Mesocrina licho Belokobylskij, 1998

Zhu, Jia-Chen, Achterberg, Cornelis van & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2017, An illustrated key to the genera and subgenera of the Alysiini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Alysiinae), with three genera new for China, ZooKeys 722, pp. 37-79 : 63-64

Mesocrina licho Belokobylskij, 1998 Figs 1, 2-14

Material.

♀ (ZJUH), "[N. China:], Hebei, Mt. Xioawutai, 23.viii.2005, Shi Min, No. 200608887"; 2 ♂♂ (ZJUH), id., but Zhang Hongying, No. 200609036, 200609050; 2 ♂♂ (ZJUH), id., but 21.viii.2005, Zhang Hongying, 200608013, 200608045.

Description of ♀ from Mt. Xioawutai.

Length of body 3.9 mm, of fore wing 4.6 mm.

Head. Transverse and shiny (Fig. 9), width of head twice its lateral length; antenna incomplete, with 23 remaining segments, segments with bristly setae, third segment 1.4 times longer than fourth segment, length of third and fourth segments 5.0 and 3.8 times their width, respectively (Fig. 7); length of maxillary palp twice height of head; eye in dorsal view 1.4 times as long as temple (Fig. 9); eye in lateral view1.4 times higher than wide; vertex convex and glabrous (Fig. 11); OOL:diameter of ocellus:POL= 9:5:5; face 1.7 times wider than high, smooth and shiny (Fig. 10), with some long setae next to eye; clypeus medium-sized, rather flat, truncate and slightly convex laterally (Fig. 10); malar space absent; mandible moderately widened dorsally, dorsal teeth large and lobe-shaped (Fig. 12), lateral teeth rather small and lobe-shaped (Fig. 13), middle tooth curved and acute; medial length of mandible 1.5 times its maximum width (Fig. 13).

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.3 times its height; mesoscutum without lateral carina in front of tegula (Fig. 3); precoxal sulcus absent; mesopleuron smooth and glabrous; pleural sulcus crenulate; episternal scrobe small, connected by a furrow to pleural sulcus; metapleuron smooth except some ventral rugae, with long setae and a round large pit anteriorly (Fig. 3); notauli only anteriorly impressed on disc, narrowly crenulate and medio-posteriorly with deep longitudinal depression; mesoscutum with some setae anteriorly and near notauli; scutellar sulcus deep and narrow, with 4 short longitudinal carinae and 6 times wider than its maximum length; scutellum rather flat and wide (Fig. 4); surface of propodeum with rather long median carina, without areola absent and with some rugae anteriorly (Fig. 5).

Wings (Fig. 2). Pterostigma largely wide elliptical, vein r 0.5 times width of pterostigma; r:3-SR:SR1 = 5:33:67; SR1, 1-SR+M nearly straight and 2-SR slightly curved; cu-a postfurcal, short; 1-CU1:2-CU1 = 2:17; 3-CU1 longer than CU1b; 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 19:25:8; m-cu postfurcal, slightly converging to 1-M posteriorly; first subdiscal cell 3.3 times as long as wide; M+CU1 largely unsclerotized. Hind wing: M+CU: 1-M:1r-m = 25:23:20; m-cu present.

Legs. Hind coxa smooth; tarsal claws rather robust and longer than arolium (Fig. 1); length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 4.3, 10.0 and 6.7 times their width, respectively; apical spiny bristles of first-fourth hind tarsal segments absent (Fig. 1).

Metasoma. Length of first tergite 1.3 times its apical width, its surface with longitudinal striae, its dorsal carinae narrowly connected (Fig. 5); laterope absent; dorsope rather large (Fig. 6); setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.18 times as long as fore wing (total visible sheath 0.19 times), flattened and sparsely setose and 0.6 times as long as hind tibia (Fig. 8).

Colour. Blackish brown (Fig. 1); pronotum ventrally, mandible, tegula, two basal segments of antenna, palpi mainly pale and remainder of legs yellowish; antenna (ex cept two basal segments of antenna), head (except ventrally), mesosoma, dorsal spot of hind femur, hind tibia (except basally) and basitarsus, and first tergite of metasoma blackish brown; head ventrally, mesopleuron ventrally and remainder of metasoma brown; pterostigma and veins brown; wing membrane slightly infuscated.

Variation.

Males are similar to females, but have 35(1) antennal segments (according to the original description females have 31 or 32 segments); body length of ♂: 3.7-4.2 mm, length of fore wing 4.1-4.7 mm, width of head 1.9-2.0 times its lateral length.