Trichacis depressa Arias-Penna & Masner

Arias-Penna, Tania Milena, Masner, Lubomir & Delsinne, Thibaut, 2012, Revision of the Neotropical species of Trichacis Foerster (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Platygastridae), with description of 24 new species, Zootaxa 3337, pp. 1-56 : 17-19

Trichacis depressa Arias-Penna & Masner , new species

Figures 7 E, 7F; 8A, 8B

Female. Body length: 2.40 mm (holotype); 1.90–2.70 mm (paratypes, n=4); mean length ± SD = 2.22 ± 0.33 mm. Black; A1–A10 dark brown; mandible yellow with apex brown; fore leg yellow; mid leg with trochanter, femur and base of tibia yellow, otherwise brown; hind leg dark brown; mid coxa yellow; hind coxa brown; fore wing infuscate.

Head, in dorsal view, 2.1 times wider than long; EH> IOS; interocellar area with fine coriaceous sculpture; OOL> LOL; antennal clava 3-segmented; A1 distinctly surpassing vertex dorsal margin; A2–A10 longer than wide; base of mandible smooth; frons between external margin of torulus and inner margin of eye medially covered by delicate coriaceous sculpture; interantennal process truncate, smooth and reaching, but not surpassing, ventral border of torulus; clypeus exposed; clypeal margin truncate; gena smooth; vertex laterally coriaceous and medially smooth; temple projection absent; hyperoccipital carina incomplete: in dorsal view, hyperoccipital carina fading before reaching level of imaginary line connecting eye inner margin to posterior cephalic margin; distance between posterior ocellus and hyperoccipital carina shorter than posterior ocellus diameter.

Mesosoma slightly arched; antero-admedian line present; notaulus anteriorly incomplete; lateral notaular area with coriaceous sculpture along its anterior margin; inter-notaular area with anterior 1/3 coriaceous and smooth in its posterior 2/3; posteromedial region of inter-notaular area broadly convex; parapsidal line present; central pronotal area smooth; specialized area of mesoscutellum heart-shaped, moderately elevated, with a rather broad tuft of hairs; mesopleural carina incomplete (length of mesopleural carina/length of mesopleuron = 0.12); fore wing not surpassing apex of metasoma.

Metasoma distinctly elongate and depressed dorsoventrally; combined length of T3–T6> T2; T1–T2 longer than wide; T3–T6 wider than long; anteromedial area of T2 smooth and flattened; T3–T5 with some parts smooth and densely covered by shallow punctuation; T6 densely covered by shallow punctuation along its anterior margin and rest smooth; T6 subtriangular.

Male. Unknown.

Etymology. The name of the species refers to its depressed metasoma.

Diagnosis. Trichacis depressa and T. acarinata have combined length of T3–T6> T2. T. depressa is hitherto the only Neotropical species with a depressed metasoma and with EH> IOS.

Material examined. Holotype: 1 Ƥ, COSTA RICA, San José, Cerro de la Muerte, 19 km S, 3 km W Empalme, 2600 m, April–July 1992, MT, P. Hanson ( CNCI); paratypes: 3 Ƥ, with same data as holotype, (2 at CNCI and 1 at ICN); 1 Ƥ S.J. Cerro de la Muerte. November 1992, 2600 m, MT, P. Hanson ( CNCI).

Holotype is deposited in CNCI.

Figures

FIGURE 7. Bright field images of Trichacis species. A – D: Trichacis delsinnei Arias-Penna & Masner, n. sp., Ƥ (holotype). A, habitus, dorsal view; B, habitus, lateral view; C, head, dorsal view; D, head and mesosoma, dorsal view. E, F: Trichacis depressa Arias-Penna & Masner, n. sp., Ƥ (holotype). E, head and fore legs, anterior view; F, habitus, dorsal view.