Aleiodes albiviria, 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 : 14-15

Aleiodes albiviria sp. n. Figures 18-21

Description of holotype.

Female (holotype). Body length 7.1 mm; antenna length 9.0 mm; fore wing length 5.8 mm.

Color. Mostly yellowish “bronze” (orangish yellow). Ocellar triangle brown. Antenna black; scape yellowish ventrally; flagellum with white band medially from flagellomeres 18-19th to 29-30th. Brown regions of mesosoma: mesoscutum lateral borders, notauli region and depressed posterior area; lunules; metanotum; propodeum. Dorsal mesopleuron and metasoma ventrally pale yellow. Wings tinged honey yellow, veins honey brown.

Head. Antenna with 57 antennomeres, mid flagellomere roughly 2.0 × longer than wide, apical flagellomere with small pointed apex; malar space moderate, about 1.25 × longer than basal width of mandible, 0.33 × eye height; in dorsal view eyes 3 × longer than temples; occipital carina incomplete, directed toward vertex, well defined laterally and meeting hypostomal carina; oral space small and circular, maximum width equal to basal width of mandible; clypeus not swollen; ocelli moderate, ocell–ocular distance slightly shorter than diameter of lateral ocellus; maxillary palp not swollen; head surface sculpture finely shining granulate, occiput smooth and shining; higher face with a small longitudinal ridge and transverse rugosity directed to it; frons excavated, excavation bordered by a weak “W-shaped” carina.

Mesosoma. Sculpturing shining granulate; pronotum foveate laterally; mesopleuron with antero-dorsal corner rugose; propodeum granular with some longitudinal diverging wrinkles laterally, mid-longitudinal carina present only on anterior 1/3; notauli with few crenulae and shallow anteriorly, meeting on depressed rugose area posteriorly; posterior margin of mesoscutum with complete carina; scutellar sulcus with median carina plus two pairs of complete lateral carina and one irregular.

Wings. Fore wing: stigma 3.8 × longer than high; vein r as long as vein 2RS, 1.2 × longer than vein RS+Mb, and 0.78 × vein m-cu; vein 3RSa 0.45 × vein 3RSb, and 0.9 × vein 2M; vein 1CUa 2.7 × vein 1cu-a; vein 1CUb about as long as vein 1CUa; vein 1M weakly curved basally. Hind wing: vein m-cu present, antefurcal to r-m; vein M+CU about 1.6 × 1M; vein 1M almost as long as r-m; vein RS gradually opening from wing margin; vein 1M straight, dark brown, well pigmented; vein 2-1A absent.

Legs. Hind tibia with comb of modified setae; tarsal claw simple, with a comb of relatively long thin setae basally; hind basitarsus 3.5 × longer than inner apical spur of hind tibia.

Metasoma. T1, T2 and basal 2/5 of T3 costate, longitudinal carina present along this sculpturing; remainder visible terga smooth; ovipositor sheaths short and lanceolate, about as long as hind tarsomere IV (half length of tarsomere II); T1 1.4 × longer than its apical width.

Male unknown.

Type material.

Type-locality: ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, Macucoloma trail, S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163 m, cloud forest, April 1-8, 2007, J. Simbaña col.

Type-specimen: Holotype female, point mounted. Top label: "ECUADOR: Napo Province / Yanayacu Biological Station / S00°35.9', W77°53.4' 2163m / 1-8 April 2007, J. Simbaña /Macucoloma trail, Malaise trap / CAPEA - NSF-BSI-07-17458, S.R. Shaw"; bottom label: "SRS - 00043" (UWIM).

Discussion.

This species is assigned to the seriatus species-group, where it most resembles Aleiodes greeneyi Townsend because of the dorsally incomplete occipital carina. Aleiodes albiviria sp. n. differs from other New World species of this species group by the mostly honey brown body with dark brown notauli and mid-posterior mesoscutum, and the white middle band on blackish antenna. Aleiodes albiviria sp. n. also resembles the Brazilian Aleiodes scriptus (Enderlein, 1920), by the costate sculpturing on metasomal tergite 1, which is rugose–costate in all other Neotropical species in seriatus species-group, but differs from Aleiodes scriptus by the shape of hind wing vein RS (parallel to wing margin basally and bent downward apically, as opposed to sinuate at middle in Aleiodes scriptus ).

Etymology.

From the Latin albus, meaning “white,” and viria meaning “bracelet,” a reference to the white band on the antenna.