Heterospilus aphrodite Marsh

Marsh, Paul M., Wild, Alexander L. & Whitfield, James B., 2013, The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini, ZooKeys 347, pp. 1-474 : 314-315

Heterospilus aphrodite Marsh sp. n. Figure 209

Female.

Body size: 3.0-3.5 mm. Color: head yellow; scape yellow without lateral brown stripe; flagellum brown with basal flagellomeres lighter; mesosoma bicolored, mesoscutum, scutellum and mesopleuron dark brown, propleuron, pronotum, propodeum and venter honey yellow; wing veins including stigma brown; legs yellow; metasomal terga light brown, tergum 3 darker apically. Head: vertex smooth; frons smooth; face weakly rugose and partially smooth; temple in dorsal view narrow but slightly bulging behind eye, width less than 1/2 eye width; malar space equal to 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance about twice diameter of lateral ocellus; 25 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes granulate; notauli scrobiculate, meeting posteriorly in triangular rugose area; scutellum granulate; prescutellar furrow with 1 cross carina; mesopleuron smooth; precoxal sulcus weakly scrobiculate or smooth; venter smooth; propodeum with basal median areas margined, weakly granulate or partially smooth, basal median carina present but short, areola not completely margined, areolar area rugose, lateral areas entirely rugose. Wings: fore wing vein r shorter than vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU about as long as vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum longitudinally costate-granulate, length equal to apical width; second tergum longitudinally costate-granulate; anterior transverse groove present, sinuate; posterior transverse groove present; third tergum costate basally, smooth apically; terga 4-7 smooth; ovipositor as long as metasomal terga 1 and 2 combined.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, partially printed and hand written) - Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] Santa Rosa Natl. Park [;] 300m, ex. Malaise trap [;] Site #: (blank) [;] Dates: 10-31.i.1987 [;] I.D. Gauld & D. Janzen; second label (white, printed) - [H] open regenerating [;] woodland <10 years old [;] [C] more or less fully [;] isolated as possible; third label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] aphrodite [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] PN Guanacaste, 7km E HQ [;] near "small house" [;] 9.iii.1990, J. S. Noyes (ESUW). 1 ♀, S.RosaPark, Guan. [;] C. Rica 4 Jan 78 [;] D.H. Janzen [;] Dry Hill (AEIC).

Comments.

The bicolored body, the brown flagellum, large ocelli and short ovipositor are distinctive for this species.

Etymology.

Named for the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.