Bathycentor zimbabwensis, Belokobylskij & Zaldívar-Riverón, 2021

Belokobylskij, Sergey A. & Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro, 2021, Reclassification of the doryctine tribe Rhaconotini (Hymenoptera, Braconidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 741, pp. 1-168 : 23-28

Bathycentor zimbabwensis sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8F84EE58-82A7-4A59-AB7F-DD075A69D564

Figs 6–7

Etymology

Named after Zimbabwe, the country where the holotype was collected.

Material examined

Holotype ZIMBABWE • ♀; “ Zimbabwe, Harare, i.[19]82, Watsham [leg.]”; BMNH.

Description

Female

MEASUREMENTS. Length of body 3.5 mm; length of fore wing 3.0 mm.

HEAD. Width 1.5 times its length along midline, 1.2 times maximum width of mesoscutum. Head behind eyes (dorsal view) distinctly evenly and roundly narrowed. Transverse diameter of eye (dorsal view) 1.7 times length of temple. Ocelli medium-sized, arranged in triangle with base 1.4 times its lateral sides. POL 2.0 times OD, 0.8 times OOL. Frons weakly but distinctly concave, with distinct and complete medial keel. Eye almost without emargination opposite antennal socket; height of eye 1.15 times width. Malar space 0.4 times height of eye, 0.8 times basal width of mandible. Width of face equal to height of eye and 1.4 times height of face with clypeus. Clypeus convex. Hypoclypeal depression round; its width 0.7 times distance from margin of depression to eye and 0.4 times width of face. Hypostomal flange narrow. Occipital carina not joined with hypostomal carina being obliterated at short distance upper base of mandible. Palps not long; maxillary palpus about as long as height of head (without mandibles). Head below eyes (front view) strongly roundly narrowed. Antennae slender, almost filiform, with more than 23 segments (apical segments missing). Length of scape 1.6 times its maximum width. First flagellar segment subcylindrical, weakly curved, its length 4.5 times apical width, 1.1 times length of second segment. Submedian segments of flagellum 3.4 times as long as their width.

MESOSOMA. Length 2.1 times its height. Mesoscutum (dorsal view) almost as long as maximum width; its median lobe convex, rounded anteriorly, distinctly protruding forwards. Notauli deep anteriorly and shallower posteriorly, rather narrow and crenulate. Prescutellar depression shallow, long, with median and two lateral carinae, finely rugulose to smooth, 0.3 times as long as convex scutellum. Subalar depression rather narrow, crenulate-rugulose. Sternaulus rather deep anteriorly but shallow posteriorly, narrow, running along almost entire length of lower part of mesopleuron, weakly coriaceous. Metapleural lobe with sparse pubescence posteriorly.

WINGS. Length of fore wing 4.1 times its maximum width. Pterostigma 5.3 times as long as wide. Metacarpus (1-R1) 1.2 times as long as pterostigma. Second radial abscissa (3-SR) 2.1 times as long as first abscissa (r), 0.35 times as long as straight third abscissa (SR1), 1.35 times as long as first radiomedial vein (2-SR). Second radiomedial (submarginal) cell short; its length 3.0 times maximum width, 1.1 times length of rather narrow brachial (subdiscal) cells. First medial abscissa (1-SR+M) weakly sinuate. Recurrent vein (m-cu) weakly antefurcal. Parallel vein (CU1a) of fore wing arising from posterior ⅓ of vein (3-CU1) closed by brachial (subdiscal) cell posteriorly. Distance from nervulus (cu-a) to basal vein (1-M) 1.8 times length of nervulus (cu-a). Length of hind wing about 5.0 times its maximum width. First mediocubital abscissa (M+CU) 0.7 times as long as second and third abscissae (1-M) combined. Recurrent vein (m-cu) rather long, straight, oblique, interstitial, unsclerotized and discolorated.

LEGS. Hind femur with low and wide dorso-anterior protuberance, 2.9 times its maximum width. Hind tibia and tarsus weakly thickened. Hind tarsus as long as hind tibia. Hind basitarsus thickened, 0.7 times as long as second–fifth segments combined. Second segment of hind tarsus 0.5 times as long as basitarsus, 1.3 times as long as fifth segment (without pretarsus).

