Brachymeria wiebesina Joseph, Narendran & Joy, 1972

Narendran, T. C. & van Achterberg, Cornelis, 2016, Revision of the family Chalcididae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) from Vietnam, with the description of 13 new species, ZooKeys 576, pp. 1-202 : 61-62

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chalcididae

Brachymeria wiebesina Joseph, Narendran & Joy, 1972

Brachymeria wiebesina Joseph, Narendran & Joy, 1972: 35-37 (♀, holotype, Malaysia (Sarawak) (BPBM)); Narendran 1989: 245, 266 (keyed and commented).

Material.

3 ♂ (BPBM), "Vietnam, [locality unknown], 7.vii.1961. N.R. Spencer".

Diagnosis.

This species comes near Brachymeria olethria (Waterston) in the key to species by Narendran (1989), but differs from Brachymeria olethria in having: 1) scape subequal or as long as combined length of F1 to F3 (in Brachymeria olethria scape distinctly longer than combined length of F1 to F3); and 2) area below scrobe punctate (smooth in Brachymeria olethria ).

Description

(after Joseph, Narendran and Joy 1973). ♀, length of body 2.7 mm.

Colour. Black; tegula dull yellow; antenna blackish red or sometimes brownish black; coxae, trochanters and femora black except tips of femora which are yellow; fore tibia yellow with a pale brownish colour at middle; tarsi pale yellow; hind tibia pale blackish-brown with a yellowish patch at the tip and at base; hind tarsi pale yellow.

Head. Head almost as wide as mesosoma, a little less than one and a half times its own length; surface of head faintly pitted, interstices and inside of pits rugulose; scrobe not reaching anterior ocellus; pre- and post-orbital carinae present; anterior ocellus slightly larger than a hind ocellus; area below scrobe punctate; distance between anterior and posterior ocelli slightly more than one-third POL; POL 3 × OOL; interocular distance two and one-third POL. Scape not exceeding anterior ocellus, as long as combined length of F1+F2+F3; F1 and F2 almost equal in length; clava a little more than twice length of preceding segment.

Mesosoma. Mesosoma with small, umbilicate, close pits, interstices narrower than diameter of pits, rugose; apex of scutellum weakly emarginated.

Wings. Fore wing about 2.5 × its width; PMV about one-third MV.

Metasoma. Metasoma hardly longer than combined length of head, pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum. T1 smooth and shiny, reaching middle of metasoma. Ovipositor sheath visible in dorsal view.

Male. Resembles female in almost all features except stouter antenna and shorter metasoma.

Host.

A sweet potato beetle ( Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae ).

Distribution.

India, Malaysia (Sarawak), Thailand, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam ( Narendran 1989).