Heterospilus vierecki Marsh

Marsh, Paul M., Wild, Alexander L. & Whitfield, James B., 2013, The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini, ZooKeys 347, pp. 1-474 : 176-178

Heterospilus vierecki Marsh sp. n. Figure 121

Female.

Body size: 3.0-3.5 mm. Color: head with vertex brown, face yellow, scape yellow without lateral longitudinal brown stripe, flagellum mostly brown; mesosoma brown, middle mesoscutal lobe and propodeum lighter; metasomal terga 1 and 3 brown, 2 and 4-7 yellow; legs yellow; wing veins brown, stigma entirely brown. Head: vertex transversely costate; frons transversely costate; face striate medially, often smooth near eyes; temple in dorsal view narrow, sloping behind eye, less than 1/2 eye width; malar space greater the 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance 2.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus; 19-25 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes smooth or very weakly granulate; notauli scrobiculate, meeting before prescutellar furrow in triangular rugose area; scutellum smooth; prescutellar furrow with 3 cross carinae; mesopleuron smooth; precoxal sulcus scrobiculate, shorter than mesopleuron length; venter smooth; propodeum with basal median areas distinctly margined, basal median areas smooth or weakly granulate, basal median carina absent or very short, areola distinctly margined, areolar area rugose, lateral areas entirely rugose. Wings: fore wing vein r shorter than vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU equal to or slightly shorter than vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum length equal to apical width, costate, sometimes rugose medially; second tergum apical width 3 or less times length; anterior transverse groove present, straight; posterior transverse groove present but often weak; third tergum costate at base, smooth at apex; terga 4-7 smooth; ovipositor longer than metasoma.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, partially printed and hand written - Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] Santa Rosa Natl. Park [;] 300m, ex. Malaise trap [;] Site #: H-1-O [;] Dates: 8-29.xi.1986 [;] I.D. Gauld & D. Janzen; second label (white, printed) - [H] open regenerating [;] woodland <10 years old [;] [O] in clearing, fully [;] isolated part of day; third label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] vierecki [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, same data as holotype except, first label, site # 8H-12-C, dates of 8. ii– 2.iii.1986 and second label, [BH] Bosque Humedo [;] mature evergreen dry forest [;] [C] more or less fully [;] shaded as possible (ESUW). 1 ♀, first label - Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] Santa Rosa National Pk. [;] 300m, Malaise. Ian Gauld [;] 31. i– 21ii.1987, second label - Bosque Humedo [;] mature proportion [;] evergreen species [;] Sun (ESUW). 8 ♀♀, S.RosaPark, Guan. [;] C. Rica, various date from September 77 to February 78 [;] D.H. Janzen [;] Dry Hill and Riparian (AEIC).

Comments.

This species is distinguished by the smooth scutellum, nearly smooth mesoscutal lobes, the ovipositor being longer than the metasoma and the brown antennae.

Etymology.

This species is named for H. L. Viereck who described many braconids in the early 1900s.