Aleiodes luteosicarius, Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2014

Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2014, Twenty-four new species of Aleiodes Wesmael from the eastern Andes of Ecuador with associated biological information (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae), ZooKeys 405, pp. 1-81 : 44-47

Aleiodes luteosicarius sp. n. Figures 58-60, 61-68, 119, 124

Description of holotype.

Female (holotype). Body length 6.9 mm; antenna length 7.6 mm; fore wing length 6.0 mm.

Color. Entire body honey brown to bronze, notum slightly darker; ocellar triangle black; antenna dark brown; wings hyaline; veins brown except C+SC+R, parastigma centrally, stigma, and R1 yellow; ovipositor mostly with same color of body, only weakly darkening apically.

Head. Antenna with 48 antennomeres, flagellomeres roughly 2.0 × as long as wide, apical flagellomere with “bottle-nipple” -shaped apex; malar space as long as basal width of mandible, and 0.3 × eye height; in dorsal view eye height 2.7 × temple; occipital carina incomplete dorsally but not curved toward vertex, otherwise complete but not touching hypostomal carina; oral space small and circular, maximum width equal to basal width of mandible; clypeus not swollen; ocell–ocular distance 0.9 × diameter of lateral ocellus; maxillary palp not swollen. Head surface sculpturing finely granulate, higher face with small longitudinal ridge and transverse rugosity directed to it, vertex coarsely granulate with some transverse wrinkles, occiput smooth and shining.

Mesosoma. Sculpturing mostly granulate; pronotum foveate laterally; mesopleuron rugose on anterior corner; propodeum mostly coarsely granulate with few longitudinal wrinkles posteriorly, laterally weakly rugose, with mid-longitudinal carina present on anterior 2/3; notauli present anteriorly, wide and shallow, posteriorly disappears in a depressed longitudinally rugose–striate area; posterior margin of mesoscutum with short carina just in front of scutellar sulcus; scutellar sulcus with strong median carina plus two pairs of strong but incomplete lateral carina.

Wings. Fore wing: stigma about 4 × longer than high; vein r 0.7 × vein 2RS, about as long as vein RS+Mb, and 0.5 × as long as vein m-cu; vein 3RSa about 0.5 × vein 3RSb, and as long as vein 2M; vein 1CUa 2.5 × vein 1cu-a; vein 1CUb 1.8 × vein 1CUa; vein 1M virtually straight, only very slightly curved at basal half. Hind wing: m-cu indicated as short pigmented vein just postfurcal to vein r-m; vein M+CU about 1.3 × 1M; vein r-m as long as vein 1M; vein RS faint, smoothly curved at middle; vein M straight; vein 2-1A present.

Legs. Hind tibia without comb of modified setae; tarsal claw pectinate with distinct gap between apical claw and bristles; hind basitarsus 3 × longer than inner apical spur on hind tibia; few rugositie dorso-laterally on outer side of hind coxa.

Metasoma. T1-T2 and basal half of T3 striated; remainder terga coriaceous; mid longitudinal carina complete from T1 throughout T2; ovipositor sheaths slightly shorter than hind tarsomere II, relatively thick and somewhat rounded at tip, uniformly and densely covered with relative short regular sized pubescence, but dorso-basally bare, setae length no longer than width of sheaths; T1 slightly longer than apical width.

Paratype variation. Body length 6.7-7.4 mm; antenna 48-50 segments; 3 to 5 carina on scutellar sulcus; about half of paratypes have a lighter body color, otherwise very similar to holotype.

Male. Body length 5.7 mm; 45 antennomeres; body color a little darker; ocelli larger, ocell–ocular distance 0.6 × diameter of lateral ocellus; hind wing vein 1M relatively shorter, and vein m-cu just postfurcal to r-m.

Mummy. All mummies densely setose, setae mostly yellowish to light brown contrasting with dark brown body, head varying from dark brown to yellowish brown; morphology of mummies variable according to different host species, exit hole irregular, postero-dorsal.

Type material.

Type-locality: ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, YY-47385, S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163 m, cloud forest, May 26, 2010.

