Meteorus juliae Aguirre & Shaw, 2014

Aguirre, Helmuth & Shaw, Scott R., 2014, Neotropical species of Meteorus Haliday (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Meteorinae) parasitizing Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae), Zootaxa 3779 (3), pp. 353-367 : 358-360

Meteorus juliae Aguirre & Shaw n. sp.

( Figs. 13–16 )

Diagnosis. Mandibles twisted, occipital carina incomplete, ocelli ocular distance equal to ocellar diameter, vertex in dorsal view descending vertically behind the lateral ocelli, notauli not distinctive, vein m-cu of forewing intersticial, tarsal claw with large lobe, propodeum aerolate and rugose, dorsope and laterope absent, T1 totally black, ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along 1/2 of segment.

Body color. Antenna dark brown; annulus absent; head orange except area between ocelli black; propleuron yellow; pronotum yellow; mesonotal lobes black-dark brown; notauli, scutellum and area between lobes yellow; mesopleuron medially yellow, ventrally black-dark brown; metapleuron yellow; propodeum black; prothoracic legs yellow; mesothoracic legs yellow except trochantellus dark-brown; metathoracic legs with coxa yellow basally and dark brown apically, trochanter yellow basally and brown apically, trochantellus brown, femur yellow except brown apically, tibia and tarsus light brown; T1 black; T2–T8 black-dark brown; sterna yellow-cream; wings hyaline.

Body length. 4.4 mm.

Head. Antenna with 31 flagellomeres; flagellar length/width ratios as follows: F1 = 2.7, F2 = 2.7, F3 = 2.3, F29 = 2, F30 = 2.4, F31 = 4.5; head 1.2 x wider than high; occipital carina incomplete; ocelli ocular distance equal to ocellar diameter; head height 1.4 x eye height; temples length 0.6 x eyes length in dorsal view; vertex in dorsal view descending vertically behind the lateral ocelli; frons smooth and polished; maximum face width 1.1 x minimum face width; face strigulate; minimum face width 1.1 x clypeus width; clypeus strigulate; malar space length 0.6 x mandible width basally; mandibles twisted.

Mesosoma. Pronotum in lateral view carinate and rugose; propleuron with disperse punctures; notauli not distinctive; notauli rugose with a pronounced longitudinal carina; mesonotal lobes not well defined; central lobe of mesoscutum rugulose with a faint longitudinal carina; scutellar furrow with three clearly marked carinae; mesopleuron punctate; sternaulus long, narrow and carinate-foveate; metapleuron rugulose; propodeum aerolaterugose; longitudinal and transversal carinae on propodeum absent; median depression on propodeum absent;

Legs. Hind coxa strigate and punctate; tarsal claw with large lobe;

Wings. Wing length 4 mm; second submarginal cell of forewing not strongly narrowed anteriorly; length of vein r 0.7 x length of 3Rsa; length of vein 3RSa 0.8 x length of rm; vein m-cu of forewing intersticial; length of vein 1M 1.5 x length of cu-a; length of vein 1M 0.9 x length of 1r-m.

Metasoma. Dorsope and laterope absent; ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along 1/2 of segment; first tergite with costae parallel; ovipositor 1.3 x longer than first tergite; ovipositor thickened basally and sinuous.

Cocoon ( Fig. 18 ). Length 5.5 mm; width 2.1 mm; honey-brown translucent except apex cap golden. Cocoons loosely clumped around an axis composed of twisted shared suspending threads. The thread is approximately 2.5 cm long. Each cocoon is elongate-oval, loosely wrapped by silk, the edge of the emergence hole and the cap is smooth and neat, the posterior end is nipple-shaped.

Female variation. Antenna with 31-32 flagellomeres; head 1.1–1.2 x wider than high; maximum face width 1.1–1.2 x minimum face width; malar space length 0.6–0.8 x mandible width basally; length of vein r 0.6–0.8 x length of 3Rsa; length of vein 1M 1.2–1.5 x length of cu-a; wing length 4–4.3 mm; ovipositor 1.3–1.6 x longer than first tergite.

Male variation. Prothoracic legs yellow except telotarsus brown; mesothoracic legs yellow except trochantellus and telotarsus brown; body length 4.2 mm.

Comments. M. juliae shares with M. quasifabatus and M. anuae the following combination of characters: mandibles twisted, notauli not distinctive, tarsal with large lobe, dorsope and laterope absent, and ventral borders of first tergite joined completely along ½ of segment. M. juliae can be easily separated from M. quasifabatus by having mesonotal lobes dark brown (yellow in M. quasifabatus ), antenna with 31–32 flagellomeres (29 in M. quasifabatus ), ocelli ocular distance equal to ocellar diameter (1.3–1.6 x in M. quasifabatus ), head height 1.4 x eye height (1.6–1.7 x in M. quasifabatus ), ovipositor 1.3–1.6 x longer than first tergite (2–2.2 x in M. quasifabatus ). M. juliae can be differentiated from M. anuae by having antenna with 31–32 flagellomeres (29 in M. anuae ), occipital carina incomplete, malar space length 0.6–0.8 x mandible width basally (0.5 x in M. anuae ) and vein m-cu of forewing intersticial (antefurcal in M. anuae ).

Holotype. Female (point mounted), ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, S 00°35.9’ W 77°53.4’, 2163 m, host collected 4 March 2010, as parasitoid of Arctiinae larva 3 th instar on Dendrophorbium iloense (Hieron.) C. Jeffrey (Asteraceae) , pupated 10 March 2010, adult parasitoid emerged 29 March 2010, YY 45650 (rearing code). Deposited in UWIM.

Paratypes. Three females and 5 males, same data as the holotype. Deposited at UWIM .

Distribution. ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, High Andean Cloud Forest, 2163 m.

Biology ( Fig. 17 ). Reared from Arctiinae 3 th instar larva feeding on Dendrophorbium lloense . Based on the collecting, pupation and emergence dates the minimum development time as larva is 6 days and the development time in the pupal stage is 19 days.

Etymology. This species is named after our entomologist colleague Julia Stigenberg whose valuable research has shed light on the complex phylogenetic relationships for the Meteorus species from the Palearctic region.

Figures

FIGURES 13–16. M. juliae n. sp. 13) Female, habitus lateral view, 14) male, habitus lateral view, 15) female, habitus dorsal view, 16) female, head frontal view.

FIGURES 17–18. 17) Arctiinae 3th instar larva, 18) cocoons.