Austerocardiochiles simulatus Long, sp. n.

(Figs 14–25)

Material. Holotype, female, ‘ Card.164 ’ (VNMN), NE. Vietnam: Tuyen Quang, Na Hang NP, Son Phu, forest, MT, 22°17’32’’N 105°28’19’’E, 573m, 5.vi.2017, KD Long.

Description. Holotype, female, body length 7.9 mm, fore wing length 7.8 mm, antenna 4.5 mm, ovipositor sheath 1.5 mm (Fig. 14).

Head. Eyes rather densely pilose; antenna with 46 antennomeres; third antennomere 1.5 × fourth antennomere (12:8); apical antennomere 2.0× as long as subapical; ventral margin of clypeus evenly convex with two faint tubercles (Fig. 16); face rugo-punctate; clypeal suture indistinct; face width 1.2 × length of face and clypeus combined (47:39); distance between tentorial pits 2.6 × distance between pit and eye margin (26:10); basal width of mandible 1.3 × distance from mandible to eye margin (13:10) (Fig. 16); in dorsal view, head median length 0.5 × as long as width (42:82); eye length 1.5 × temple (25:17); POL:OD:OOL=6:5:20 (Fig. 15); frons depressed laterally, with smooth median carina, transversely striate; in lateral view, transverse width of eye 0.8 × temple (15:19); vertex and temple coarsely rugose (Fig. 17).

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.6 × height (76:47) (Fig. 19); notauli evenly wide, crenulate (Fig. 19); median lobe of mesoscutum with deep crenulate median depression (Fig. 18); lobes of mesoscutum largely punctate anteriorly, sparsely punctate posteriorly; scutellar sulcus 0.5 × as long as scutellum (10:19), with 4 carinae (Fig. 18); scutellum coarsely rugose; propodeum with areola, propodeal areola length 1.8 × as long as wide (27:15) (Fig. 21); side of pronotum coarsely rugose; epicnemial absent; precoxal sulcus wide and shallow, rugose; mesopleuron smooth medially, almost punctate-reticulate dorsally and ventrally (Fig. 19); metapleuron coarsely rugose.

Legs. Fore tibial spur 0.7 × as long as fore basitarsus (17:23); length of hind femur, tibia and basitarsus 2.9, 7.4 and 3.8 × their maximum width, respectively; hind coxa largely rugo-punctate; hind femur densely punctate; inner hind tibial spur 1.54 × outer tibial spur (17:11), and 0.7 × hind basitarsus (17:23); hind basitarsus 0.4 × hind tibia (23:57), and slightly longer hind tarsus 2–5 (23:22); hind tarsal claw pectinate, with 6 teeth (Fig. 25).

Wings. Length of fore wing 2.7 × its maximum width (122:45); pterostigma length 3.5 × width (45:13) (Fig. 20); r:3-SR:2-SR=9:35:24; vein 2-SR+M 1.4 × vein m-cu (14:10); vein m-cu 0.4 × vein 1-M (8:20); vein 1-CU1 0.4 × vein 2-CU1 (8:21) and 0.8 × vein cu-a (8:10); second submarginal cell 2.4 × as long as wide; length of hind wing 3.95 × its maximum width (91:23); vein M+CU slightly longer vein 1-M (37:35); vein 1-M 3.2 × vein 1r-m (35:11); hind wing with 6 hamuli (Fig. 22); vein 2-SC+R vertical.

Metasoma. Metasoma 0.95 × as long as head and and mesosoma combined (57:60); first metasomal tergite widened apically (Fig. 23), 0.95 × as long as broad (41:43), and 1.5 × as long as propodeum (41:28); first metasomal tergite smooth basally, recticulate medio-apically (Fig. 23), rugo-punctate latero-apically; second tergite with basal area (Fig. 24); median length of second tergite 0.26 × as long as basal width (13:50), and 0.52 × third tergite (13:25) (Fig. 24); hypopygium pointed apically, largely desclerotized, folded basally; setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.7 × as long as hind tibia (23:33).

Color. Largely black; fore leg black, except fore femur yellow latero-ventrally and apically; tibia and tarsus yellow; middle and hind legs black; wing veins blackish brown; fore wing membrane dark brown in apical 0.7 and hyaline in 0.3 of the wing; membrane of hind wing hyaline, except dark apically.

Male: Unknown.

Etymology. From “simulo” (Latin for “imitate”, “copy”), because this new species is similar to A. tujiazu Chen, Whitfield & He, from China.

Biology: Unknown.

Comments. Differences between the new species and A. tujiazu are given in the key. Additionally A. simulatus, sp. n. differs from A. tujiazu by having the following characters: a) Eyes rather densely pilose (Figs 15, 17); b) Median lobe of mesoscutum U-shaped, with long median crenulated depression (Fig. 18); c) Vein 2-SR+M of fore wing 1.4 × as long as vein m-cu; d) First metasomal tergite punctate-reticulate medio-apically (Fig. 23); and e) Setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.7 × as long as hind tibia.