Paroplitis khajjiarensis Gupta & Fernandez-Triana, 2022

Gupta, Ankita, Van Achterberg, Cornelis & Fernandez-Triana, Jose L., 2022, Two new species of Braconidae (Hymenoptera) from the foothills of western Himalayas, India, with a key to Oriental species of Pambolus Haliday and an update to the key to world species of Paroplitis Mason, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 90, pp. 59-73 : 59

Paroplitis khajjiarensis Gupta & Fernandez-Triana sp. nov.

Figs 3 , 4

Type material.

Holotype. India. ♀; Himachal Pradesh, Chamba District, Khajjiar, 32.555795°N, 76.0655834°E, 24 Sept. 2014; Ankita Gupta leg; (NIM), code-NBAIR/Brac/Micg/Paro/24914A (NIM).

Paratype. India. one ♂, same data as holotype, code-NBAIR/Brac/Micg/Paro/24914B (NIM).

Etymology.

The species epithet is derived from the collection locality.

Description.

Female. Body length 3.16 mm; fore wing length 3.30 mm.

Head 1.57 × as wide as long; face sparsely setose, frons bare and eyes densely setose; clypeus 2.46 × as wide as long. OOL/OD: 2.7 ×; POL/OD: 2.2 ×. Scape 1.82 × as wide as long; pedicel 1.27 × as wide as long; F2 2.6 × as long as wide; F14 1.7 × as long as wide; F15 1.8 × as long as wide; F2 L/F14 L: 1.6 ×.

Mesosoma 1.33 × longer than wide; mesoscutum sparsely setose and shallowly punctate. Fore wing length: 3.30 mm. Fore wing with vein 3-Cu1 entirely nebulous; vein 1-R1 (0.58) shorter than pterostigma length (0.74) and a little longer than distance delimited between end of vein 1-R1 and end of vein SR1 (0.47). Fore wing with areolet triangular and relatively small, its maximum height 0.33 × vein r length, its maximum width 0.72 × vein r length. Length of veins M+Cu1: 1-M: 1.03: 0.33; 1Cu1: 2Cu1:m-cu: 0.19: 0.21:0.18. Propodeum rugose, with rugosity along median transverse area, with trace of some transverse carina; median longitudinal carina complete; propodeal areola absent. Metafemur L/W: 3.6 ×.

Metasoma. T1 parallel sided and strongly longitudinally striate, T2 longitudinally striate on lateral sides and basal half, remaining tergites smooth and shiny. T1 median length 2 × its width at posterior margin; T2 width at posterior margin 2.29 × its median length. Hind tibia L: 1.14 mm. Ovipositor sheath L: 0.44 mm. Hind tibia length 2.59 × length of ovipositor sheath. Maximum length of setae on ovipositor sheath (0.09) at most slightly longer than maximum width of ovipositor sheath (0.06). Hypopygium sclerotized.

Colour. Female (Fig. 3 ) Body dark brown to black and eyes grey in colour. Palpi yellow brown to pale yellow. Antenna dark brown except basal tip of scape and apical portion of pedicel yellowish brown. Ocelli off white. Clypeus dark brown. Mandibles yellowish brown, darker at apical tips. Legs in general dark brown except basal and apical tip of femora, tibiae and basitarsi.

Male. Paratype (Fig. 4 ). Body length 2.74 mm. Darker than female. T1 relatively less striated and T2 nearly smooth.

Distribution.

India (Himachal Pradesh). Besides the type locality (Khajjiar), Ahmed (2017) also reported the species from the localities of Samba and Poonch (Fig. 5A, B ), in the Jammu and Kashmir state. The type locality (Khajjiar) is approximately 160 kms away from Samba (J&K). Both these states share borders and have a lot of similarity in climate and vegetation.

Remarks.

Paroplitis khajjiarensis was keyed out (as an undescribed species) in Fujie et al. (2021). Those authors were only able to see some images of that species in Ahmed (2017, Plate 32). Our specimens and the one illustrated in Ahmed (2017) are very similar and we consider them to represent the same species.

Here we propose a correction to the first couplet of the key by Fujie et al. (2021) based on the specimens we have examined, as we found that T2 is not entirely sculptured (as considered by those authors) but there is a smooth area on most of the apical half of the tergite. Thus, the first half of that couplet should be amended to "T1 entirely sculptured and T2 mostly sculptured (with longitudinal striae on lateral sides and basal half of tergite)". The rest of the key remains the same as in Fujie et al. (2021).

Figures

Figure 3. Paroplitis khajjiarensis Gupta & Fernandez-Triana sp. nov. A male in habitus (lateral view) B female fore wing C female (in dorsal aspect) D female F 10 - F 15 E female F 1 - F 3 F female head in frontal view G female vertex H female antenna I female propodeum J female T 1 and T 2 K ovipositor sheaths.

Figure 4. Male Paratype of Paroplitis khajjiarensis Gupta & Fernandez-Triana sp. nov. A head and mesosoma (in dorsal aspect) B propodeum and metasoma C wings.

Figure 5. Collection localities of Pambolus (Phaenodus) infuscatus Gupta & van Achterberg sp. nov. (in red colour) and Paroplitis khajjiarensis Gupta & Fernandez-Triana sp. nov. (in blue colour).