Trichacis mexicana Arias-Penna & Masner

Arias-Penna, Tania Milena, Masner, Lubomir & Delsinne, Thibaut, 2012, Revision of the Neotropical species of Trichacis Foerster (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Platygastridae), with description of 24 new species, Zootaxa 3337, pp. 1-56 : 28-30

Trichacis mexicana Arias-Penna & Masner , new species

Figures 13 A–13F

Female. Body length: 1.70 mm (holotype); 1.60 mm (paratypes, n=2); mean length ± SD = 1.63 ± 0.06 mm.

Black; A1–A5 yellow; A6–A10 brown; mandible brown with base black; leg yellow; fore wing infuscate.

Head, in dorsal view, 2.5 times as wide as long; EH = IOS; interocellar area with faint, transverse, slightly curved striae; OOL> LOL; antennal clava 4-segmented; A1 not reaching vertex dorsal margin; A2–A4, A10 longer than wide; A5–A6, A9 as long as wide; A7–A8 wider than long; base of mandible smooth; frons above interantennal process and torulus with four well marked transverse striae; interantennal process striate and reaching, but not surpassing, ventral border of torulus; clypeus exposed; clypeal margin truncate; gena striate; vertex laterally coriaceous and medially smooth; temple projection absent; hyperoccipital carina incomplete: in dorsal view, hyperoccipital carina surpassing level of imaginary line connecting eye inner margin to posterior cephalic margin; distance between posterior ocellus and hyperoccipital carina shorter than posterior ocellus diameter.

Mesosoma slightly arched; antero-admedian line present but weakly marked; notaulus anteriorly incomplete; lateral notaular area with coriaceous sculpture along its anterior margin; inter-notaular area in its basal 1/3 coriaceous and smooth in its posterior 2/3; posteromedial region of inter-notaular area convex; parapsidal line absent; central pronotal area smooth; specialized area of mesoscutellum heart-shaped; median projection of specialized area of mesoscutellum subtriangular; mesopleural carina incomplete (length of mesopleural carina/ length of mesopleuron = 0.23); fore wing distinctly surpassing apex of metasoma.

Metasoma moderately elongate; combined length of T3–T6 <T2; T1 shorter than wide; T2 longer than wide; T3–T5 wider than long; anteromedial area of T2 smooth and flattened; T3–T6 densely covered by deep punctuation; T6 subtriangular.

Male. Body length: 2 mm (allotype).

Similar to female except the following: antenna filiform; A1–A10 yellow; fore and mid legs including coxae yellow; hind leg yellow except apices of femur and tibia brown; hind coxa brown; A5–A9 longer than wide; T1 shorter than wide, T3–T5 smooth along its posterior margin and T6–T7 densely covered by deep punctuation.

Etymology. Named after the country of the type locality.

Diagnosis. Trichacis mexicana and T. panamana shared the following characters: T1 shorter than wide; clypeus exposed, and clypeal margin truncate. However, T. mexicana has EH = IOS; OOL> LOL and distance between posterior ocellus and hyperoccipital carina shorter than posterior ocellus diameter. Color of antennal segment may vary, for instance holotype has A6–A10 brown and paratype has A7–A10 brown.

Material examined. Holotype: 1 Ƥ, MEXICO. Tamps, Río Frío nr. Gomez Farias, June 6 1983, UV, S. Peck & M. Kaulbars ( CNCI); allotype: 1 3 with the same data as holotype ( CNCI); paratypes: 1 Ƥ, Tamaulipas 18 m SE Manuel nr. Microondas sta., November 1 1982, SS, J. T. Huber & A. Gonzalez ( ICN); 1 Ƥ SLP, 1700 m, 40 km W Xilitla, June 12–August 6 1983, S. Peck FIT ( CNCI).

Holotype is deposited in CNCI.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Bright field images of Trichacis mexicana Arias-Penna & Masner, n. sp. A, Ƥ, head, anterior view (holotype); B, Ƥ, habitus, dorsal view (holotype); C, Ƥ, head and anterior mesosoma, dorsal view (holotype); D, Ƥ, habitus, lateral view (holotype); E, 3, head and ventral mesosoma, anterolateral view (allotype); F, 3, posterior mesosoma, and metasoma, dorsal view (allotype).