Psyttalia masneri Wharton, 2009

Wharton, Robert, 2009, Two new species of Psyttalia Walker (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Opiinae) reared from fruit-infesting tephritid (Diptera) hosts in Kenya, ZooKeys 20 (20), pp. 349-377 : 365-371

Psyttalia masneri Wharton , sp.n.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1695DA91-DC03-41EF-9C6C-6615877718F9

Figs 13, 16–23

Type locality. Kenya, Western Province, Kakamega Forest, 0˚13.44’N, 34˚53.44’E.

Type material. Holotype. Female ( NMK), with labels as follows: “ KENYA: Western Province/ Kakamega Forest, 1630m / 0˚13.44’N, 34˚53.44’E/ 25.i.2000, #446/ R. Copeland” “reared from Taomyia / marshalli in fruits of/ Dracaena fragrans ” “ HOLO- TYPE / Psyttalia / masneri / Wharton” [red handwritten label.]

Paratypes ( TAMU, NMK, ICIPE): 7 females, 3 males, same data as holotype ; 1 male, same data as holotype except 6.vi.2001, collection # 1302 ; 1 female, same data as holotype except 0˚14.51’N, 34˚51.94’E, 13.iv.1999, collection #69, Voucher specimen # 655 DNA, Texas A&M University ; 1 female, same data as holotype except 0˚14.51’N, 34˚51.94’E, 4.iii.1999, R. Copeland, R. Wharton, collection #31 .

Description. Female (Fig. 20). Head (Figs 16–18, 23): Frons, vertex, occiput, and gena polished; frons weakly punctate and setose along eye margin, otherwise as in halidayi ; gena distinctly striate ventrally, laterad malar sulcus; face heavily sculptured, with deep punctures coalescing to form somewhat transverse rugae. Face 1.4–1.6 × wider than high. Width of ocellar field 1.3–1.4 × distance from lateral ocellus to eye. Eyes in dorsal view distinctly bulging beyond temples; eye in lateral view 3.8–4.2 × longer than temple. Malar space long, 0.55–0.70 × width of clypeus, about 0.65–0.80 × basal width of mandible; malar sulcus deep, distinct. Clypeus relatively tall, narrow, 1.85–2.00 × wider than high, triangular in outline, nearly flat in profile, ventral margin very shallowly concave; surface sparsely punctate; anterior tentorial pits large, round. Mandibles with dorsal tooth longer than ventral tooth, ventral tooth strongly twisted medially. Occipital carina widely separated from hypostomal carina ventrally; sharp and distinctly elevated throughout, extending dorsally distinctly below top of eye in lateral view, strongly reflected medially at dorsal terminus; anterior margin im-

Figures Ι2–Ι5. Wings. Ι2 Psyttalia halidayi sp. n., paratype male, fore wing Ι3 Psyttalia masneri sp. n., paratype female, fore wing Ι4 Psyttalia leveri (Fullaway) fore wing Ι5 Psyttalia halidayi sp. n., paratype male hind wing.

pressed and weakly crenulate, especially dorsally. Hypostomal carina protruding as a short flange beneath mandible when mandible closed. Antenna with 44–46 flagellomeres; first flagellomere 2.50–2.75 × longer than wide, 1.15–1.20 × longer than second, twentieth flagellomere 1.50–1.85 × longer than wide; apical flagellomere with long, spine-like extension at tip. Maxillary palps considerably longer than height of head.

Mesosoma (Figs 21, 22) 1.3–1.4 × longer than high, 1.8–1.9 × longer than wide; 1.3–1.4 × higher than wide. Pronotum dorsally with median pit indistinguishable within transverse, crenulate sulcus, otherwise polished, with two transverse rows of setae; pronotum laterally with transverse sulcus extending ventrally along posterior side of sharp vertical carina, carina distinctly distant from anterior margin, weaken-

Figures Ι6–Ι8. Psyttalia masneri sp. n., paratype female, head. Ι6 Lateral view Ι7 Dorsal view Ι8 Face.

