Meteorus carolae Aguirre, Almeida & Shaw

Aguirre, Helmuth, de Almeida, Luis Felipe, Shaw, Scott Richard & Sarmiento, Carlos E., 2015, An illustrated key to Neotropical species of the genus Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Euphorinae), ZooKeys 489, pp. 33-94 : 49-53

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Braconidae

Meteorus carolae Aguirre, Almeida & Shaw sp. n. Figures 73-79, 80-82

Diagnosis.

Occipital carina complete; face maximum width 1.5 × minimum width; mandibles twisted; notauli shallow, not distinctive and rugose; propodeum aerolate-rugose; hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe; dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; ovipositor 2.9 × longer than first tergite; body mostly dark brown.

Body color.

Antenna dark brown; annulus absent; face and clypeus yellow; frons black on the middle and orange laterally; vertex orange between the lateral ocelli and the compound eyes; area around and among ocelli, vertex behind the lateral ocelli, temple and the most of the gena black; a small orange area of the gena along the compound eye. Propleuron dark brown; pronotum dorsally dark brown, then gradually becomes light brown to orange ventrally; mesonotal lobes black; area among lobes, notauli and scutellum yellow-orange; mesopleuron, metanotum, metapleuron and propodeum black. Prothoracic legs yellow; mesothoracic legs yellow except tarsus brown; metathoracic coxa dark brown, remaining leg light brown. T1 yellow basally, dark brown apically; T2 yellow basally, remaining brown; sterna yellow-cream. Wings hyaline; stigma dark brown.

Body length.

3.6 mm.

Head.

Antenna with 26 flagellomeres; flagellar length/width ratios as follows: F1 = 4, F2 = 3.7, F3 = 2.7, F24 = 1.5, F25 = 1.3, F26 = 1.8; head 1.2 wider than high; occipital carina complete; ocellus-ocullar distance 1.2 × ocellar diameter; head height 1.4 × eye height; temple length 0.4 × eye length in dorsal view; vertex in dorsal view not descending vertically behind the lateral ocelli; frons strigulate; face maximum width 1.5 × minimum width; face strigate-rugulose; face minimum width 0.8 × clypeus width; clypeus rugulose; malar space length 0.3 × mandible width basally; mandibles twisted.

Mesosoma.

Pronotum in lateral view extensively rugose; propleuron slightly puncticulate; notauli shallow, not distinctive and rugose; mesonotal lobes not well defined; central lobe of mesoscutum punctate; scutellar furrow with five carinae; mesopleuron punctate, rugose-lacunose close to the tegula; precoxal sulcus long, wide and rugose; metapleuron rugose; propodeum aerolate-rugose, both carinae or median depression absent.

Legs.

Hind coxa strigate; tarsal claw with large lobe.

Wings.

Wing length 3 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly. Front wing: length of vein r 0.8 × length of vein 3RSa; vein 3RSb straight; length of vein 3RSa 0.8 × length of vein r-m; vein m-cu antefurcal. Hind wing: length of vein 1M 1.3 × length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M equal to length of vein r-m.

Metasoma.

Dorsope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment; first tergite with costae convergent posteriorly; ovipositor thickened basally and straight; ovipositor 2.9 × longer than first tergite.

Cocoon.

Unknown.

Female variation.

Head face and clypeus light brown-honey; frons medially black, laterally orange; area between ocelli, temples and vertex behind the lateral ocelli black; gena orange. Pronotum dorsal border black, remaining yellow; median mesonotal lobe and scutellum light brown, lateral mesonotal lobes dark brown, area among lobes and notauli yellow; mesopleuron black except a medial-posterior patch yellow; metanotum totally black; metapleuron yellow, or orange except ventral border black; propodeum black; mesothoracic legs coxa, trochanter and trochantellus white, remaining dark brown; body length 3.2-3.7 mm; antenna with 24-27 flagellomeres; ocellus-ocullar distance 1-1.5 × ocellar diameter; temple length 0.5-0.6 × eye length in dorsal view; face maximum width 1.4-1.6 × minimum width; clypeus punctate; propleuron rugulose; precoxal sulcus short and wide; wing length 3.5 mm. Front wing: length of vein 3RSa 1-1.2 × length of vein r-m. Vein m-cu of forewing either intersticial or postfurcal. Ovipositor 2.3 × longer than first tergite.

Male variation.

