Platyspathius (Platyspathius) pictipennis Viereck, 1911

Belokobylskij, Sergey A. & Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro, 2021, Reclassification of the doryctine tribe Rhaconotini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 741, pp. 1-168 : 82-86

Platyspathius (Platyspathius) pictipennis Viereck, 1911

Figs 28–29

Platyspathius pictipennis Viereck, 1911: 185 .

Rhaconotus spathulatus Szépligeti, 1914: 198 (HNHM; not examined).

Platyspathius pictipennis – Nixon 1943: 429. — Granger 1949: 153. — Shenefelt & Marsh 1976: 1385. — van Achterberg 2003: 286.

Rhaconotus spathulatus – Nixon 1943: 429 (as synonym of P. pictipennis ).

Material examined

Holotype

MOZAMBIQUE • ♂; “101”, “ CW Howard Collector”, “Xalasi (Maputo)”, “Lor Marquez, Africa, 4.VI.09 ”, “Type, No 13489, U.S.N.M.”, “ Platyspathius pictipennis Vier. , Type ♂”; USNM.

Description

Male

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 3.9 mm; fore wing length 2.7 mm.

HEAD. Width 1.5 times its median length, 1.2 times width of mesoscutum. Head behind eyes (dorsal view) weakly convex in anterior half and weakly roundly narrowed in posterior half. Transverse diameter of eye 1.15 times length of temple. Ocelli medium-sized, arranged in triangle with base 1.3 times its sides; POL 1.8 times OD, 0.7 times OOL. Eye with short and sparse setae, very weakly emarginated opposite antennal sockets, 1.3 times as high as broad. Malar space 0.65 times height of eye, 1.3 times basal width of mandible. Face convex, its width almost equal to height of eye and 1.2 times height of face and clypeus combined. Clypeus marrow, its upper margin situated distinctly below than 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 not fused below with hypostomal carina being obliterated on wide distance. Vertex weakly convex. Head below eyes distinctly and roundly narrowed. Antennae rather thick, filiform, 25-segmented, weakly shorter than body. Scapus 1.5 times as long as its maximum width. First flagellar segment about 5.0 times as long as its apical width, 1.05 times as long as second segment. Penultimate segment 2.2 times as long as wide, 0.5 times as long as first segment, 0.8 times as long as apical segment.

MESOSOMA. Length 2.0 times its height. Mesoscutum (dorsal view) 0.9 times as long as maximum width; its median lobe weakly convex anteriorly. Notauli present and crenulate in anterior 0.6, completely absent in posterior 0.4. Prescutellar depression rather deep, short, distinctly and roundly curved posterolaterally, with seven distinct carinae, smooth between carinae, about 0.3 times as long as scutellum. Sternaulus (precoxal furrow) straight, finely reticulate-coriaceous. Prepectal carina below without widened lobes opposite fore coxae. Subalar depression finely crenulate with reticulation.

WINGS. Fore wing 4.3 times its maximum width. Radial (marginal) cell 2.9 times as long as maximum width. Metacarpus (1-R1) 1.1 times as long as pterostigma. First radial abscissa (r) forming obtuse angle with second abscissa (3-SR). Second radial abscissa (3-SR) 2.8 times as long as first abscissa (r), 0.75 times as long as the straight third abscissa (SR1), 1.55 times as long as first radiomedial vein (2-SR). Second radiomedial (submarginal) cell long, weakly narrowed distally, 3.3 times as long as wide, 1.3 times as long as the rather wide basally and narrowed apically brachial (subdiscal) cell. First medial abscissa (1-SR+M) weakly sinuate. Recurrent vein (m-cu) 1.3 times as long as second median abscissa (2-SR+M), 0.35 times as long as first radiomedial vein (2-SR). Mediocubital vein (M+CU1) strongly curved to anal vein (2-1A) in distal half. Nervulus (cu-a) interstitial. Brachial (subdiscal) cell closed shortly before level of recurrent vein; posterior bulla and posterior abscissa of anal vein (2-1A) (behind brachial vein (CU1b)) absent. Hind wing about 6.5 times as long as wide. Recurrent vein (m-cu) unsclerotised.