METASOMA.About as long as head and mesosoma combined. First tergite distinctly and linearly widened from base to subapex, then weakly narrowed towards apex. Maximum width of first tergite 1.8 times its minimum width; length of tergite 1.1 times its maximum width, 1.2 times length of propodeum. Length of second tergite (with posterior area) along midline 0.6 times its basal width, 1.8 times length of third tergite. Basal (anterior) area of second tergite short and wide, along midline 0.15 times, and posterior area 0.7 times as long as tergite length. Sixth tergite maximum length (with process) 1.9 times as long as fifth and 2.0 times as long as fourth tergite; posterior margin of sixth tergite with two short, wide and rounded apically median processes separated by deep emargination. Ovipositor sheath 1.2 times as long as metasoma, 1.5 times as long as mesosoma, 0.7 times as long as fore wing.

SCULPTURE AND PUBESCENCE. Vertex densely transversely striate, smooth narrow posteriorly and laterally; frons finely transversely striate with reticulation partly; face almost entirely rugulosereticulate; temple finely and curvedly obliquely striate, smooth anteriorly. Sides of pronotum densely rugose dorsally (with small smooth area) and ventrally, distinctly crenulate on middle oblique area. Mesoscutum entirely densely granulate-reticulate, with two distinct and strongly convergent posteriorly carinae along notauli in posterior half, rugose in small medio-posterior area. Scutellum entirely densely granulate. Mesopleuron entirely densely reticulate-areolate, becoming finer below and especially below sternaulus. Propodeum with large, wide and densely granulate-areolate basolateral areas; areola rather wide, coarsely rugose-striate, its length 1.1 times maximum width; basal carina of propodeum 0.45 times as long as propodeum, 1.6 times as long as anterior fork of areola. Hind coxa entirely densely granulate. Hind femur densely granulate-coriaceous, only coriaceous in lower ⅓. First to fifth metasomal tergites entirely longitudinally striate, with dense additional reticulation between striae. Sixth tergite undulately longitudinally striate, with dense additional reticulation between striae in basal ¾, with distinct semicircular striae in posterior (apical) ¼. Vertex mainly with sparse short white setae, almost glabrous in narrow medioanterior part. Mesoscutum and mesopleurum entirely in not dense, short and semi-erect white setae. Hind tibia dorsally with long, rather dense semi-erect pale setae, its length 0.8– 1.0 times maximum submedian width of tibia.

COLOUR. Head and mesosoma mainly dark reddish brown; metasoma yellowish brown, margins of fourth-sixth tergites subhyaline, but not white. Antennae black. Palpi brown basally and light brown apically. Legs yellowish brown, fifth tarsal segment brown, tibia basally same colour as other its part. Ovipositor sheath entirely dark brown. Fore wing entirely hyaline. Pterostigma entirely dark brown.

Male

Unknown.

Diagnosis

Bathycentor zimbabwensis sp. nov. is morphologically similar to B. trjapitzini Belokobylskij, 2018 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but it differs from the latter by having the vertex finely aciculate (vs coarsely striate), hind femur wide (vs narrow), second metasomal tergite short, 0.6 times as long as its basal width (vs longer, 0.9 times as long as its basal width), basal area of second tergite short and wide anteriorly (vs long and narrow), the posterior margin of the sixth metasomal tergite with deep median incisure and without pair of processes (vs without incisure but with pair of median processes), fore wing almost hyaline (vs infuscate), head and mesosoma dark brown (vs entirely light reddish brown), and body length short (vs long).

Distribution

Zimbabwe.

Figures

Fig. 6. Bathycentor zimbabwensis sp. nov., ♀, holotype, BMNH. A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head, front view. C. Head, dorsal view. D. Basal segments of antenna. E. Head, lateral view. F. Mesosoma, dorsal view. G. Mesosoma, lateral view. H. Hind leg.

Fig. 7. Bathycentor zimbabwensis sp. nov., ♀, holotype, BMNH. A. Fore wing. B. Hind wing. C. Metasoma, dorsal view. D. Metasoma, lateral view.