Leptodrepana conda Dadelahi & Shaw

Dadelahi, Samin D., Shaw, Scott R., Aguirre, Helmuth & Almeida, Luis Felipe V. de, 2018, A taxonomic study of Costa Rican Leptodrepana with the description of twenty-four new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Cheloninae), ZooKeys 750, pp. 59-130 : 72

Leptodrepana conda Dadelahi & Shaw sp. n. Figs 14-18

Diagnosis.

Rounded carapace apex. Head brownish black; mesosoma mostly orange except posterior half of mesopleuron black and propodeum black; wings suffused with light yellow/brown pigment, darker area below stigma; basal third of carapace yellowish white and apical 2/3 of carapace black/brown. Scrobiculate groove at the precoxal sulcus.

Holotype female.

BL 3.13 mm; FWL 2.53 mm; CL 1.44 mm; CW 0.48 mm; CL/CW 3.

Description.

Color. Head brownish black, mandibles yellow, brownish black apically; apical margin of clypeus yellowish brown; palpi yellowish white; antennae brown with scape and pedicel and flagellomeres 1 and 2 (basal) yellowish white; mesosoma mostly orange except posterior half of mesopleuron black and propodeum black; middle and fore legs yellowish white; hind leg mostly yellowish white except apical portions of coxa, trochantellus, femur, and tibia brown; wings suffused with light yellow/brown pigment, darker area below stigma covering apical half of 1st submarginal cell and anterior portion of 2nd submarginal cell; venation yellowish brown except veins 1M and RS+M yellow; basal third of carapace yellowish white, margin sharply demarcated, and apical 2/3 of carapace black/brown.

Head. HW 1.0 mm; HL 0.725 mm; HW/HL 1.38; face, genae, vertex and ocellar triangle rugulose-punctate; frons depressed, weakly punctate with fine parallel lineation lateral to median carina; clypeus punctate and apical margin rounded; occipital carina complete.

Mesosoma. Pronotum foveate antero-laterally to impunctate at propleural margin; propleuron weakly areolate-rugose; mesoscutum medially with irregular parallel pitted grooves between notauli difficult to distinguish and appears areolate-rugose; notauli distinct and visible anteriorly; median and lateral mesonotal lobes rugose-punctate; scutellar sulcus with 5 well-defined depressions, all longer than wide; scutellar disc punctate; mesopleuron anteriorly rugose, medially deeply foveate, scrobiculate groove at precoxal sulcus, foveolate to punctate postero-ventrally; propodeum coarsely areolate-rugose with distinct transverse carina raised into small and roughly equal medial and lateral flanges.

Metasoma. Carapace completely areolate-rugose; in posterior and dorsal views, apex of carapace rounded.

Variation of paratype females.HW 0.825-1 mm; HL 0.7-0.8 mm; HW/HL 1.18-1.38; BL 2.6-3.2 mm; FWL 2.2-2.53 mm; CL 1.28-1.44 mm; CW 0.4-0.44 mm; CL/CW 2.9-3.0.

Paratype males. No males.

Material examined.

Holotype female: GUANACASTE, Cerro el Hacha, NW Volcan Orosi, 300 m, 1988 (no coll. listed) [UWIM]. Paratype data: 1♀, same data as holotype except P. N. Santa Rosa, San Emilio, tropical dry forest, 19. vi– 10.vii.1995 (Dadelahi, Price & Zitani); 1♀, same data except site #6, Bosque San Emilio, 50 year old deciduous forest more or less fully shaded as possible, 300 m, 3-24.viii.1985 (I. Gauld & D. Janzen); 1♀, same data except Bosque Humedo mature evergreen dry forest more or less fully shaded as possible, 300 m, 20.xii.1986-10.i.1987.

Remarks.

Leptodrepana conda may be confused with L. demeter as both females are similar in color and have a rounded carapace apex. It may be distinguished from L. demeter by the presence of a scrobiculate groove as opposed to a wide foveate groove at the precoxal sulcus in L. conda . In posterior view, the carapace apex of L. conda is weakly areolate-rugose and evenly rounded. Whereas in posterior view, the carapace apex of L. demeter is rugulose-lacunose and bears a small transverse carina directly above the posterior margin of the carapace. When viewed laterally, the carapace of L. conda is not more than 3 × as long as wide (Fig. 17). In lateral view, the carapace of L. demeter is more than 4 × as long as wide (Fig. 27). Additionally, the propodeum of L. conda is blackish brown and the basal third of the carapace is completely yellowish white. The propodeum of L. demeter is mostly orange and the baso-median patch of yellowish white, when present, does not extend to the lateral margins of the carapace. Superficially L. conda also resembles the L. atalanta in color and size. However, the apex of L. conda is rounded in dorsal view, while the carapace apex of L. atalanta may terminate in a pointed or truncated end (Figs 10, 11).

Etymology.

This species name is an arbitrary arrangement of letters to form a euphonious combination.