Rhaconotus (Rhaconotus) aciculatus Ruthe, 1854

Belokobylskij, Sergey A. & Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro, 2021, Reclassification of the doryctine tribe Rhaconotini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 741, pp. 1-168 : 123-128

Rhaconotus (Rhaconotus) aciculatus Ruthe, 1854

Figs 44–45

Rhaconotus aciculatus Ruthe, 1854: 349 .

Hormiopterus cerdai Docavo Alberti, 1960: 27 .

Rhaconotus major Tobias, 1964: 179 .

Rhaconotus aciculatus – Nixon 1941: 473. — Shenefelt & Marsh 1976: 1335. — Belokobylskij 1990 a: 145; 1998b: 69. — Belokobylskij & Chen 2004: 354. — Yu et al. 2016. — Jasso-Martínez et al. 2019: 165.

Hormiopterus cerdai – Shenefelt & Marsh 1976: 1336. — Belokobylskij 1990 a: 145 (as synonym). — Yu et al. 2016 (as synonym).

Rhaconotus major – Shenefelt & Marsh 1976: 1338. — Belokobylskij 1990 a: 145 (as synonym). — Yu at al. 2016.

Material examined

Holotype

GERMANY • ♀; “Type H.T.” (round with red margin), “Ruthe Coll. 59.101”, “59.101. Germany”, “ Rh. aciculatus m., Hasenheide, 15/6 53 ”, “ Rhaconotus m.”, “ Holotype ” (round with red margin), “B.M. Type Hym.3c.1392”; BMNH.

Other material

SPAIN • 1 ♀, holotype of Rh. cerdai ; “ Ciudad Rial [Province], Pozuelo de Calatrava. 1903. La Fuente” [handwriting], “♀”, “ Rhaconotus cerdai n. sp., det. Docavo”, “Tipo”, “ Rhaconotus ♀ scaber Kok. , det Papp J., 1983”, “MNCN, Cat. Tipos No 11534”; MNCN .

KAZAKHSTAN • 1 ♀, 1 ♀, holotype of Rh. major ; “Koksengir [mountains], Karagand.[a Province], solenye ozera [salt Lakes], Lepidium latifolium [L. ( Brassicaceae )], A. Ponomareva [leg.], 26.VI [1]959”; ZISP .

Description

Female (holotype of Rh. aciculatus )

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 3.0 mm; fore wing length 2.2 mm.

HEAD. Width 1.4 times its median length, 1.4 times width of mesoscutum. Head behind eyes (dorsal view) distinctly and roundly narrowed. Transverse diameter of eye 1.7 times length of temple. Ocelli small, arranged in triangle with base 1.1 times its sides; POL 1.4 times OD, 0.4 times OOL. Eye glabrous, very weakly emarginated opposite antennal sockets, 1.2 times as high as broad. Malar space 0.6 times height of eye, 1.3 times basal width of mandible. Face width 1.2 times height of eye and 1.25 times height of face and clypeus combined. Malar suture absent. Upper margin of clypeus situated distinctly below lower level of eyes. Hypoclypeal depression round, its width 0.6 times distance from edge of depression to eye, 0.4 times width of face. Occipital carina complete dorsally, not fused ventrally with hypostomal carina being obliterated shortly upper base of mandible. Vertex distinctly convex. Head below eyes distinctly and weakly-roundly narrowed (front view). Antennae rather slender, filiform, 28-segmented, 1.2 times as long as body. Length of scapus 1.5 times its maximum width. First flagellar segment 4.8 times as long as its apical width, 1.1 times as long as second segment. Penultimate segment 3.0 times as long as wide, 0.5 times as long as first segment, 0.75 times as long as apical segment; the latter acuminate apically.

MESOSOMA. Length 2.3 times its height. Pronotal carina rather distinct, distances from carina to both sides of pronotum subequal. Mesoscutum rather highly and subroundly elevated above pronotum, 1.2 times as long as wide. Notauli more or less deep entirely, complete, rather wide, densely crenulate with fine granulation. Median lobe of mesoscutum without median furrow. Prescutellar depression rather deep, short, distinctly and roundly curved postero-laterally, with high median carina, finely rugulose, 0.3 times as long as convex scutellum. Sternaulus (precoxal furrow) shallow, rather narrow, weakly sinuate, finely crenulate with densely and rather fine granulation, running along almost entire lower part of mesopleuron. Prepectal carina without widened lobes opposite fore coxae. Subalar depression rather deep, narrow, sparsely crenulate with granulation. Metanotum with short, rather thick and pointed tooth directed backward (lateral view). Metapleural lobe rather long, wide, rounded apically, without dense pubescence. Mesopleural suture entirely and very shortly crenulate.

WINGS. Fore wing 4.6 times its maximum width. Radial (marginal) cell weakly shortened. Metacarpus (1-R1) 1.3 times as long as pterostigma. Radial vein (r) arising rather distinctly behind middle of pterostigma, from basal 0.55. First radial abscissa (r) forming obtuse angle with second abscissa (3-SR). Second radial abscissa (3-SR) 3.6 times as long as first abscissa (r), 0.6 times as long as the weakly curved third abscissa (SR1), 1.6 times as long as first radiomedial vein (2-SR). Second radiomedial (submarginal) cell rather long, not widened distally, 3.8 times as long as wide, 1.4 times as long as narrow brachial (subdiscal) cell. First medial abscissa (1-SR+M) weakly sinuate. Recurrent vein (m-cu) distinctly postfurcal. Mediocubital vein (M+CU1) more or less distinctly curved to anal vein (2-1A) in distal half. Nervulus (cu-a) postfurcal, distance between nervulus (cu-a) and basal (1-M) vein 0.4 times nervulus (cu-a) length. Brachial (subdiscal) cell gently-roundly closed shortly before level of recurrent vein; posterior bulla and posterior abscissa of anal vein (2-1A) (behind brachial vein (CU1b)) absent. Hind wing 6.2 times as long as wide. First costal abscissa (C+SC+R) 0.5 times as long as second abscissa (1-SC+R). First abscissa of mediocubital vein (M+CU) 0.35 times as long as second abscissa (1-M). Recurrent vein (m-cu) almost indistinct.