LEGS. Fore femur about 3.0 times as long as wide. Hind coxa 1.3 times as long as wide. Hind femur almost 3.0 times its maximum width. Hind tibia with dense comb of long setae on inner apical margin. Hind tarsus 0.9 times as long as hind tibia. Second tarsal segment 0.45 times as long as basitarsus, 1.8 times as long as fourth segment, almost as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

METASOMA. Length as long as head and mesosoma combined. First tergite weakly and linearly widened towards apex; its maximum width 1.8 times basal width; its length 2.1 times apical width, 1.4 times length of propodeum. Median length of second tergite 0.85 times its basal width, 1.6 times length of third tergite. Second suture shallow, rather narrow, distinctly evenly curved. Fifth and sixth tergite straight on posterior margins, without median emargination and postero-ventral lobes. Six tergites rather distinctly protruding behind fifth tergite.

SCULPTURE AND PUBESCENCE. Vertex distinctly and very densely reticulate-granulate, partly with fine aciculation, without rugosity; frons densely rugulose-aciculate with dense granulation; face entirely, very densely and distinctly granulate with reticulation; temple entirely densely reticulate-granulate, partly upper and below with fine aciculation. Mesoscutum entirely densely and distinctly reticulate-coriaceous (granulation indistinct), finely rugulose on its wide medioposterior area, with distinct median carina in posterior 0.3 of mesoscutum. Scutellum densely and finely reticulate-coriaceous. Mesopleuron entirely finely or very finely and densely reticulate-coriaceous. Metapleuron finely and densely reticulatecoriaceous, additionally rugulose-striate in posterior quarter. Propodeum without areas, with distinct and almost complete lateral carinae and distinct median carina in basal half, entirely densely granulateareolate with sparse and distinct rugosity in posterior half. Hind coxa almost entirely densely and very finely reticulate-coriaceous or reticulate, without rugosity. Hind femur entirely finely or very finely reticulate or reticulate-coriaceous. First and second metasomal tergites with very dense and very small but distinct areolation, with complete and distinctly lateral carinae, with short dorsal carinae in basal 0.2 of first tergite. Second suture very densely and small areolate, without striation. Third and fourth tergites entirely rather finely and very densely small areolate-reticulate; fifth and sixth tergites entirely finely reticulate-coriaceous. Vertex almost entirely with short, sparse or very sparse and semi-erect pale setae, glabrous in wide median part. Mesoscutum mainly glabrous, with sparse, short and semi-erect setae arranged rather widely along notauli and in narrow row marginally. Mesopleuron widely glabrous medially. Hind tibia dorsally with rather short, sparse and semi-erect pale setae; length of these setae 0.2–0.3 times maximum width of hind tibia.

COLOUR. Body reddish brown to dark reddish brown, with light reddish brown areas laterally and dorsally, pronotum and head below brownish yellow or pale brown. Antenna yellow or brownish yellow, six apical segments contrasting black. Palps dark reddish brown. Legs light reddish brown, middle and hind coxae yellowish brown, tarsi (except dark apical segments) light reddish brown of brownish yellow, hind tibia basally dark, not paler than remaining part of tibia. Fore wing strongly darkened, less strongly apically, with three hyaline transverse stripes: wide basally (with very short and sparse setae), narrow on middle of basal half (crossing narrowest part of submedian area), narrow and interrupted medially on level of base of pterostigma. Pterostigma mostly dark brown, yellow in its basal 0.3.

Distribution

Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda.

Figures

Fig. 28. Platyspathius (Platyspathius) pictipennis Viereck,1911, ♂, holotype, USNM. A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head, lateral view. C. Head, frontal view. D. Head, dorsal view. E. Basal segments of antenna. F. Apical segments of antenna. G. Mesoscutum, dorsal view. H. Mesosoma, lateral view. I. Propodeum and first metasomal tergite, dorsal view. J. Hind coxa and femur, lateral view. K. Hind tibia, lateral view. L. Propodeum and first metasomal tergite, lateral view.

Fig. 29. Platyspathius (Platyspathius) pictipennis Viereck, 1911, ♂, holotype, USNM. A. Wings. B. Metasoma, dorsal view. C. Metasoma, lateral view.