Heterospilus vittatus Marsh

Marsh, Paul M., Wild, Alexander L. & Whitfield, James B., 2013, The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini, ZooKeys 347, pp. 1-474 : 178

Heterospilus vittatus Marsh sp. n. Figure 122

Female.

Body size: 4.5 mm. Color: head with vertex brown, frons, face, malar space and eye orbits honey yellow; scape honey yellow without lateral longitudinal brown stripe, flagellum brown; mesosoma honey yellow with brown along notauli, along pronotal groove, on scutellum and metascutum, on propodeal areola, dorsally on mesopleuron and apical-laterally on propodeum; metasoma honey yellow, terga 1 and 2 brown medially, terga 3-6 brown basally; legs yellow; wing veins including stigma brown. Head: vertex transversely costate; frons costate; face granulate; temple in dorsal view narrow, sloping behind eye, less than 1/2 eye width; malar space greater than 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance about twice diameter of lateral ocellus; 33-37 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes granulate; notauli scrobiculate, meeting at scutellum in triangular rugose area; scutellum granulate; prescutellar furrow with 3 cross carina; mesopleuron granulate; precoxal sulcus smooth, shorter than mesopleuron; venter granulate; propodeum with basal median areas margined, granulate, basal median carina present, areola not distinctly margined, areolar area rugose, lateral areas granulate. Wings: fore wing vein r shorter than vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU shorter than vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum longitudinally costate-granulate; second tergum costate-granulate; anterior transverse groove present, sinuate; posterior transverse groove weakly indicated; third tergum entirely granulate; terga 4-7 granulate; ovipositor longer than metasoma.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, printed) - COSTA RICA-Heredia Prov. [;] La Selva Biological Station [;] 10°26'N, 84°01'W, 100m [;] Canopy fogging 31 [;] 2.xi.1994 [;] Project ALAS(FPM31); second label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] vittatus [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

Known only from the holotype.

Comments.

The color of this species is distinctive, honey yellow with lateral brown stripes along mesosoma and medially on metasomal terga 1-2.

Etymology.

The specific name is from the Latin vittatus meaning decorated with ribbons or stripes in reference to the brown stripes laterally on the mesosoma and medially on metasomal terga 1-2.