Cotesia flavipes Cameron , 1891

Rousse, Pascal & Gupta, Ankita, 2013, Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) of Reunion Island: a catalogue of the local species, including 18 new taxa and a key to species, Zootaxa 3616 (6), pp. 501-547 : 514-515

Cotesia flavipes Cameron, 1891

( Fig. 7 g)

Apanteles flavatus Ishida, 1915: 97 ; Apanteles nonagriae Olliff, 1893: 3817 ; Apanteles nonagriae Viereck, 1913: 645 ; Apanteles simplicis Viereck, 1913: 645

Diagnosis. Face distinctly convex in profile view. Mesosoma dorso-ventrally depressed, nearly 2x longer than high. Scutellum smooth. Hind coxa almost entirely polished. Antenna of female stout, 0.7x longer than body. Pedicel bicolor, obviously darker dorsally than ventrally. Hind coxa yellowish.

Description. cf. Van Achterberg and Polaszek, 1996: 63 for details.

Material examined. 1Ƥ Ste Rose / Pas de Bellecombe, alt. 2320m, IV.2008, leg. IDR; 1Ƥ Reunion, V.1977, leg. Cirad.

Host records. About 30 lepidopteran species in Arctiidae , Brachodidae , Lymantridae , Noctuidae , Pyralidae , and Tortricidae . The host ranges includes the major pests Chilo orichalcociliellus (Strand) , C. partellus (Swinhoe) , C. suppressalis (Walker) , Diatraea saccharalis (Fab.) , Procerata sacchariphaga (Bojer) , and Sesamia calamistis Hampson.

Distribution records. East Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Indo-Australian area, Far East Asia, inter-tropical America. Reunion (Kfir et al., 2002).

Comments. Introduced for the biocontrol of sugarcane borers into Madagascar (1961), Mauritius and Reunion (dates of releases unknown) (Kfir et al. 2002).

Figures

FIGURE 7. Cotesia spp. a: C. plutellae Kurdjumov, female, habitus; b: C. plutellae, propodeum; c: C. plutellae, terga 2 – 3; d: C. ruficrus Haliday, female, habitus; e: C. ruficrus, terga 2 – 3; f: C. sesamiae Cameron, female, habitus; g: C. flavipes, female, habitus.