Aleiodes cacuangoi, 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 : 21-24

Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n. Figures 25-30

Description of holotype.

Female (holotype). Body length: 4.77 mm; antenna length: 5.5 mm; fore wing length: 4.8 mm.

Color. Mostly black. Face, gena, eyes orbits, and apical half of hind coxa yellowish brown; mandibles, gena at border with mandibles and palp whitish, mandibles tips (tooth) brown; fore and mid legs yellowish darkening distally; tarsi dark brown, hind tibial spurs yellowish; ventral metasoma light yellow; metasomal terga 1 and 2 with mid basal whitish marks, spot on tergite 1 small, on tergite 2 extending over basal half. Ovipositor sheaths dark brown on apical half, basal half whitish.

Head. Antenna comprising 43 antennomeres, flagellomeres roughly 2.0 × as long as wide, apical flagellomere with short pointed apex; malar space moderate, length 1.6 × basal width of mandible, and approximately 0.55 × eye height; occipital carina complete and well defined, bordered by a more or less deep sulcus on temples and vertex, reaching hypostomal carina; oral space small and circular, maximum width slightly smaller than basal width of mandible; clypeus not swollen; ocelli small, ocell–ocular distance about 1.5 × diameter of lateral ocellus; temples about 1.8 × eye height in dorsal view; maxillary palp not swollen; head surface sculpturing mostly granulate, vertex more coarsely granulate, occiput very weakly shining coriaceous, apparently smooth.

Mesosoma. Sculpturing mostly granulate; pronotum rugose laterally, foveate dorsally; mesopleuron rugose anteriorly, with elevated area centrally smooth and shining, and some wrinkles centrally, otherwise coriaceous; propodeum rugose posteriorly, with long mid-longitudinal carina on anterior 2/3; notauli deep and renulated anteriorly, meeting a coarsely punctate area posteriorly; scutellar sulcus with well defined median carina and two pairs of lateral irregular carina.

Wings. Fore wing: stigma 5 × longer than high; vein r as long as veins 2RS and RS+Mb, and 0.7 × as long as vein m-cu; vein 3RSa about 0.4 × vein 3RSb, about as long as 2M; vein 1CUa 1.7 × vein 1cu-a; vein 1CUb about 2.9 × 1CUa; vein 1M evenly curved. Hind wing: m-cu absent; vein M+CU 1.36 × 1M; vein r-m 1.5 × 1M; vein RS smoothly curved at middle; vein 2-1A absent.

Legs. Hind tibia without comb of modified setae; tarsal claw simple, not pectinate, with a comb of relatively long thin setae basally; hind basitarsus about 3.4 times the length of inner apical spur on hind tibia.

Metasoma. T1 and T2 granulate and longitudinally striated; remainder terga granulate; mid longitudinal carina complete from T1 throughout T3; petiole length about 1.1 × its apical width; ovipositor sheaths about as long as hind tarsomere II.

Paratype variation. Body length 4.2-4.6 mm; antennomeres 42-45; malar space about 1.4 times basal width of mandible; malar space/eye height = 0.53-0.60; ocell–ocular distance/diameter lateral ocellus~ 1.4-1.5; temple/eye height = 1.75-2.00; fore wing veins: r/2RS ~ 0.75-1, r/m-cu ~ 0.6-0.7, r/RS+Mb = 0.75-1.00, 1CUb/1CUa = 2.4-2.9; hind wing veins: 1M/r-m ~ 1.40-1.55, M+CU/1M = 1.15-1.40, in most paratype m-cu weak but present, its position varying from just antefurcal to interstitial (frequently in the same individual); hind basitarsus/apical inner spur on hind tibia = 3.2-3.4; tergite 1 length/apical width = 1.1-1.2; ovipositor sheaths/hind tarsomere II ~ 0.8-1.1. Color pattern: some paratypes have brown face medially, and/or a white stripe on mesopleuron; occipital carina somewhat irregular at vertex in few specimens; one or two pairs of lateral carina on scutellar sulcus, more or less irregular.

Male. Similar to females but body slightly smaller, antenna shorter, with 40-41 segments, metasoma slightly thinner, and ocelli relatively larger: ocell–ocular distance 1.25 × diameter of lateral ocellus. In one specimen the occipital carina is shortly interrupted but the occiput and vertex limits are easily distinguishable. One male paratype have considerably darker head and metasoma: head brown to dark brown, gena at borders with mandibles pale yellow, middle face darker, clypeus and most of temples honey brown, white spots on metasoma reduced, on tergite 2 yellowish and covering less than half its length.

