Keylimepie Fernandez-Triana

Fernandez-Triana, Jose & Boudreault, Caroline, 2016, Keylimepiepeckorum gen. n. and sp. n., (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from southern Florida, U. S., the first known brachypterous member of the subfamily Microgastrinae, ZooKeys 584, pp. 95-107 : 96-97

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Keylimepie Fernandez-Triana gen. n.

Type species.

Keylimepie peckorum Fernandez-Triana new species, by present designation.

Diagnosis.

Female. Fore wings (0.6-0.7 × body length), shorter than any other species of Microgastrinae (where fore wings are 0.9-1.2 × body length); malar distance more than 2.0 × mandibular width; eye and ocelli small. Both sexes. Propodeum sculpture with a complex pattern that includes partial transverse and longitudinal carinae and a posteriorly defined areola; T1 without median sulcus; T1-T3 with strong longitudinal sculpture.

Description.

Female. Head heavily punctured, in lateral view strongly projecting forward below the antennal sockets. Malar distance more than 2.0 × mandibular width. Anterior tentorial pits very large compared to clypeus width. Eyes and ocelli small. Pronotum with one broad, transverse pronotal sulcus. Propleuron flange sharply defined by carina. Notauli faint, almost invisible. Propodeum with complex sculpture pattern, including partial median longitudinal carina (sometimes obscured by other sculpture), traces of transverse carina, and partial areola with only the posterior carina defined. Fore wing short and narrow, brachypterous (fore wing length 0.6-0.7 × body length, and 1.1-1.3 × metasoma length), with small to almost obliterated quadrangular areolet. Metacoxa of moderate size, not surpassing posterior margin of T2. Inner and outer spurs of metatibia subequal and less than half length of metatarsal segment 1. T1 relatively short, more or less parallel-sided in anterior 0.5, then narrowing towards posterior margin, without median sulcus, with anterior 0.5 rather depressed and concave, and posterior 0.5 with strong transversal striation. T2 trapezoidal. T2 and T3 with strong longitudinal striations, T4-T8 smooth. Hypopygium small, inflexible and unfolded. Ovipositor sheaths mostly smooth, with a few, short setae posteriorly. Ovipositor very short, 0.2 × as long as metatibia. Male as in female but not brachypterous, antenna uniformly brown and body color much darker.

Distribution.

Southern Florida: four Florida Keys and a single locality in Everglades National Park (Fig. 18).

Hosts and habitat.

Hosts are unknown. All specimens were collected in hammock forests from February to November.

Putative autapomorphies.

Propodeum carination pattern, shape and sculpture of T1 (without median sulcus), sculpture of T2 and T3, reduced eyes, long malar space, and, in females, short fore wing are treated tentatively as apomorphies.

Etymology.

Named after the Key Lime Pie, a typical dessert originated in the Florida Keys -the same area where the new genus was collected. The name not only honors a significant component of the culinary culture in southern Florida, but is also intended to bring attention to and promote conservation efforts for the habitats where the wasps occur. The gender of the genus name is neuter.

Comments.

The relationships of Keylimepie with other genera of Microgastrinae are hard to assess at present, especially because there are no molecular data available, and nothing is known about potential hosts. Several morphological characters, e.g., head shape and sculpture, mesosoma sculpture, shape and sculpture of T2, and ovipositor, suggest it is related to some species-groups of Diolcogaster , part of the Cotesini tribe (sensu Mason 1981). That may be the best placement for the time being and it is the one we favour here. However, several other characters are different from the traditional Cotesini , e.g., the relatively short metacoxa and short metatibial spurs, shape of T1 (and lack of median sulcus), and carination pattern of propodeum. Regardless of affinities to other Microgastrinae genera, Keylimepie is a distinctive genus.

The reduced wings in females, relatively small eyes and long malar space present interesting evolutionary questions. More study of additional species of Microgastrinae worldwide would be needed before it can be established if those characters truly are autapomorphies of Keylimepie or just an adaptation to local conditions (see Discussion below).