Psyttalia spectabilis van Achterberg

Wu, Qiong, Achterberg, Cornelis van, Tan, Jiang-Li & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2016, Review of the East Palaearctic and North Oriental Psyttalia Walker, with the description of three new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Opiinae), ZooKeys 629, pp. 103-151 : 133-136

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Psyttalia spectabilis van Achterberg sp. n. Figs 89, 90-99

Material.

Holotype, ♀ (RMNH), "Museum Leiden, Japan[: Honshu], Gaga Spa-Zaô, Miyagi Pref., 31.vii.1981, A. Takasu". Paratype: 1 ♀ (RMNH) with same data as holotype.

Comparative diagnosis.

The new species runs in the keys to Palaearctic Opiinae by Fischer (1972) to Diachasma mysticum (= Rhogadopsis mystica (Fischer, 1963) comb. n.) from Japan. It differs from Rhogadopsis mystica by having the head and mesosoma (except propodeum and metapleuron) brownish yellow (vs head, except clypeus, and mesosoma black in Rhogadopsis mystica ), vein CU1b of fore wing much shorter than vein 3-CU1 (Fig. 90; vs vein CU1b about as long as vein 3-CU1); pterostigma distinctly triangular (Fig. 90; vs elongate); medio-posterior depression of mesoscutum absent (vs present); vein r of fore wing continuous with vein 3-SR (Fig. 90; vs vein r of fore wing rather angled with vein 3-SR); vein SR1 of fore wing about 1.8 times vein 3-SR (Fig. 90; vs vein SR1 of fore wing about 2.7 times vein 3-SR) and length of body 5-6 mm (vs about 3 mm). In the key by Fischer (1987) the new species runs to the Oriental Psyttalia walkeri (Muesebeck). The new species differs by having lateral crenulate grooves on the propodeum (Fig. 93; vs absent and instead with carina in Psyttalia walkeri ), propodeum and first–fifth tergites largely black (vs reddish yellow or partly infuscate), hind tibia (except ventrally) and tarsus dark brown, contrasting with ivory hind femur (Fig. 99; vs hind femur, tibia and tarsus similar pale yellow), pterostigma dark brown (vs pale yellow), length of body 5-6 mm (vs 2-3 mm) and vein 2-CU1 of fore wing at same level as vein M+CU1 (Fig. 90; vs vein 2-CU1 distinctly below level of vein M+CU1).

Description.

Holotype, ♀, length of body 5.6 mm, of fore wing 5.2 mm.

Head. Antenna with 52+ segments (its apex missing), bristly and erect setose and 1.4 times as long as fore wing; third segment 1.2 times as long as fourth segment, length of third and fourth segments 2.6 and 2.1 times their width, respectively (Figs 97-98); length of maxillary palp 1.2 times height of head; length of eye in dorsal view 4.6 times temple (Fig. 96); temple in dorsal view shiny, largely smooth and with sparse punctures; OOL: diameter of ocellus: POL = 9:5:4; area behind stemmaticum with groove, widened laterally (Fig. 96); face moderately punctate with interspaces wider than diameter of punctures, except submedially, shiny and medio-longitudinal convexity mainly smooth and ventrally widened (Fig. 95); frons moderately depressed behind antennal sockets, shiny, rugose and glabrous but laterally setose and punctulate, in front of anterior ocellus with narrow groove and narrow smooth ridge (Fig. 96); labrum flat; clypeus transverse, convex, coarsely punctate and its ventral margin slightly convex and thin (Fig. 95); width of clypeus 4.0 times its maximum height and 0.8 times width of face; hypoclypeal depression wide and deep (Figs 91, 95); malar space narrow (Fig. 95); malar suture indistinct except for deep depression near eye, between malar suture and clypeus punctate; mandible not twisted, apically moderately narrowed, punctate and with both teeth wide; mandible normal basally and with narrow ventral carina (Fig. 91); occipital carina remains far removed from hypostomal carina and dorsally largely absent; hypostomal carina rather wide ventrally.

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.3 times its height; dorsal pronope small, round; pronotal side largely smooth, but anterior and posterior grooves present and coarsely crenulate (Fig. 91); propleuron flattened; epicnemial area smooth dorsally; precoxal sulcus medially medium-sized and only medially distinctly crenulate, absent anteriorly and posteriorly (Fig. 91); remainder of mesopleuron smooth and shiny; pleural sulcus very finely crenulate ventrally; mesosternal sulcus deep, narrow and finely crenulate; postpectal carina absent; mesoscutum shiny and glabrous (Fig. 92); notauli only anteriorly as pair of nearly smooth impressions and absent on disc, but notaulic courses indicated by setae and punctulation; scutellar sulcus deep and with 5 long crenulae, parallel-sided medially; scutellum rather convex and smooth, but laterally sparsely punctulate and setose (Fig. 92); metanotum with a short medio-longitudinal carina anteriorly and its posterior face finely crenulate; surface of propodeum smooth except for crenulate grooves near distinct and reversed Y-shaped median carina (Fig. 93), lateral grooves deep and coarsely regularly crenulate, and anterior groove somewhat widened medially (Fig. 93).

