long, dense setae. Tarsal claws with basal lobe. Basitarsus of hind tarsus 0.7 times as long as second to fifth segments combined. Hind coxa 1.4 times longer than its maximum width.

Metasoma. Metasoma 0.9 times as long as head and mesosoma combined. First tergum short, 0.5 times as long as its maximum width, with a pentagonal-like shaped area surrounded by four lateral carinae, dorsolateral carinae very strong ( Figure 3E ). Second tergum mostly smooth, 0.4 times as long as its maximum width, with a medium sized, drop-shaped area formed posteriorly into a mid-longitudinal carina that extends to the end of tergum. ( Figure 3E ). Third tergum smooth, 0.4 times as long as its maximum width, with weak but distinct anterolateral triangular areas and a mid-longitudinal carina that extends to basal third. Second tergum with a pair of dorsolateral grooves. Hypopygium sharply pointed. Ovipositor 1.7 times longer than metasoma, slender; dorsal valve with a single nodus, ventral valves apically with five serrations.

Variation. Body length 4.2–5.8 mm. Head dark brown to black; ocelli yellow or white. Notauli and scutellar disc honey yellow to black; mandible, maxillary and labial palp, mesopleuron, metapleuron and legs honey yellow to black; propodeum honey yellow or black, with or without a yellow to brown stripe. Antennae with 31–39 flagellomeres. Eye 1.1–1.4 times as high as broad. Head and mesosoma dull to polish. Second metasomal tergum with a triangular to quadrangular shaped area.

Type locality. Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve, Veracruz, Mexico.

Etymology. This species is named after our dear colleague Rosamond Ione Coates Lutes, director of the the “Estación de Biología Tropical Los Tuxtlas” owned by the IBUNAM, for her great contribution to the study and conservation of the tropical rainforest in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico.

Type material. Holotype ( CNIN IBUNAM): Female. México: Veracruz, San Andrés Tuxtla , 18.467335 N – 95.169713 W, 8- L. Giraldo-Kalil.

Paratypes ( CNIN-IBUNAM): 10 females . “ Mexico: Veracruz, San Andres Tuxtla , 18.468082 N – 95.169945 W, CNIN-4614 [GenBank accession nos ON324499 ( COI), ON332042 (28S)] ; 18.468164 N – 95.169924 W, 386- L. Giraldo-Kalil, CNIN-4342 [GenBank accession nos ON324498 ( COI)],4615 [GenBank accession no. ON3244500 ( COI), ON332043 (28S)],4617[GenBank accession nos ON324501 ( COI)],4619 [GenBank accession no. ON324502 ( COI)] ; 18.469074 N – 95.162596 W, CNIN-4340 [GenBank accession no. ON324497 ( COI)],4618 ; 18.508141 N – 95.170142 W, CNIN-3313 [GenBank accession nos ON324503 ( COI), ON332041 (28S)] ; 18.586529 N – 95.078365 W, CNIN-4339 [GenBank accession no. ON324496 ( COI)] .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Bracon rosamondae sp. nov. (female, holotype) reared from Damburneya salicifolia fruits. A) habitus in lateral view; B) head, frontal view; C) head and mesosoma, lateral view; D) head and mesosoma, dorsal view; E) first metasomal tergum, dorsal view; F) fore and hind wings.