Type-specimen: Holotype female and mummy, point mounted separately. Top label: "ECUADOR: Napo Province / Yanayacu Biological Station / S00°35.9', W77°53.4' 2163m / CAPEA - NSF-BSI-07-17458 / (hand written) Apr. 2010 / YY-47385"; back (hand written): “26-May-2010”. (UWIM)

Paratypes, 9 females and 1 male (UWIM). 8♀ and 1♂, same data as holotype, except: 1♀, October 27, 2009, reared from Amastus nr. hyalina ( Erebidae ), YY-42218, feeding on Chusquea scandens ; 3 ♀ reared from Pelochyta gandolfii ( Erebidae ) feeding on Chusquea scandens : April 27, 2009, YY-37911, March 16, 2007, YY-20534, and March 9, 2011, YY-54645; 1♀, December 2, 2009, YY-43108, reared from Desmotricha imitata ( Erebidae ) on Barnadesia parviflora ( Asteraceae ); 1♀ April 25, 2013, YY-73553, reared from Pelochyta gandolfii , on unknown host plant; 1♀ September 24, 2013, YY-78795, reared from Erebidae ; 1♀ October 3, 2013, reared from Amastus nr. hyalina; 1♂, May 21, 2011, hand collected at daylight by aspirator (Ridge trail), H. Aguirre col. 1♀, ECUADOR, Napo Province, Cuyuja, Chalpi Grande, 2800m, March 3, 2006, hand collected at light sheet - Yanayacu exp. 2006, D.L. Wagner col.

Biology.

Parasitoids on several Arctiinae ( Erebidae ) species: Amastus coccinator Schaus (including the holotype), Pelochyta gandolfii Schaus and Amastus nr. hyalina Dognin, collected on Chusquea scandens ( Poaceae ), and Desmotricha imitata Druce feeding on Barnadesia parviflora ( Asteraceae ). Nevertheless, Amastus coccinator and Pelochyta gandolfii have no previous rearing records feeding on Chusquea scandens , which is the most common plant in the sampling sites. Since Arctiinae caterpillars are highly active, it is possible that they were just wandering over this plant; therefore, feeding on Chusquea scandens for the these two species needs confirmation. Time span from host mummification to adult emergence was about one month.

Discussion.

Aleiodes luteosicarius sp. n. is the only species herein described which belongs to pallidator species-group. It is very similar to Aleiodes falloni sp. n., despite Aleiodes falloni sp. n. belongs to circumscriptus/gastritor species-group. Aleiodes luteosicarius sp. n. differs from Aleiodes falloni sp. n. in the following characters: ocell–ocular distance 0.3 × diameter of lateral ocellus (about 0.9 × in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); at least half of tergite 3 striated, as in tergite 2 (tergite 3 mostly smooth–coriaceous); m-cu of hind wing slightly postfurcal to almost interstitial (antefurcal in females of Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); clypeus not swollen (swollen in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); ovipositor sheaths relatively thick and somewhat rounded at tip, uniformly and densely covered with relative short regular sized pubescence, but dorso-basally bare, setae length no longer than width of sheaths (ovipositor sheaths sharpening at apex, setae concentrated apically, and not regular sized, longest setae about 1.5 × longer than width of sheaths in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); fore wing as long as body length (distinctly shorter in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); stigma narrower (4 × longer than high in Aleiodes luteosicarius sp. n. vs. 3 × in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); hind wing vein r-m as long as vein 1M (distinctly shorter in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); depressed area on mesoscutum longitudinally rugose–striate (striations running antero-laterally from mid-posterior region); propodeum mostly coarsely granulate with few longitudinal wrinkles posteriorly, laterally weakly rugose (distinct pattern of rugosity on propodeum in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); occipital carina strong and abruptly interrupted dorsally (weaker and gradually disappearing in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.); vertex coarsely granulate with some transverse wrinkles (finely granulate in Aleiodes falloni sp. n.). In the key to species of pallidator species-group from North America ( S. Shaw et al. 2013) it runs to Aleiodes pallidator (Thunberg, 1822). The new species closely resembles Aleiodes pallidator , differing from it by the following: propodeum surface is entire rugose (laterally coriaceous in Aleiodes pallidator ) and the longitudinal carina is present on anterior 3/4 (complete in Aleiodes pallidator ); vein 1CUa about 2 × length of 1cu-a (just slightly longer in Aleiodes pallidator ); basal cell of hind wing very broad, vein r-m as long as vein 1M (narrower in Aleiodes pallidator ); metasomal tergite 1 granular–rugose and tergite 2 striate–rugose (costate in Aleiodes pallidator ); parasitoid on Arctiinae ( Erebidae ) ( Aleiodes pallidator attacks Lymantriidae ).

Comments.

All previous known species of the pallidator species-group are parasitoids on Lymantriinae caterpillars ( S. Shaw et al. 2013, as Lymantriidae ). This is the first record of a species in this group attacking Arctiinae , and also the first species of the group with known host from Neotropical region. The status of subfamily for these groups is relatively recent, and both belong to Erebidae . Species within the pallidator group has been consistently reared from the setose mummified caterpillars of Lymantriinae in Japan, Europe and North America. The host associations reported here broaden the known host range for this species-group, but also denotes its ecological preferences for attacking densely setose caterpillars.

Etymology.

From the Latin meaning "yellow killer," referring to the main color of this parasitoid.