LEGS. Hind coxa with distinct basoventral tubercle, 1.5 times as long as wide (with tubercle). Hind femur with very shallow dorsal protuberance, its length 3.3 times maximum width. Hind tarsus 1.1 times as long as hind tibia. Hind basitarsus 0.6 times combined length of second–fifth segments. Second tarsal segment 0.55 times as long as basitarsus, 2.1 times as long as fourth segment, 1.5 times as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

METASOMA. Length 1.1 times as long as head and mesosoma combined, with five dorsally visible tergites (very rarely following apical tergites shortly protruding behind fifth one, especially in male). First tergite with very short, pointed and directed ventrally subbasal lateral processes. Maximum width of first tergite about twice its basal width; its length 1.2–1.3 times apical width, 1.1 times length of propodeum. Second tergite without basal area, without or sometimes with weak, relatively wide and curved transverse subposterior furrow weakly separated apical sublenticular area (its median length 0.8 times length of remaining part of tergite). Median length of second tergite 0.8 times its basal width, 1.4 times length of third tergite. Second suture rather deep and narrow, almost straight medially and weakly curved laterally. Fifth tergite enlarged, weakly roundly convex in posterior margin, without median emargination and postero-ventral lobes. Fifth tergite 1.6 times as long as fourth tergite, 1.85 times as long as third tergite. Ovipositor sheath 0.7 times as long as metasoma, 1.3 times as long as hind tibia, 0.9 times as long as mesosoma, 0.45 times as long as fore wing.

SCULPTURE AND PUBESCENCE.Vertex densely distinctly granulate, often without rugulosity; frons densely granulate and without rugae; face densely and rather finely granulate; temple granulate almost entirely. Mesoscutum entirely densely granulate, often granulation anteriorly arranged in semicircular lines, without rugosity along notauli, with two sublongitudinal striae in medioposterior 0.3 of mesoscutum and short rugosity on it sides. Scutellum densely and rather finely granulate. Mesopleuron densely and entirely granulate-reticulate. Metapleuron densely granulate, additionally rugulose-striate in posterior half. Propodeum with large basolateral areas delineated by distinct or fine carinae, with distinct and long median and lateral carinae in basal half, densely granulate in anterior half and rugose-reticulate with granulation in posterior half. Hind coxa entirely densely granulate, without rugosity dorsally. Hind femur rather distinctly granulate-coriaceous, only coriaceous in lower half. First tergite with rather distinct and almost complete subparallel dorsal carinae, distinctly coarsely striate with ground reticulation between striae, densely rugulose mediobasally. Second tergite entirely coarsely and undulately striate with dense ground rugulosity. Third and fourth tergites in their basal 0.8 distinctly densely linearly striate with fine ground reticulation, smooth apically on narrow transverse stripe. Fifth tergite densely and rather finely striate in its basal 0.5–0.7, densely and small reticulate-coriaceous posteriorly becoming finer towards apex, sometimes almost smooth apically. Second–fourth tergites laterally entirely densely granulatereticulate with dense and fine longitudinal striation. Vertex entirely with rather long, sparse, semi-erect pale setae, glabrous in medio-anterior half. Mesoscutum with sparse, rather short and semi-erect setae arranged rather widely along notauli and in a single row marginally, glabrous on wide median areas on all lobes. Mesopleuron glabrous medially. Hind tibia dorsally with short, rather dense and semi-erect pale setae; length of these setae 0.4–0.6 times maximum width of hind tibia.

COLOUR. Head light reddish brown, darker dorsally; mesosoma light reddish brown or reddish brown partly, propodeum and metapleuron dark reddish brown to almost black; metasoma dark reddish brown, apical half of first tergites, entirely second and apical half of fifth reddish brown. Antenna dark reddish brown to black, reddish brown in basal quarter, two basal segments brownish yellow. Palps reddish brown. Legs brownish yellow or light reddish brown, tarsi (except for apical segments) yellow, hind femur and tibia apically infuscate. Ovipositor sheath black. Fore wing hyaline, with two large infuscate spots around basal vein (1-M) and second radiomedial (submarginal) cell. Pterostigma mainly dark brown, but yellow in its basal 0.4.

Distribution

Palaearctic region (widely distributed in warm territories, from west to east parts).

Figures

Fig. 44. Rhaconotus (Rhaconotus) aciculatus Ruthe, 1854, ♀, holotype, BMNH. A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Habitus, dorsal view. C. Head and mesoscutum, dorsal view. D. Head, front view. E. Head, lateral view. F. Basal segments of antenna. G. Apical segments of antenna. H. Mesosoma, dorsal view. I. Mesosoma, lateral view. J. Hind leg.

Fig. 45. Rhaconotus (Rhaconotus) aciculatus Ruthe, 1854, ♀, holotype, BMNH. A. Fore wing. B. Hind wing. C. Metasoma, dorsal view. D. Metasoma, lateral view.