Alphomelon ricardocaleroi Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori, 2023

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Shimbori, Eduardo M., Whitfield, James B., Penteado-Dias, Angelica M., Shaw, Scott R., Boudreault, Caroline, Sones, Jayme, Perez, Kate, Brown, Allison, Manjunath, Ramya, Burns, John M., Hebert, P. D. N., Smith, M. Alex, Hallwachs, Winnifred & Janzen, Daniel H., 2023, A revision of the parasitoid wasp genus Alphomelon Mason with the description of 30 new species (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), ZooKeys 1175, pp. 5-162 : 5

Alphomelon ricardocaleroi Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori sp. nov.

Figs 70A-E , 71A-E , 102A

Type material.

Holotype. Costa Rica • Female, CNC; Alajuela, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Sector Rincon Rain Forest, Vochysia, 10°51'59.98"N, 85°14'43.01"W, 320m; 16.VI.2007; ex. Cynea sp. Burns06; coll. Jose Perez; Voucher code: DHJPAR0020280; Host voucher code: 07-SRNP-41811.

Paratypes. Costa Rica • 12 females, CNC; CNC1180130, CNC1180125, CNC1180148 (additional specimens in a gel capsule associated with that specimen), DHJPAR0020276, DHJPAR0040440, CNC1180144, CNC1180154, CNC1180169, DHJPAR0054695, CNC1196552, CNC1196559, CNC1196599 (additional specimens in a gel capsule associated with that specimen).

Distribution.

Costa Rica (ACG).

Biology.

Gregarious, reared from Cynea cynea , C. megalops , and C. Burns06.

DNA barcoding.

BINBOLD:AAB7535.

Etymology.

Named in honor of Sr. Ricardo Calero in honor of his decades of teamwork in the ACG inventory parataxonomist team.

Diagnostic description.

White patch on gena: extending to occiput and onto clypeus. Tegula/humeral complex color: yellow/yellow. Mesonotum color: mostly dark brown to black. Metasoma color: mostly black or dark brown. Tarsal claws spines: 2 or 3. Pterostigma shape: comparatively more elongate, its length ≥ 3.0 × its central height and more triangular with its two lower margins more or less straight. T1 sculpture: weakly sculptured along margins. T1 central ridge: marked by weak carina. T2 sculpture: entirely to mostly smooth. Ovipositor sheaths length: longer than first segment of metatarsus. Body length: 3.7-3.9 mm. Fore wing length: 3.4-3.7 mm.

Notes.

Some paratype specimens have ovipositor sheaths longer than holotype.

Figures

Figure 70. Alphomelon ricardocaleroi Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori holotype female DHJPAR 0020280 A habitus, lateral B wings C head, frontal D mesosoma, dorsal E metasoma, dorsal.

Figure 71. Alphomelon ricardocaleroi Fernandez-Triana & Shimbori paratype female DHJPAR 0040440 A habitus, lateral B head, frontal C fore wing D propodeum and metasoma, dorsal E mesosoma, dorsal.

Figure 102. Parasite cocoons A Alphomelon ricardocaleroi 15 - SRNP- 55879 - DHJ 492398 B Alphomelon sergioriosi 08 - SRNP- 32245 - DHJ 462411.