Mummy. Length 6.7-8.0 mm in males and 7.3-10.0 mm in females, mottled gray and yellowish, with lateral bands more or less defined mottled dark brown and brown, thorax compact and wrinkled, exit hole irregular, located postero-dorsally between anal and abdominal prolegs.

Type material.

Type-locality: ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, Beat 10A, YY-58947, S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163 m, cloud forest, September 5, 2011.

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) July 2011 / 58947; back (hand written): "em. 5 Sept 2011". (UWIM)

Paratypes (UWIM): 12 females and 8 males, same data as holotype, except different dates. Females: August 15, 2007, YY-22975; August 20, 2009 YY-40348; December 21, 2009, YY-43751; April 22, 2010, YY-46509; May 4, 2010, YY-46887; May 12, 2010, YY-47603; July 8, 2010, YY-48837; August 13, 2010, YY-49757; August 25, 2010, YY-50103; November 12, 2010, YY-52466; June 14, 2011, YY-56911; June 16, 2011, YY-56954. Males: December 21, 2009, YY-43737; April 1, 2010, YY-45833; April 19, 2010, YY-46665; May 17, 2010, YY-47596; August 7, 2010, YY-49712; August 9, 2010, YY-49716; August 27, 2010, YY-50307; June 14, 2011, YY-56894.

Biology.

All specimens were reared from the same Geometridae host caterpillar morphospecies ("linea blanca en la espalda chusquea") feeding on bamboo, Chusquea scandens ( Poaceae ). Consistent morphology of mummies and rearing data of caterpillars support a single host species for this parasitoid, most frequently sampled between July and August. Most host caterpillars collected were in the 3rd larval instar, but one was in 4th and one in 2nd instar. Time span between host mummification and adult emergence varying in days from: 19-35 for females, and 16-26 for males.

Discussion.

This species belongs to gastritor/circumscriptus species-group. It is similar to Aleiodes atripileatus , differing from it by having the occipital carina complete (interrupted at vertex in Aleiodes atripileatus ), smooth area on mesopleuron ( granulate–coriaceous in Aleiodes atripileatus ), 43 antenomeres (maximum 39 in Aleiodes atripileatus ), longitudinal carina complete on T1-T3 (incomplete in Aleiodes atripileatus ), and one basal light spot on T1 and one on T2 (absent in Aleiodes atripileatus ). This species is also very similar to Aleiodes nubicola sp. n. The most evident character to distinguish these species being the color patterns on meso- and metasoma. Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n. have a mostly black metasoma dorsally, with one small to tiny basal white spot on T1 and a finger like mid-basal white spot on T2, the size of the spot on T2 varies from 1/3 to 2/3 of the tergite length. In Aleiodes nubicola sp. n. the metasoma varies from entirely black to black with apical whitish spots, these spots are larger on apical terga and extends to T4 in females, but one male paratype has the spots extending from the apical terga throughout apex of T1. There are not apical spots in none of the terga in Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n., while in Aleiodes nubicola sp. n. there is not basal white spot on T1. The mesosoma in Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n. is entirely black except for some reddish brown–brown stripe on mesopleuron, which is distinctly lighter close to mid coxal insertion. Aleiodes nubicola sp. n. have similar color pattern but with a postero-median square on mesoscutum and scutellum medially orangish. In Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n. the head is mostly yellowish with occiput and vertex medially always black, the face varies from pale yellow to dark brown, and temples and gena are pale yellow to brownish orange. In Aleiodes nubicola sp. n. the head is mostly dark brown with a crescent moon-shaped honey yellow area on temples, bordering eyes, and the color of gena is variable. Mummies of Aleiodes atripileatus , Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n., and Aleiodes nubicola sp. n. are very distinctive: Aleiodes cacuangoi sp. n. mummies are mottled gray and yellowish with more or less defined dark brown lateral stripes, Aleiodes atripileatus mummies are black with extended anal prolegs and head yellow, and Aleiodes nubicola sp. n. mummies are entirely brown and gradually narrowing anteriorly.

Etymology.

The species is named in honor to Dolores Cacuango, for her pioneering, outstanding brave efforts for the indigenous rights in Ecuador.