Triraphis sicbaios 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 : 530-532

Triraphis sicbaios Valerio , sp. nov.

Figures 7 , 83–88 , 110 .

Description. Female. Body color: Body yellow, with antenna distal 3/4 yellow, remainder 1/4 brownish yellow as scape, pedicel, tarsal claws, telotarsus; head, mesonotum and metasomal terga bright yellow. Fore wing: M+CU basal 1/3, 1 – 1A basal 5/6 brownish yellow as C+SC+R basal tip, remainder yellow; hind wing: union of veins 1M, r – m, 2M brownish yellow, remainder yellow. Wings hyaline, sometimes with a light yellow tone. Body length = 3.81 – 2.71 mm; fore wing length = 3.95 – 2.79 mm.

Head: Head height/head length = 1.19 – 1.39; maximum height of compound eye/maximum width of compound eye = 1.44 – 1.46; distance between basal edges of tentorial pits and the basal area of toruli/Maximum width of face measured at dorsal edge of clypeus = 1.07 – 1.09; width of vertex/minimal distance between toruli and the medial ocellus = 2.71 – 2.11; width of oral opening/height of oral opening = 1.36 – 1.75; distance between tentorial pits = 0.10 – 0.15 mm; minimal distance between external edge of tentorial pits and compound eye = 0.04 – 0.06 mm. Antenna, flagellomeres all longer than wide, between 28 and 33; malar space as wide as basal width of mandible; occipital carina present dorsally and divided, not fused with hypostomal carina; space between toruli almost as big as first f width; median ocellus slightly bigger than lateral ocellus; space between lateral ocellus black; ocell-ocular distance bigger than ½ of Lateral ocellus width.

Mesosoma: Length of mesosoma in dorsal view/width of mesosoma = 2.41 – 2.45; height of mesosoma = 0.61 – 0.80 mm; propleuron dorso-lateral area with less defined colliculate sculpturing present at basal ½, remainder nitid; notauli pitted, from laterally smaller to medially bigger, almost absent medially; medial longitudinal pit present, without longitudinal punctate sculpturing; mesonotum distal 1/3 with less defined colliculate sculpturing present medially; sternauli nitid, with a groove shape, union with prepectal carina absent, area below with less defined rugose sculpturing; mesopleuron immaculate except dorso-lateral area with few spaced large lineate sculpturing; metapleuron granulate, ventral edge with rugose sculpturing present; propodeum granulate, spiracles sub-circular; first lateral areas of propodeum without areolate-rugulose sculpturing, remainder with few spaced areolate-rugulose and covered with less defined colliculate sculpturing; medial carina 1/4 Propodeum length; areola triangular; ventral tubercles present with carinae over them and densely granulate.

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

Wings: fore wing: 1Cub/RS+Ma = 1.08 – 1.13; 3RSa/1RS = 3.20 – 3.43; pterostigma length/width = 2.40 – 2.57; r = 0.181. – 0.21 mm. hind wing: 1M/r – m = 2.18 – 2.26; 1A/cu – a = 2.31 – 2.44; m+cu = 0.34 – 0.37 mm; m+cu interstitial with 2RS; 2RS slightly bent to posterior edge of wing; angle at union of veins 2RS – 2M acute; pterostigma yellow.

Metasoma: Length of first metasomal tergum/width of first metasomal tergum = 1.09 – 1.24; length of second metasomal tergum/width of second metasomal tergum = 0.84 – 0.82; length of third metasomal tergum/width of third metasomal tergum = 0.42 – 0.44; basal width of first metasomal tergum = 0.19 – 0.30 mm; hypopygium = 0.25 – 0.39 mm. first metasomal tergum dorso – basal triangular area of first metasomal tergum open 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. Similar to females.

Female holotype. Costa Rica, Limón, Guápiles, 400 m. 11/ix/1995, Col. M. Arguedas. Paratypes: 10 females, 22 males; 1 female and 6 males same data as holotype; 9 females and 16 males from Guápiles, 400 m. 3/x/1995, Col. Hildred J. Holotype and paratypes have been deposited at the RMSEL.

Distribution. The altitudinal distribution of this species is 400 m. The type of forest present at site of collecting was tropical moist/wet forest.

Biology. Specimens reared from larvae feeding on Hieronima alchorneoides (Euphorbiaceae) . This is a gregarious parasitoid; sex ratios found for the first host is 9 females and 16 males; for the second host 2 females and 6 males

Comments. Similar to Triraphis baios by the angle at union of veins 2RS – 2M acute, tarsal claw at hind leg with basal lobe elongate with tip acute, occipital carina not fused with hypostomal carina, but can be identified from this species by ocell-ocular distance divided by width of lateral ocellus smaller than or equal to 0.5x, antennal flagellomeres more than 30 and length of hind wing m+cu bigger than 4.7 mm present on Triraphis baios .

Etymology. The species name is in reference to the similarity of this species with Triraphis baios .

Figures

FIGURE 7 – 12. Triraphis sicbaios, 7, head, dorsal view; 8, T. fasciipennis, ovipositor, lateral view; 9, T. fusciceps, ovipositor, lateral view; 10, T. ikelopsops ovipositor, lateral view; 11, T. simphlex, ovipositor, lateral view; 12, T. willei, ovipositor, lateral view. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURE 83 – 88. Triraphis sicbaios, 83, dorsal habitus; 84, lateral habitus; 85, mesosoma, dorsal view; 86, mesosoma, lateral view; 87, head, anterior view; 88, metasoma, dorsal view. Scale bar in millimeters.

FIGURE 109 – 114. Wing venation and wing pattern for: 109, Triraphis ornatus (Cresson); 110, T. sicbaios; 111, T. paraholos; 112, T. simphlex; 113, T. prolixus, and 114, T. willei.