Gammabracon apicoluteus Quicke and Butcher, 2017

Quicke, Donald L. J., Hogan, James E., Bennett, Andrew M. R., Broad, Gavin R. & Butcher, Buntika A., 2017, Partial revision of the Indo-Australian braconine wasp genus Gammabracon Quicke (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) with descriptions of new species from Indonesia (Mollucas), Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, Journal of Natural History 51 (21 - 22), pp. 1249-1294 : 1254-1256

Gammabracon apicoluteus Quicke and Butcher sp. nov.

( Figures 1 , 2 )

Material examined

HOLOTYPE: Female. MALAYSIA ‘ Pasoh Forest Res., Negri S., Malaysia, III.15.[19]79 for. gap, P. & M. Becker’ ( EMUS).

PARATYPES: 10 females, same data as holotype except 13 May 1978, 26 July 1978, 30 September 1978 ( EMUS) .

Description

Female: Length of body 6.3–13.5 mm, of forewing 6.0–10.5, of antenna 6.4 mm, of exserted part of ovipositor 7.5–19.0 mm.

Head. Antenna with 46–62 flagellomeres; terminal flagellomere hardly acuminate; median flagellomeres 1.2 × longer than wide; 1st flagellomere 1.5 and 1.6 × longer than 2nd and 3rd, respectively; width of head:width of face:height of eye = 2.0:1.0:1.05; intertentorial distance 1.4 × shortest distance between tentorial pit and eye; upper part of face without groove extending from between antennal sockets; frons distinctly sculptured with rugae behind antennal sockets; shortest distance between posterior ocelli:transverse diameter of posterior ocellus:shortest distance between posterior ocellus and eye = 2.0:1.0:4.4; length of head behind eye 0.33 × length of eye in dorsal view.

Mesosoma. 1.9 × longer than high; scutellar sulcus irregularly and weakly foveate, scutellum anteriorly without or with only a minute medial emargination; posterior margin of propodeum medially rather sharply defined from transverse subposterior depression, and medially with at least a weak pit.

Wings. Forewing vein 3RSb 5.1 and 3.2 × longer than 3RSa and rs-m, respectively; vein 1-M gradually and weakly expanding before junction with (Rs+M)a; vein m-cu weakly thickened and nearly straight; vein 1cu-a interstitial, anterior junction hardly swollen; vein m-cu moderately thickened, curved posteriorly; base of hind wing with large glabrous area, not emarginate.

Legs. Foretibia with black long setae.

Metasoma. 1st tergite 1.8 × longer than apically wide, dorsal carinae bordered laterally by transverse rugae; 2nd tergite 1.3 × wider than posteriorly long, 1.1 × longer than 3rd tergite; with small midbasal triangular area, with posteriorly converging sublateral carinae narrow, curved, nearly reaching posterior margin of tergite; 3rd tergite strongly longitudinally striate, with median carina formed from central crenulation of transverse basal groove; 4th metasomal tergite with some fine longitudinal striae forming a fan-like pattern across transverse median groove; ovipositor 1.2–1.4 × longer than body.

Colour. Head (including stemmaticum), scapus (except black laterally), mesosoma, fore and mid legs orange; flagellum (except for pale sub-apical ring), hind legs and metasoma black; wing membrane brown though paler on posterobasal half of hind wing, venation dark brown.

Etymology

Name based on the pale yellowish band near the apex of the flagellum.

Comments

The pre-apical pale annulus on the flagellum in combination with the black metasoma distinguishes this species from all other Gammabracon species.

Figures

Figure 1. Gammabracon apicoluteus sp. nov. (a) Habitus. (b) Head, dorsal view. (c) Face frontal view. (d) Detail of scutellum and scutellar sulcus. (e) Central part of forewing. (f) Forefemur and tibia.

Figure 2. Gammabracon apicoluteus sp. nov. (a) Base of hind wing. (b) Metasomal tergites 2–4.