Wings. Fore wing: 1-SR longer than wide and slightly angled with 1-M (Fig. 90); pterostigma wide triangular and r nearly linear with postero-basal border (Fig. 90); 1-R1 ending at wing apex and 1.3 times as long as pterostigma (Fig. 90); r nearly linear with 3-SR and medium-sized; r-m not tubular; r:3-SR:SR1 = 5:20:42; 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 13:20:6; 1-M straight; SR1 distinctly curved; m-cu distinctly antefurcal, subparallel with 1-M and straight, 2-SR+M slender (as apex of M+CU1: Fig. 90); cu-a distinctly postfurcal and 1-CU1 widened; 1-CU1:2-CU1 = 5:31; first subdiscal cell closed; CU1b medium-sized; only apex of M+CU1 sclerotized. Hind wing: 1-M straight; M+CU:1-M:1r-m = 30:35:13; cu-a straight; m-cu absent; SR entirely absent.

Legs. Length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 3.4, 8.2 and 4.9 times as long as width, respectively (Fig. 99); hind femur and tibia with long setae and densely setose.

Metasoma. Length of first tergite 1.1 times to its apical width, convex medio-posteriorly, convexity surrounded by crenulate groove, its surface densely punctate-rugose (Fig. 93), dorsal carinae strong in its basal half and with depressed area below; second suture slightly indicated; basal depressions of second tergite medium-sized and tergite 0.7 times as long as third tergite, both smooth (except some punctulation) and largely setose; following tergites smooth, shiny and sparsely setose; combined length of second and third metasomal tergites 0.26 times total length of metasoma; sixth tergite membranous medio-posteriorly; length of setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.46 times fore wing, 2.9 times first tergite, 2.0 times hind femur, 1.4 times hind tibia and 0.9 times metasoma; hypopygium 0.35 times as long as metasoma, acute apically and reaching apex of metasoma (Fig. 94).

Colour. Brownish yellow; propodeum, first tergite, second tergite except laterally, third tergite except posteriorly, fourth and fifth tergites (but anteriorly and posteriorly brownish) black; metapleuron chestnut brown; palpi, legs (but hind tibia and tarsus mainly dark brown) and remainder of metasoma ivory; tegulae pale yellowish; antenna (but scapus and pedicellus mainly yellow), pterostigma and veins dark brown; fore wing membrane subhyaline.

Variation. Paratype: length of fore wing 4.3 mm; antenna with 52 segments; first tergite 1.1 times as long as its apical width and only superficially punctate medially; hind femur 3.8 times as long as wide; setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.47 times as long as fore wing and 1.5 times hind tibia; hind tibia ivory ventrally and propodeum chestnut brown.

Distribution.

Japan.

Biology.

Unknown.

Etymology.

The name refers to the showy combination of colours of this species: " spectabilis " is Latin for "showy, notable".

Notes.

Rhogadopsis mystica (Fischer, 1963) comb. n. was originally described in the genus Opius Wesmael and up to now only known of the male holotype. It was later included in Diachasma Foerster, 1863, by Fischer (1972). The latter is an obvious misfit because the clypeus is truncate ventrally (vs convex in Diachasma ) and it has a distinct hypoclypeal depression below it (vs absent or as a narrow slit in Diachasma ), vein 3-SR of fore wing longer than vein 2-SR and vein m-cu of hind wing absent (according to the original description veins 2-SR and 3-SR equal, but in the figured fore wing 3-SR 1.2 times longer than 2-SR; vs in Diachasma vein 3-SR usually shorter than vein 2-SR and if subequal then vein m-cu of hind wing at least present as a distinctly pigmented trace). Tobias (1998) included it in the subgenus Aulonotus Ashmead of Opius Wesmael. Aulonotus Ashmead is a synonym of Xynobius Foerster, 1863 ( Li et al. 2013), but it is unlikely that it belongs there because the dorsal carinae are weakly developed, the marginal cell of the hind wing is wide and vein 3-SR of fore wing slightly longer than vein 2-SR ( Fischer 1963). According to the original description vein m-cu of fore wing is distinctly curved and gradually merging into vein 2-CU1, vein 1r-m of hind wing is weakly oblique and 0.7 times as long as vein 1-M, hind wing comparatively wide and medio-longitudinal carina of propodeum present anteriorly, what agrees well with the definition of Rhogadopsis Brèthes, 1913 ( Li et al. 2013). It can be separated from other Rhogadopsis species by its complete notauli combined with the antefurcal vein m-cu, short vein 1-SR and distally widened first subdiscal cell of the fore wing.