Neorhaconotus Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004

Belokobylskij, Sergey A. & Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro, 2021, Reclassification of the doryctine tribe Rhaconotini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 741, pp. 1-168 : 76-77

Genus Neorhaconotus Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004

Neorhaconotus Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004: 65 .

Neorhaconotus – Belokobylskij 2005: 205. — Belokobylskij & Austin 2013: 341. — Yu et al. 2016. — Jasso-Martínez et al. 2019: 165.

Type species

Neorhaconotus rieki Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004 , by original designation (Belokobylskij et al. 2004).

Description ( Figs 26–27 )

HEAD. Head transverse. Ocellar arranged in obtuse triangle with base 1.2 times its sides. Frons slightly concave, without median keel, but with distinct curved carina along eyes. Oblique furrow between eye and antennal socket absent. Eye glabrous or with sparse and very short setae, with shallow or very shallow emargination opposite antennal sockets. Distance between antennal sockets wide. Malar suture absent. Clypeal suture distinct and complete. Hypoclypeal depression weakly oval. Postgenal bridge narrow. Occipital carina strong and complete, fused below with hypostomal carina upper base of mandible. Maxillary palps 6-segmented; labial palps 4-segmented, third labial segment long. Scapus of antenna long and wide, not flattened laterally, without apical lobe and basal constriction; length of scapus 1.7–2.0 times its maximum width. First flagellar segment straight, almost as long as second segment.

MESOSOMA. Mesosoma not depressed dorso-ventrally. Neck of prothorax long, almost flat dorsally, with distinct pronotal keel, with long smooth anterior lobe which is marginated subapically. Postero-dorsal propleural lobe distinct and wide. Mesonotum subvertical or obliquely curving and distinctly elevated above pronotum. Median lobe of mesoscutum without anterolateral corners. Notauli complete, entirely shallow or sometimes deeper in anterior half and distinctly shallow in posterior half. Prescutellar depression long, rugulose, with five-seven distinct carinae. Metanotum with distinct, obtuse or pointed median tooth (lateral view). Subalar depression shallow, wide and coarsely sculptured. Mesopleural pit present, elongate and deep. Sternaulus (precoxal sulcus) deep, long, almost straight, weakly or distinctly sculptured. Prepectal carina strong. Prepectus with or without lateral carinae. Postpectal carina absent. Metapleural flange long, narrow and densely pubescent at least partly. Propodeum with long areola and basolateral areas distinctly delineated by carinae; with more or less distinct tubercles or without them; propodeal bridge absent

LEGS. Fore tibia with several slender spines arranged in single row. Hind coxa with distinct basoventral corner and tubercle. Fore and middle femora with weak medio-dorsal protuberances, virtually missing on hind femur. Hind femur rather thick, 3.0–3.8 times as long as wide. Inner hind tibial spur 0.25–0.35 times as long as basitarsus. Hind basitarsus 0.6–0.7 times as long as second–fifth segments combined.

WINGS. Fore wing usually large, but sometimes micropterous. Radial vein (r) arising almost from middle of pterostigma. Radial (marginal) cell not shortened. Both radiomedial veins (2RS, r-m) present. Second radiomedial (submarginal) cell long or median sized. Discoidal (discal) cell petiolate. Recurrent vein (m-cu) postfurcal. Nervulus (cu-a) distinctly postfurcal. Parallel vein (CU1a) interstitial. Brachial (first subdiscal) cell closed apically before recurrent vein (m-cu). Both transverse anal veins (2A, a) absent. Mediocubital vein (M+CU) entirely sclerotised. Hind wing with three hamuli. Second costal abscissa (SC+R) and nervulus (cu-a) present. Medial (basal) cell closed anteriorly, distinctly widened distally, its length 6.5–7.0 times maximum width. Radial vein (RS) unsclerotised, without additional transverse vein (r). Submedial (subbasal) cell long; first mediocubital abscissa (M+CU) 0.85–1.0 times as long as second abscissa (1M). Recurrent vein (m-cu) present, oblique, curvedly directed to base of wing.

METASOMA. Metasoma with five dorsally visible tergites. First tergite short and wide, with small dorsope; its spiracular tubercles small and situated in basal quarter of tergite; dorsal carinae fine and subparallel. Acrosternite of first segment short, 0.15–0.20 times as long as first tergite. First and second tergites movably connected, not fused. Second suture deep, wide and sometimes weakly curved laterally. Second tergite without any furrows or defined areas, shorter than third tergite. Third tergite with deep and weakly curved transverse crenulate furrows in basal 0.3–0.5. Second to fifth tergites with separate laterotergites. Fifth tergite slightly enlarged, 1.2–1.6 times as long as fourth tergite, almost concealing the succeeding tergites. Fourth to sixth tergites with transverse subapical rows of long sparse erect setae. Ovipositor slightly longer or shorter than metasoma; apex of its dorsal valve with two distinct and widely separated nodes, apex of ventral valve serrate.

Diagnosis

Neorhaconotus is similar to Rhaconotus , but differs from the latter genus by having the submedial (subbasal) cell of the hind wing large (vs distinctly short) and first mediocubital abscissa (M+CU) 0.85–1.0 times as long as second abscissa (1M) (vs 0.3–0.5 times), the propodeum with elongate areola distinctly delineated by high carinae (vs without areola), the posterior metasomal tergites (started from fourth) mostly smooth (vs mostly sculptures at least basally), and tergites behind fifth one are shortly projecting (vs almost never projected).

Composition

Neorhaconotus cardaleae Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004 (AU); N. julieae Belokobylskij & Austin, 2013 (AU); N. pappi Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004 (AU); N. rieki Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004 (AU).

Hosts

Unknown.

Distribution

Australasian region.

Remarks

A key to the described macropterous species of Neorhaconotus was published by Belokobylskij et al. (2004: 66).

Figures

Fig. 26. Neorhaconotus rieki Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004, ♀, holotype, ANIC. A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head, front view. C. Body, dorsal view. D. Body, lateral view. Image copyright of Dr. Olivia Evangelista, Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC-CSIRO).

Fig. 27. Neorhaconotus rieki Belokobylskij, Iqbal & Austin, 2004, ♀, holotype, ANIC. A. Fore wing. B. Hind wing. C. Metasoma, dorsal view. Image copyright of Dr. Olivia Evangelista, Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC-CSIRO).