Opius dablus Wharton

Wharton, Robert & Norrbom, Allen L., 2013, New species and host records of New World, mostly Neotropical, opiine Braconidae (Hymenoptera) reared from flower-infesting, stem-galling, and stem-mining Tephritidae (Diptera), ZooKeys 349, pp. 11-72 : 34-35

Opius dablus Wharton sp. n. Figs 20, 42, 44, 45, 46

Type locality.

Mexico, Morelos, 5 km N El Vigia.

Type material.

Holotype. Female (UNAM), first label, first line: MEXICO: Morelos, Rt. second line: 142, Km 48-50, 5 km N third line: El Vigia, 28.ix.-1.x.1991 fourth line: A. L. Norrbom, #49 Second label, first line: reared ex. Eutreta second line: margaritata ex. stem gall third line: on Penstemon kunthii fourth line: C. Don. (91M13A) Third label, first line: reared ex. puparium second line: ex. gall 91M13A third line: emg. 30.v.1992.

Description.

Female. Eyes in dorsal view slightly bulging beyond temples, temples weakly receding. Clypeus 1.65 × wider than high, weakly punctate throughout; completely concealing labrum when mandible closed, ventral margin of clypeus evenly convex, slightly overlapping dorsal margin of mandible when mandible closed. Antenna with 40 flagellomeres. Malar sulcus weak, barely indicated near eye margin. Mesosoma 1.3 × longer than high. Pronotum laterally with vertical groove weakly crenulate dorsally, more distinctly crenulate ventrally, otherwise smooth and unsculptured. Propodeum unsculptured, with a few weak carinulae along posterior margin. Fore wing 3RSa 1.6 × longer than strongly sinuate 2RS; (RS+M)a straight. T1 2.35 × wider at apex than at base, 0.95 × as long as apical width; smooth, unsculptured; dorsal carina low not distinctly elevated basally, absent over apical 0.7. Ovipositor (total length) approximately 2.0 × longer than mesosoma; ovipositor sheath approximately 1.5 × longer than mesosoma. Head entirely black to dark red-brown above, entirely white below horizontal line extending from dorsal margin of clypeus through ventral margin of eye to occipital carina, with triangular wedge extending dorsally above this line between clypeus and eye; base of mandible and all remaining mouthparts also white. Mesosoma black to dark red-brown except propleuron, tegula and basal wing sclerite pale white; axilla and most of mesoscutum orange, with very narrow median black stripe ending posteriorly in large shield-shaped black spot. T1 black, T2-T6 dark reddish brown medially, T3-T6 with narrow hyaline margin posteriorly; T4-T6 also with median white band anteriorly. Fore and mid tibiae and all femora pale yellow; hind tibia mostly brown, darker brown over basal 0.2, with yellow band on middle 0.4 dorsally and dorsal-posteriorly, variegated anteriorly. Body length 3.0 mm; wing length 4.0 mm; mesosoma length 1.3 mm. Otherwise having all the characteristics described above for the baderae species group.

Diagnosis.

This species most closely resembles Opius baderae , Opius baeblus , and Opius cablus based on the color pattern of the head (dark above, white below) relative to the other members of this species group described here. In Opius dablus , there is a wedge of white that extends more dorsally along the inner eye margin than in the other three species, the hind tibia tends to be a little more evenly infumate, and T1 is not as heavily sculptured. Opius baeblus is larger and the mesosoma is more extensively pale than in the other three species, and in Opius dablus the lateral lobes of the mesoscutum are orange but mostly dark brown to black in Opius baderae and Opius cablus . The ovipositors of Opius dablus and Opius baderae are similar in length and shorter than in Opius cablus .

Biology.

Ten specimens of Eutreta margaritata were reared from the same collection of stem galls on Penstemon kunthii G. Don that produced the holotype, resulting in a parasitism rate of 9%. This is a new host plant record for this tephritid and the first record for any tephritid from Penstemon and the Plantaginaceae .

Etymology.

The species name is an arbitrary combination of letters.

Remarks.

This species is thus far known only from the female holotype. Five female specimens collected with sweep net in Guerrero and Oaxaca (TAMU) are nearly identical to this species. Although varying slightly in pattern, they all have the wedge of white color extending along the eye margin dorsally from the lateral margin of the clypeus and an orange mesoscutum with a dark median blotch. All of these, however, differ in having a slightly shorter ovipositor and sheath and thus are hypothesized to represent a separate but closely related species.

The fore wing 1RS is longer in this species than in others of this species group, at the lower end of the range for the 1M/1RS ratio given in the species group diagnosis. In other species in this group, the ratio is near the upper end of the range. Similarly, fore wing m-cu is more strongly postfurcal in Opius dablus , resulting in a lower 3RSa/2RS ratio than in most other members of this species group.