Aleiodes stilpnos Townsend, 2009

Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2014, Twenty-four new species of Aleiodes Wesmael from the eastern Andes of Ecuador with associated biological information (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae), ZooKeys 405, pp. 1-81 : 66-67

Aleiodes stilpnos Townsend, 2009 Figures 107, 108, 126

Diagnosis.

Body length 9.0 mm; antenna with 65 segments; head and mesosoma color mostly black, contrasting with yellowish orange metasoma; malar space 1.3 × basal width of mandible; ocellus moderate, ocell–ocular distance slightly longer than width of lateral ocellus; occipital carina complete; mesopleuron smooth; apex of hind tibia without comb of flattened setae; propodeum mostly rugose, longitudinal carina complete.

Additional characters.

Last flagellomere with “bottle-nipple” -shaped tip; mesoscutum with carina at posterior margin present only in front of scutellar sulcus; scutellar sulcus with three strong and short carina; fore wing vein 1M slightly curved at base; hind wing vein 2-1A present and relatively long, vein m-cu absent.

Type material examined. (UWIM)

Biology.

Aleiodes stilpnos has been reared from unidentified Noctuidae caterpillar on Polygonum punctatum ( Polygonaceae ).

Distribution.

Known only from the type locality, YBS, Napo province, ECUADOR.

Discussion.

Aleiodes stilpnos is the only species treated in this work in the albitibia species-group. The albitibia-group is relatively rarely collected in the Neotropical region, with only two described - Aleiodes stilpnos from Ecuador and Aleiodes fuscipennis ( Szépligeti, 1904) from Peru, Venezuela ( Torres and Briceño 2005) and Chile (deposited at UWIM), and at least two undescribed species from Costa Rica. Aleiodes stilpnos differs from other species in Ecuador by the following characters: head, mesosoma and legs mostly black contrasting with light orange metasoma, and wings infuscate; mesopleuron central disc smooth and bare; tarsal claws strongly pectinate; and costate sculpturing on metasomal terga 1-3.