Brachymeria hime Habu, 1960

Narendran, T. C. & van Achterberg, Cornelis, 2016, Revision of the family Chalcididae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) from Vietnam, with the description of 13 new species, ZooKeys 576, pp. 1-202 : 34-35

Taxon classification Animalia Hymenoptera Chalcididae

Brachymeria hime Habu, 1960 Figs 40-41

Brachymeria hime Habu, 1960: 199-201 (holotype ♀, Japan (NIAS)), 1962: 58-61 (redescription); Narendran 1989: 247, 264 (comments and keyed).

Material

(RMNH, IEBR). 1 ♀, "S. Vietnam: Ninh Thuân, Núi Chúa N. P., northeast part, Malaise traps, 90-150 m, 23-30.v.2007, C. v. Achterberg & R. de Vries, RMNH’07”; 1 ♀, "S. Vietnam: Dóng Nai, Cát Tiên N. P., Dong trail. Malaise traps, c. 100 m, 1-8.iv.2007, Mai Phu Quy & Nguyen Tanh Manh, RMNH’07”; 1 ♀, id., but 19-25.iv.2007; 1 ♀, id., but 9.iv.-13.v.2007, M.P. Quy, N.T. Manh & C. v. Achterberg; 1 ♂ + 1 ♀, id., but 13-20.v.2007, Botanical Garden, Malaise traps 14-19, C. v. Achterberg & R. de Vries, RMNH’ 07.

Diagnosis.

This species resembles Brachymeria secundaria Ruschka in colour and appearance, but differs from it in having: 1) well developed pre-orbital carina (in Brachymeria secundaria pre-orbital carina almost indistinct); 2) scrobe reaching anterior ocellus (in Brachymeria secundaria scrobe not reaching anterior ocellus); 3) eyes less convex than of Brachymeria secundaria and 4) scutellum low in profile (scutellum high in profile in Brachymeria secundaria ).

Description.

♀, length of body 3.5-5.8 mm.

Colour. Black; tegula clear yellow; coxae black; trochanters brown or black; femora black with apices yellow; tibiae yellow with a black band or patch in middle dividing yellow area into anterior and posterior parts, often connected dorsally in fore and mid tibiae; pubescence silvery.

Head. Head slightly wider than mesosoma, scrobe reaching anterior ocellus; pre- and post-orbital carinae present; post-orbital carina reaching geno-temporal margin; interantennal projection thin; area below scrobe coarsely punctate; POL distinctly longer than twice OOL; antenna with scape not reaching anterior ocellus.

Mesosoma. Mesosoma with close umbilicate pits, interstices subcarinate and reticulate; apex of scutellum rounded; dorsal margin of pronotal panel well arched; hind coxa without an inner ventro-mesal tooth; hind femur without an inner basal tooth, outer ventral margin with a raw of irregular teeth.

Wings. Fore wing with PMV one-third as long as MV; SMV twice as long as MV.

Metasoma. Metasoma sessile, slightly longer than (or equal to) mesosoma; T1 smooth, its posterior margin straight; ovipositor sheath and epipygium as in figure 37 of Joseph et al. (1973).

Male. Similar to ♀ except for stouter antenna and shorter metasoma.

Hosts.

Grapholitha molesta Busck ( Lepidoptera : Tortricidae ); Eutectona machaeralis ( Lepidoptera : Pyralidae ), Nephoteryx eugraphella Ragonot ( Lepidoptera : Phyticidae ) ( Habu 1962; Sudheendrakumar 1986; Narendran 1989).

Distribution.

India, Nepal, China (including Taiwan), Philippines, Vietnam (new record) and Japan ( Narendran 1989).