Trigastrotheca aethiopica Quicke & Friedman, 2024

Quicke, Donald L. J., Van Noort, Simon, Ranjith, Avunjikkattu Parambil, Friedman, Ariel L. L., Mejlon, Hans & Butcher, Buntika A., 2024, Revision of Trigastrotheca Cameron (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Braconinae) with descriptions of 13 new species, ZooKeys 1205, pp. 115-167 : 115-167

Trigastrotheca aethiopica Quicke & Friedman sp. nov.

Fig. 2

Type material.

Holotype ♀, Ethiopia, Erer River , Rt. 4, 20 km E. Harar, 9 ° 14.5 ' N, 42 ° 14.8 ' E, 11. ix. 2007, 1330 m, coll. L. Friedman ( SMNHTAU).

Diagnosis.

Body ochreous yellow except for piceous stemmaticum. Similar to T. trilobata and T. romani . Differs from T. trilobata in having the anterior of the pterostigma yellow (Fig. 2 A ). Differs from T. romani in having the anterior of pterostigma yellow and the second metasomal suture more strongly arched and distinctly wider medially (Fig. 2 G cf. Fig. 33 F ).

Description.

Holotype female. Length of body 4.9 mm, fore wing 4.6 mm. Head. Antenna incomplete with 39 flagellomeres. Terminal flagellomere lost. First flagellomere 1.2 × longer than 2 nd and 3 rd, the latter 1.8 × longer than wide. Width of head: width of face: height of eye = 2.5: 1.5: 1.0. Face with fine transverse striations laterally; with weak mid-longitudinal ridge. Inter-tentorial distance 1.5 × longer than tentorio-ocular distance. Malar suture impressed. Malar space 1.3 × as long as basal width of mandible. Frons strongly impressed with a complete mid-longitudinal carina. Shortest distance between posterior ocelli: transverse diameter of posterior ocellus: shortest distance between posterior ocellus and eye = 1.0: 1.0: 2.5. Mesosoma 1.4 × longer than high. Mesoscutum rugose; notauli not impressed except very short anterior part with few weak crenulations, very shallow posteriorly. Scutellar sulcus shallow, narrow, finely crenulate. Scutellum smooth, setose without small pit medially behind sulcus. Median area of metanotum with complete mid-longitudinal carina. Propodeum largely smooth and shiny; mid-longitudinal carina complete, lamelliform, bordered narrowly by fine crenulations; posteriorly propodeum with short longitudinal carinae associated with longitudinal wrinkles. Wings. Fore wing. Lengths of fore wing veins r-rs: 3 RSa: 3 RSb = 1.0: 1.5: 4.7. Lengths of vein 2 RS: 3 RSa: rs-m = 1.5: 1.5: 1.0. Base of hind wing glabrous. Legs. Lengths of fore femur: fore tibia: fore tarsus = 1.0: 1.3: 1.3. Lengths of hind femur: hind tibia: hind tarsus = 1.0: 1.2: 1.3. Claws with small acutely pointed basal lobe. Metasoma. T 1 1.6 × wider than long. T 2 0.8 × as long as T 3. T 1 coriaceous. TT 1–5 with coarse reticulate sculpture. Second metasomal suture and basal grooves of TT 4 and 5 deep, strigose. T 5 with postero-lateral margin of convex, distinctly and evenly denticulate; medial protuberance acutely rounded. Coloration. Body mostly yellow except antenna, eye and tarsi black, and stemmaticum which is dark brown.

Male. Unknown.

Distribution.

Afrotropical ( Ethiopia).

Host.

Unknown.

Etymology.

Specific name refers to Ethiopia, the provenance of the holotype.

Figures

Figure 2. Trigastrotheca aethiopica sp. nov. ♀, holotype A habitus, lateral view B head, anterior view C head, dorsal view D head and mesosoma, lateral view E metasoma, lateral view F mesosoma, dorsal view G metasoma, dorsal view.

Figure 33. Trigastrotheca romani ♀ holotype A habitus, lateral view B head, anterior view C habitus dorsal view [notes: color is artefactually redder than in reality; labels inset] D head, dorsal view E TT 2–5, lateral view F metasoma, dorsal view.