Lateral lobes of mesonotum and apical area of median one black, yellow the rest; mesopleuron either yellow except area close to the tegula dark brown, or orange on the middle, black dorsally and ventrally; prothoracic and mesothoracic legs yellow except tarsus brown; metathoracic legs yellow except tibia brown, femur apically and tarsus dark brown; T2 yellow-orange basally, remaining dark brown; body length 3.8 mm; antenna with 32 flagellomeres; head height 1.1 × eye height; ocellus-ocullar distance 1.1 × ocellar diameter; head height 1.5 × eye height; face maximum width 1.2 × minimum width; face minimum width 0.9 × clypeus width; malar space length 0.5 × mandible width basally; wing length 3.4 mm. Front wing: length of vein r 0.6 × length of vein 3RSa. Hind wing: length of vein 1M equal to length of vein cu-a; length of vein 1M 0.8 × length of vein r-m. First tergite costate-reticulate.

Type locality.

COSTA RICA, Cartago, Dulce Nombre, Vivero Linda Vista, 1400 m.

Type specimen.

Holotype female (point mounted). Original label: COSTA RICA, Cartago, Dulce Nombre, Vivero Linda Vista, 1400 m, collected VI–VIII.1993, UWIM.

Paratypes. One female (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Cartago, 4km NE Cañón Génesis II, 2350 m, collected IV–V.1996, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One female (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Cartago, 4 km NE Cañón Génesis II, 2350 m, collected V.1995, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One male (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Cartago, 4 km NE Cañón Génesis II, 2350 m, collected VII.1995, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. Three females, four males (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Cartago, Dulce Nombre, Viveiro Linda Vista, 1300 m, collected VIII–X.1993, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. Two males (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Cartago, Dulce Nombre, Viveiro Linda Vista, 1400 m, collected VI–VIII.1993, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One female, one male (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Cartago, La Cangreja, 1950 m, collected XII.1991, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One male (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Tierras Morenas, 700 m, collected III.1993, G. Rodríguez leg., UWIM. Three females (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, San Vito, Estac. Biol. Las Alturas, 1500 m, collected II.1992, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One female (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, San Vito, Estac. Biol. Las Alturas, 1700 m, collected II–IV.1993, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One female, one male (point mounted), COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, San Vito, Estac. Biol. Las Alturas, 1500 m, collected III.1992, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. Four females (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San Jose, 26 km N San Isidro just S of Division, 2100 m, collected II–IV.1993, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. Three females (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San José, 26 km N San Isidro just S of Division, 2100 m, collected IV–V.1993, P. Hanson leg., Malaise, UWIM. Four females (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San José, 26 km N San Isidro just S of Division, 2100 m, collected VI–VIII.1992, P. Hanson leg., Malaise, UWIM. Two females, one male (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San José, Cerro de la Muerte, 26 km N San isidro, 2100 m, collected II–V.1992, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One female (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San José, Cerro de la Muerte, 26 km N San Isidro, 2100 m, collected II–V.1991, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. Two females (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San José, Zurqui de Moravia, 1600 m, collected III.1992, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One male (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San Jose, Zurqui de Moravia, 1600 m, collected IV.1992, P. Hanson leg., UWIM. One female (point mounted), COSTA RICA, San José, Zurqui de Moravia, 1600 m, collected V.1992, P. Hanson leg., UWIM.

Distribution.

Costa Rica.

Biology.

Unknown.

Comments.

Meteorus carolae and Meteorus rogerblancoi might be confused because both share the complete occipital carina, twisted mandibles, notauli shallowly impressed and not distinct, the hind coxa strigate, tarsal claw with a large lobe, first tergite without dorsopes and ventral borders of the first tergite joined along ½ of segment. Despite their close similarity both species appear distant in the key because of the pale color on the antennae tip contrasting with dark on the rest of the structure in Meteorus rogerblancoi (antennae uniformly dark in Meteorus carolae ). The pale color on the antennae tip of Meteorus rogerblancoi was not taking into account in the original description by Zitani et al. (1998) probably because it is too small and restricted to the last three or two flagellomeres, but the careful examination of the complete type series allows to know that it is always present in both males and females. Another constant and stable character allowing separation of both species is the hind coxa completely dark brown in Meteorus carolae vs. the coxa basally yellow, distally black-dark brown in Meteorus rogerblancoi . On the couplet 44 of the key Meteorus carolae matches closely to Meteorus martinezi . They have in common the same set of features share between Meteorus carolae and Meteorus rogerblancoi , but Meteorus carolae has the coxa dark brown (hind coxa dorsally dark brown, ventrally yellow in Meteorus martinezi ), antennae with 24-27 flagellomeres (antennae with 31 flagellomeres in Meteorus martinezi ) and the convergent eyes in frontal view, face maximum width/minimum width = 1.4-1.6 (face maximum width/minimum width = 1.1 in Meteorus martinezi ).

Etymology.

Meteorus carolae is named after Mrs. Carol Abram, Scott Shaw’s sister. Thank you for teaching me to read, and encouraging my entomological pursuits.