Apanteles megathymi Riley, 1881

Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., Whitfield, James B., Rodriguez, Josephine J., Smith, M. Alex, Janzen, Daniel H., Hallwachs, Winnie D., Hajibabaei, Mehrdad, Burns, John M., Solis, M. Alma, Brown, John, Cardinal, Sophie, Goulet, Henri & Hebert, Paul D. N., 2014, Review of Apantelessensu stricto (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, northwestern Costa Rica, with keys to all described species from Mesoamerica, ZooKeys 383, pp. 1-565 : 240-241

Apanteles megathymi Riley, 1881 Fig. 147

Apanteles megathymi Riley, 1881: 304.

Type locality.

UNITED STATES: "South Carolina", locality not specified.

Holotype.

A series of 7 male specimens considered as cotypes, NMNH (examined).

Material Examined.

2 ♀, 2 ♂ (CNC). UNITED STATES: CA, San Diego, San Felipe Valley, ix-1938, W. P. Medlar, ex Agathymus stephensi .

Description.

Female. Body color: body mostly dark except for some sternites which may be pale. Antenna color: scape, pedicel, and flagellum dark. Coxae color (pro-, meso-, metacoxa): dark, dark, dark. Femora color (pro-, meso-, metafemur): pale, anteriorly dark/posteriorly pale, mostly dark but centrally pale. Tibiae color (pro-, meso-, metatibia): pale, pale, mostly pale but with posterior 0.2 or less dark. Tegula and humeral complex color: tegula pale, humeral complex half pale/half dark. Pterostigma color: mostly pale and/or transparent, with thin dark borders. Fore wing veins color: partially pigmented (a few veins may be dark but most are pale). Antenna length/body length: antenna about as long as body (head to apex of metasoma); if slightly shorter, at least extending beyond anterior 0.7 metasoma length. Body in lateral view: not distinctly flattened dorso–ventrally. Body length (head to apex of metasoma): 3.5-3.6 mm. Fore wing length: 3.7-3.8 mm. Ocular–ocellar line/posterior ocellus diameter: 1.4-1.6. Interocellar distance/posterior ocellus diameter: 1.7-1.9. Antennal flagellomerus 2 length/width: 2.6-2.8. Antennal flagellomerus 14 length/width: 2.0-2.2. Length of flagellomerus 2/length of flagellomerus 14: 1.7-1.9. Tarsal claws: simple. Metafemur length/width: 3.2-3.3. Metatibia inner spur length/metabasitarsus length: 0.4-0.5. Anteromesoscutum: mostly with deep, dense punctures (separated by less than 2.0 × its maximum diameter). Mesoscutellar disc: with a few sparse punctures. Number of pits in scutoscutellar sulcus: 7 or 8. Maximum height of mesoscutellum lunules/maximum height of lateral face of mesoscutellum: 0.6-0.7. Propodeum areola: completely defined by carinae, including transverse carina extending to spiracle. Propodeum background sculpture: mostly sculptured. Mediotergite 1 length/width at posterior margin: 2.3-2.5 or 2.6-2.8. Mediotergite 1 shape: more or less parallel–sided. Mediotergite 1 sculpture: mostly sculptured, excavated area centrally with transverse striation inside and/or a polished knob centrally on posterior margin of mediotergite. Mediotergite 2 width at posterior margin/length: 2.8-3.1. Mediotergite 2 sculpture: mostly smooth. Outer margin of hypopygium: with a wide, medially folded, transparent, semi–desclerotized area; usually with 4 or more pleats. Ovipositor thickness: about same width throughout its length. Ovipositor sheaths length/metatibial length: 1.4-1.5. Length of fore wing veins r/2RS: 1.0 or less. Length of fore wing veins 2RS/2M: 1.4-1.6. Length of fore wing veins 2M/(RS+M)b: 0.7-0.8. Pterostigma length/width: 2.6-3.0. Point of insertion of vein r in pterostigma: clearly beyond half way point length of pterostigma. Angle of vein r with fore wing anterior margin: clearly outwards, inclined towards fore wing apex. Shape of junction of veins r and 2RS in fore wing: strongly angulated, sometimes with a knob.

Male. The vein r in the fore wing tends to be longer, surpassing the length of vein 2RS. The mediotergite 2 is more trapezoidal (i.e., the ratio of its width at apex/medial length is lower than in females). The metafemur is fully dark brown to black.

Molecular data.

No molecular data available for this species.

Biology/ecology.

Gregarious, cocoons packed close together in the burrow of its stem-mining host ( Muesebeck 1921). Hosts: Hesperiidae ( Agathymus stephensi , Megathymus colouradensis , Megathymus comstocki , Megathymus ursus , Megathymus yucae ).

Distribution.

Mexico, United States (AZ, CA, NC, SC). While Asparagaceae (formerly Agavaceae ) does occur in Costa Rica and ACG, there is no suggestion that this species or its host caterpillars occur in Costa Rica or ACG.

Comments.

The description provided was mostly based on two female specimens from California deposited in the CNC. They were identified by Muesebeck after comparing with the type material. The specimens match well the short descriptions provided in previous papers (e.g., Riley 1881; Muesebeck 1921).