Apodesmia melliclypealis Li & van Achterberg

Li, Xi-Ying, Achterberg, Cornelis van & Tan, Ji-Cai, 2013, Revision of the subfamily Opiinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from Hunan (China), including thirty-six new species and two new genera, ZooKeys 268, pp. 1-186 : 18-20

Apodesmia melliclypealis Li & van Achterberg sp. n. Figs 22-31

Type material.

Holotype, ♀ (ZUH), "S. China: Hunan, nr Zhangjiajie, Badagong Mts, Tian Ping Mt., 9-13.VII.2009, 550 m, Xi-Ying Li, RMNH’10”. Paratypes (RMNH): 1 ♀ with same label data; 1 ♀, "S. China: Hunan, nr Zhangjiajie, Badagong Mts, Longtanping, 4-5.VI.2009, 550 m, Xi-Ying Li, RMNH’09”; 1 ♀, "S. China: Hunan, nr Chengbu, Nan Mt., Shaoyang, 1500 m, 10-11.VI.2009, Xi-Ying Li, RMNH’09”; 1 ♀, "S. China: Hunan, nr Suining, Huangsang N.R., Shaoyang, 12-13.VI.2009, 1000 m, Xi-Ying Li, RMNH’09”.

Diagnosis.

Mandible with a fine ventral carina (Fig. 29); clypeus yellowish-brown ventrally; small medio-posterior depression of mesoscutum present (Fig. 24); mesosoma robust (Fig. 22); propodeum without a transverse carina subbasally (Fig. 25); vein m-cu of fore wing slightly antefurcal (Fig. 23).

Description.

Holotype, ♀, length of body 1.7 mm, of fore wing 2.2 mm.

Head. Antenna with 28 segments and 1.4 times as long as fore wing (Fig. 22); length of third segment 1.2 times fourth segment and with thyloids and matt, length of third, fourth and penultimate segments 4.0, 3.3, and 2.5 times their width, respectively (Fig. 30); length of maxillary palp 1.1 times height of head; labial palp segments rather short; occipital carina dorsally absent; median groove behind stemmaticum absent; hypostomal carina narrow (Fig. 29); length of eye in dorsal view 3.0 times temple; frons flat and glabrous medially, smooth and laterally distinctly convex and glabrous; face smooth, medially slightly elevated (Fig. 27); width of clypeus twice its maximum height and 0.5 times width of face, clypeus moderately convex, largely smooth and its ventral margin differentiated and straight medially (Fig. 27); hypoclypeal depression medium-sized (Fig. 27); malar suture absent; mandible triangular, moderately convex and with fine ventral carina (Fig. 29).

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.2 times its height (Fig. 22); dorsal pronope obsolescent, small (Fig. 28); pronotal side smooth, but oblique groove finely crenulate, posteriorly largely smooth (Fig. 22); epicnemial area largely smooth dorsally; precoxal sulcus only medially distinctly impressed, narrow and smooth (Fig. 22); rest of mesopleuron smooth; pleural sulcus entirely smooth; mesosternal sulcus narrow and finely crenulate; notauli absent on disc, except for an indistinct smooth depression anteriorly (Fig. 24); mesoscutum glabrous except some setae on imaginary notaulic courses (Fig. 24); medio-posterior depression of mesoscutum small, pit-shaped (Fig. 24); scutellar sulcus narrow and finely crenulate; scutellum smooth and flattened; surface of propodeum partly rugulose and partly smooth, without medio-longitudinal carina (Fig. 25).

Wings. Fore wing (Fig. 23): pterostigma elliptical; 1-R1 reaching wing apex and 1.1 times as long as pterostigma; r:3-SR:SR1 = 2:31:60; 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 15:31:8; r slightly widened; 1-M straight; SR1 weakly sinuate; m-cu slightly antefurcal; cu-a slightly postfurcal and 1-CU1 slender; first subdiscal cell narrowly open, CU1b reduced, only pigmented; apical quarter of M+CU1 sclerotized. Hind wing (Fig. 23): M+CU:1-M:1r-m = 15:2:5; cu-a straight, short; m-cu absent; 1-1A curved.

Legs. Length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 5.0, 10.6 and 5.3 times as long as wide, respectively; setae of hind femur long and tibia moderately long (Fig. 26).

Metasoma. Length of first tergite 1.5 times its apical width, its surface evenly convex medially and with longitudinal (mainly superficial) fine rugae and dorsal carinae remain separated and up to middle of tergite (Fig. 25); basal quarter of second tergite smooth medially; second suture absent; third and following tergites smooth; length of setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.08 times fore wing and 0.25 times hind tibia (Figs 22, 31).

Colour. Dark brown; mesosoma and head dorsally blackish; palpi, tegulae and coxae pale yellowish; scapus, clypeus ventrally, remainder of legs (but hind tibia apically and hind tarsus slightly darkened), metasoma baso-ventrally and apex of third-seventh tergites brownish-yellow; mesopleuron below precoxal sulcus chestnut-brown; pterostigma and veins mainly brown; wing membrane subhyaline.

Molecular data. COI, 16S, 28S (CVA4235).

Variation. Length of body 1.5-1.9 mm, of fore wing 2.0-2.2 mm; antenna of ♀ with 25 (1), 26 (2), 27 (1) or 28 (1) segments.

Distribution.

*China (Hunan).

Biology.

Unknown.

Etymology.

Name derived from “melleus” (Latin for honey-coloured) and “clypeus”, because of the yellowish clypeus.

Notes.

According to the molecular markers belongs to a clade with the Palaearctic Apodesmia incisula (Fischer, 1964) (DNA: CVA4257, sharing the indistinct pronope and a medio-posterior depression of mesoscutum) together with Neopius rudis (Wesmael). The new species has vein m-cu of fore wing antefurcal as in the very common Palaearctic Apodesmia irregularis (Wesmael, 1835), but it has the second tergite smooth basally and rather dark brown, medio-posterior depression of the mesoscutum minute and distinctly removed from the scutellar sulcus (more than diameter of depression from scutellar sulcus; less than length of depression in Apodesmia irregularis ), the first tergite with distinct (but small) smooth knob medio-apically (absent or nearly so in Apodesmia irregularis ).

It runs in the key by Chen and Weng (2005) to Apodesmia tracta (Weng & Chen, 2005) comb. n. It differs by having the eye 3 times longer than temple (twice in Apodesmia tracta ), the first tergite with finer sculpture between its coarse rugae (absent), the second tergite without distinct sculpture (longitudinally striate) and the base of the second tergite comparatively wide between the oblique depressions (base narrow).