ing ventrally; posterior margin weakly crenulate from ventral corner nearly to level of mesothoracic spiracle; surface otherwise completely smooth and polished. Propleural flange small but distinct, flat or nearly so, not strongly bent posteroventrally; not separated from remainder of propleuron by a sculptured groove. Notaulus a small, teardrop shaped dimple, not extending to anterior margin of mesoscutum; scattered setae present around notaulus, extending as a discrete row along lateral margin to tegula and as a somewhat irregular row posteriorly, covering at least anterior 0.5 of disc, with a few, scattered setae extending further posteriorly; mesoscutum otherwise as in halidayi . Scutellar sulcus narrow, with 6–7 distinct ridges. Scutellum weakly convex, polished throughout. Metanotum with small median tubercle bearing a low median longitudinal carina. Propodeum coarsely carinate-rugose throughout, with median, bifurcating carina (as in halidayi ) present but not as readily discernible due to surrounding sculpture, and with portion anteriorad bifurcation shorter; depression separating propodeum from metapleuron poorly defined relative to surrounding sculpture, distinct boss absent adjacent spiracle. Metapleuron and mesopleuron as in halidayi except band of setae between subtegular ridge and hind coxa broader, usually extending to hind margin, subtegular ridge less prominently buldging anteriorly, nearly flat, and crenulate precoxal sulcus extending over middle 0.60–0.75 of mesopleuron.

Fore wing (Fig. 13) with stigma about as in halidayi except, r nearly equal in length to width of stigma at junction of r; second submarginal cell large, weakly converging distally, 4-sided, m-cu distinctly antefurcal, 2M straight, 2RS reclivous, nearly straight, without medial thickening, r-m completely depigmented and desclerotized; 3RSa 2.3–3.0 × longer than r; r-m and 3RSb essentially as in halidayi ; (RS+M)a distinctly sinuate, arising further from parastigma than in halidayi , 1RS variable, 3.5–5.5 × longer than wide, 0.25 × length of 1M; (RS+M)b not obviously thickened, often partly depigmented, distinctly longer than 1CUa; 1M 1.3–1.4 × longer than m-cu, m-cu straight; 3M tubular basally and usually distinctly pigmented at least over about basal 0.5, spectral and depigmented distally; 1cu-a inclivous, separated from 1M by distinctly less than its own length, 1CUa thickened throughout; 1st subdiscal cell closed, parallel-sided, 2CUa inclivous, less than twice length of tubular, nearly vertical 2cu-a; 1-1A weakly bowed towards wing margin, slightly thickened along portion nearest margin, separated from the latter at that point by 2.0 × its width. Hind wing with RS absent or present only as a very short, basal stub; 2M weakly but distinctly pigmented for most of its length; m-cu absent; 2-1A present but very short.

Metasoma (Figs 21, 22) with petiole 0.95–1.10 × longer than apical width, apex 1.9–2.0 × wider than base; dorsal carinae extending over about basal 0.8 of petiole, slightly converging throughout, bordering median elevation posteriorly, outline of dorsal carinae and median elevation tapered posteriorly, not hour-glass shaped, in dorsal view; sculpture and contour otherwise as in halidayi except scupture more evident posteromedially; dorsal and lateral carinae meeting at base above small, round laterope, dorsope absent. T2 distinctly shorter than T3; portion of T2 median tergite on which spiracle resides not clearly delimited from rest of median tergite. Hypopygium weakly sclerotized medially, folded along midline; long, with posterior margin strongly protruding medially, extending to tip of metasoma; densely covered with long, nearly erect setae. Ovipositor protruding distinctly beyond metasoma, 2.0 × longer than mesosoma, upper valve with low but distinct subapical node, the node relatively short, blunt; ovipositor sheath 1.4 × length of mesosoma, with setal pattern as in halidayi .

Figures Ι9–22. Psyttalia masneri sp. n., paratypes. Ι 9 Male habitus, showing natural color 20 Female habitus 2Ι Propodeum and petiole, dorsal oblique view, showing natural color 22 Propodeum and petiole, dorsal view.

