Bathyaulax kupariensis, Kaartinen & Quicke, 2007

Kaartinen, Riikka & Quicke, Donald L. J., 2007, A revision of the parasitic wasp genus Bathyaulax Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Braconinae) from Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, Journal of Natural History 41 (1 - 4), pp. 125-212 : 174

Bathyaulax kupariensis sp. nov.

( Figure 74 )

Material examined

Holotype: Female ( BMNH): Mozambique, Beira, 28.9.1903, P.A. Sheppard, ‘‘ Bathyaulax concolor Sz. female comp. with type male 1.9.1912, G.H.G’’.

Description

Female: Length of body 16 mm, of fore wing 15 mm, of ovipositor 16 mm.

Antennae broken. Height of clypeus:inter-tentorial distance:tentorio-ocular distance51.0:3.1:2.9. Width of face:width of head:height of eye51.3:2.3:1.0. Height of face:width of face51.0:1.9. Sculpture on face fairly smooth, scarce punctuation with hairs. Clypeus weakly strigated. Frons not depressed, smooth, with medial longitudal groove. POL:transverse diameter of posterior ocellus:shortest distance between posterior ocellus and eye51.4:1.0:3.6. Length of eye in dorsal view:distance of occiput and posterior margin of eye51.5:1.0.

Mesosoma approximately 1.7 times longer than maximally deep.

Fore wing: length of veins r:3-SR:SR151.0:2.5:4.0. Length of veins 2-SR:3-SR:rm51.0:2.3:1.4. Length of veins m-cu:2-M51.0:2.3. Length of veins 1-CU1:2- CU151.0:6.2. Shape of vein 1-SR+M straight. Swelling in vein 3-CU1 1.5 times thicker than the other part of the vein.

Legs: Length of fore femur:tibia:tarsus52.3:2.5:1.0. Fore basitarsus 5.3 times longer than deep. Length of hind femur:tibia:tarsus52.3:3.3:1.0. Hind basitarsus 4.8 times longer than deep.

First metasomal tergite 1.7 times longer than wide; raised median area strongly strigose. Second tergite 1.9 times wider than long; medial area raised and strongly strigose. Triangular area not very distinctive (not raised), but constitutes of strigation. Third tergite 2.1 times wider than long; with strigated transverse furrows on anterior and posterior margins, raised median area strongly strigated, antero-lateral areas smooth and connected with a ridge. Tergites four and five with strigated transverse furrows on anterior and posterior margins, and smooth antero-lateral areas surrounded by similar furrows. Tergite four raised median area strongly strigose, in tergite five only weakly strigose. Tergites six to eight smooth, tergite six with strigated transverse furrow on basal margin.

Yellow except for the following which are black: antenna, temples and dorsal side of the head, occiput, apex of mandibles, spot on top of clypeus and a stripe continuing from it between toruli, antero-dorsal margin of pronotum, mesoscutum, apical one third of hind tibia, hind tarsi, metasomal tergites 4–8, ovipositor sheets. Apical two-thirds of wings dark brown with two small hyaline areas in fore wing, around veins r-m and 2-SR+M. Hind wing apical half darkened.

Etymology

Named after the senior author’s friend, Jussi Kupari.

Figures

Figures 71–74. Automontageș images of Bathyaulax species. (71) B. kersteni, metasomal tergites 2–3. (72, 73) B. kossui, metasomal tergites 1–3 and wing. (74) B. kupariensis, metasomal tergites 2–3.