Triraphis cortazari Valerio

Valerio, Alejandro A. & Shaw, Scott R., 2015, Thirteen new Costa Rican species belonging to the genus Triraphis Ruthe (Braconidae: Rogadinae) with their host records, Zootaxa 3904 (4), pp. 501-540 : 511-513

Triraphis cortazari Valerio , sp. nov.

Figures 1 , 25–28 , 105 .

Description. Female. Body color: yellow, with antenna black; scape and pedicel brownish yellow as tarsal claws and head (more light); fore femur, hind leg (except trochanters and tarsomeres) honey yellow. Wings hyaline with all veins yellow. Body length = 6.19 mm; fore wing length = 5.11 mm.

Head: Head height/head length = 1.21; maximum height of compound eye/maximum width of compound eye = 1.57; distance between basal edges of tentorial pits and the basal area of toruli/Maximum width of face measured at dorsal edge of clypeus = 1.14; width of vertex/minimal distance between toruli and the medial ocellus = 2.56; width of oral opening/height of oral opening = 1.87; distance between tentorial pits = 0.21 mm; minimal distance between external edge of tentorial pits and compound eye = 0.10 mm. Antenna with 53 flagellomeres, all longer than wide; malar space as wide as basal width of mandible; occipital carina present dorsally, divided, not fused with hypostomal carina; median ocellus as big as lateral ocellus; space between lateral ocellus black; ocell-ocular distance 1/4 lateral ocellus width.

Mesosoma: Length of mesosoma in dorsal view/width of mesosoma = 3.01; height of mesosoma = 1.32 mm; propleuron dorso-lateral area, basally with defined colliculate sculpturing, medially with less defined colliculate sculpturing and distally nitid; notauli punctate, pits from smaller laterally to bigger medially, less defined medially; medial longitudinal pit present, elongate, smooth without longitudinal punctate sculpturing; sternauli striate, union with prepectal carina smooth, with few striate sculpturing present, area below with less defined colliculate sculpturing; mesopleuron immaculate except dorso-lateral area with less defined colliculate sculpturing (as mesepimeron ventral area) and little rugose sculpturing, ventral; metapleuron granulate, ventral area with rugose sculpturing with colliculate sculpturing; propodeum, spiracles sub – oval; first lateral areas of propodeum with light areolate-rugulose sculpturing, remainder with spaced areolate-rugulose sculpturing; medial carina <1/5 Propodeum length; areola irregular; ventral tubercles present with carinae over them (not conspicuously evident) and densely granulate.

Legs: basal lobe of hind tarsal claws elongate and acute at tip.

Wings: fore wing: 1Cub/RS+Ma = 1.04; 3RSa/1RS = 4.08; pterostigma length/width = 1.40; r = 0.24 mm. hind wing: 1M/r – m = 2.36; 1A/cu – a = 1.81; m+cu = 0.72 mm; m+cu antefurcal to 2RS; 2RS slightly bent to wing base; angle at union of veins 2RS – 2M wide; pterostigma yellow.

Metasoma: Length of first metasomal tergum/width of first metasomal tergum = 0.78; length of second metasomal tergum/width of second metasomal tergum = 0.88; length of third metasomal tergum/width of third metasomal tergum = 0.42; basal width of first metasomal tergum = 0.44 mm; hypopygium = 0.65 mm. first metasomal tergum dorso – basal triangular area of first metasomal tergum close with carinae present, medial carina normal; first metasomal tergum lineate sculpturing as second metasomal tergum sculpturing; third metasomal tergum lineate sculpturing finer, closer and less conspicuous than second metasomal tergum sculpturing, reaching third metasomal tergum distal edge; fourth metasomal tergum without fine lineate sculpturing.

Male. Body and fore wing length smaller than female, 5.04 mm and 4.22 mm respectively; antenna with 39 flagellomeres; reminder body as described for females.

Female holotype. Costa Rica, Puntarenas, Península de Osa, Sirena , 8.28N / 83.85W, 50 m. 28/iv/1981, Col. J. Longino. Paratypes: 1 male; Puntarenas, Sirena, Península de Osa, 8.28N / 83.35W, 50 m. 28/iv/1981, Col. J. Longino.

Holotype and paratypes have been deposited at the RMSEL.

Distribution. The altitudinal distribution of this species is lowlands. The type of forest present at site of sampling was tropical moist/wet forest. Specimens collected at primary forest.

Biology. Holotype reared from unknown lycaenid larva.

Comments. This species is similar to T. guarusa by the ocell-ocular distance <1/3 of lateral ocellus width, ratio of fore wing veins 3RSa/1RS <5x, fore wings hyaline and the occipital carina present dorsally, but can be identified by the ocell-ocular distance <1/3 of the lateral ocellus width, notauli yellow, malar space as wide as basal width of mandible and the antennal with fewer than 60 flagellomeres.

Etymology. This species is named in honor of the renowned Latin American author Julio Cortazar.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Ocell-ocular distance for: 1, Triraphis cortazari; 2, T. guarusa; 3, T. simphlex; 4, T. balteus; 5, T. defectus; 6, T. paraholos. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURE 25 – 28. Triraphis cortazari, 25, mesosoma, dorsal view; 26, mesosoma, lateral view; 27, head, anterior view; 28, metasoma, dorsal view. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURE 101 – 108. Wing venation and wing pattern for: 101, Triraphis balteus; 102, T. fusciceps (Cresson); 103, T. chinusi; 104, T. guarusa; 105, T. cortazari; 106, T. ikelops; 107, T. defectus and 108, T. melasops.