Color. Antenna, labrum, mesothorax, most of pronotum, at least margins of metanotum, fore and middle trochanters, trochantelli, femora, and tibiae, most of hind tibia, hind tarsomeres 1–4, and basal 0.9 of ovipositor sheath black; apical teeth of mandible, vertex, occiput, and sometimes frons medially, small area ventrad mesopleural sulcus, tegula often, and middle portions of metanotum brown to reddish brown; remainder of head and most of metasoma dorsally yellow; palps, small spot near middle of anterior margin of pronotum laterally, hind coxa, trochanter, and trochantellus, all of metapleuron, propodeum, and petiole, and remainder of metasoma pale yellow to white; propleuron yellow, though often extensively infumate; apical 0.1 of ovipositor sheath usually orange; fore and mid coxae usually dark brown apically, yellow to pale yellow basally; fore and mid tarsomeres dark yellow to yellow brown; posterior face of mid femur often variegated dark brown and yellow; hind femur pale yellow with apical dark spot dorsally, hind tibia dark brown to black, usually with dis- crete basal/subbasal and median yellow spots dorsally; hind tarsus with fifth tarsomere dark yellow; wings lightly but distinctly infumate throughout, stigma and veins black except most of M+CU usually brown to dark brown.

Male (Fig. 19) as in female except as follows: antenna a little shorter, 5.9–6.0 mm, with 43–45 flagellomeres; eye/temple ratio more variable, in lateral view eye 4.1–4.6 × longer than temple; malar space 0.55–0.60 × width of clypeus; fore wing 3RSa 2.6–2.8 × longer than r; petiole more slender, 1.10–1.25 × longer than apical width, apex 1.65–1.80 × wider than base. Color as in female except T7–8 dark brown to black and propleuron yellow.

Biology. Reared from larvae of Taomyia marshalli Bezzi infesting fruits of Dracaena fragrans in Kakamega Forest (see material examined section for details). Collections of Dracaena in other localities in Kenya yielded Taomyia , but no P. masneri . Emergence, as in all known opiines, was from the host puparium. Unlike most of the fruit-infesting tephritid hosts attacked by opiines, T. marshalli normally pupates in the host fruit and the pupa has an unusually flattened, operculum-like anterior end. An apparently undescribed braconid from the subfamily Braconinae , similar in color to P. masneri , was also reared from fruits of D. fragrans .

Diagnosis. Psyttalia masneri is distinguished from other members of the genus by the distinctive color pattern (Figs 19, 20), broad malar space, sculptured gena, rugose propodeum, and fore wing (RS+M)b without appreciable thickening. It most closely resembles P. alleni and P. paralleni , both of which have dark metasomas in contrast to the pale metasoma of P. masneri . Psyttalia paralleni and P. masneri both have distinctive sculpturing on the lower gena, though the pattern is more rugose in P. paralleni and more striate in P. masneri . The ovipositor is also longer and the body more slender in P. paralleni than in P. masneri .

Remarks. This distinctive species, as noted above, shares characters with members of both the concolor and vittator species groups. Like members of the concolor group, P. masneri attacks fruit-infesting tephritids and the fore wing (RS+M)b is well developed. The large malar space, narrow clypeus, and somewhat shorter mandibles, however, are more characteristic of species in the vittator group. The propodeum can be rugose in both groups, but the coarse sculpture of P. masneri is more typically found in the vittator species group. Because of this somewhat intermediate position, I included it with P. paralleni in a separate species group (see species group section above). Sequence data for this species (as DQ538415 ) were used in the analysis by Wharton et al. (2006), confirming it’s relatively isolated position compared to other fruit-infesting Psyttalia used in that analysis. Additional information on partitioning of the sequence data can be found on-line in Yoder and Gillespie (2004), where P. masneri appears as wasp 69.

Unlike P. halidayi , P. masneri exhibits very little sexual dimophism in color pattern. The propleuron, which is not completely visible in most specimens, is yellow in males and is extensively infumate in most females (though largely pale and thus more similar to males in the holotype). Females exhibit additional variation in the color of the mid tibia, which is somewhat variegated but largely pale on the posterior face in two specimens. Members of the concolor and fletcheri species group often have the apex of the ovipositor sheath pale in color, with the remainder black. This is true for most, but not all of the females of the P. masneri type series.

This distinctive species is named for Lubomír Masner for his enthusiastic dedication to the study of Hymenoptera in general and “proctos” in particular, and for his tireless efforts to promote collections-based research. I take particular pleasure in making this dedication as I am one of the many people to whom Lubo provided encouragement and support during the early part of their careers.