Trachysphyrus tmetus Porter, 2008

Porter, Charles C., 2008, New Trachysphyrus Haliday (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) in the albomarginatus species group from northwestern Argentina, Insecta Mundi 2008 (55), pp. 1-9 : 6-8

Trachysphyrus tmetus Porter , new species

( Fig. 3 , 4 )

Description. Female Holotype. Color: antenna black with reddish brown below on scape and with a white band above on flagellomeres 5-9; head, mesosoma, and gaster shining black with a white line on upper facial orbit extending onto lower frontal orbit, and another incomplete white line on hind orbit; fore and mid legs with coxae and trochanters black, trochantelli dull orange, femora and tibiae orange, and tarsi dull orange with dusky staining apically on segments 1-4 and more conspicuously dusky on 5; hind legs with coxae, trochanters, and trochantelli black, femur orange with black narrowly on base and apex, tibia black, tarsomeres blackish with brownish staining on bases of segments; wings dark brown with metallic reflections.

Length of forewing: 9.6 mm. Flagellum long and moderately slender, cylindric, first segment 5.3 as long as deep at apex. Clypeus strongly raised, subnasute in profile with highest point a little below middle, apical face shorter and more steeply declivous than basal, in anterior view the faces are discrete but not sharply so; apical margin straight. Malar space 0.7 times as long as basal width of mandible. Fore tibia elongate, weakly inflated. Pronotum with submarginal groove strong and deeply foveolate throughout; epomia strong in scrobe and turned mesad above so as to form a small discontinuity on humeral margin of pronotum. Mesoscutum with notauli broad but shallow, reaching 0.8 times length of mesoscutum; surface mostly shining with coarse and irregular but in part transversely biased wrinkling along and across notauli and beyond their terminus as well as more briefly along outer margin of lateral lobes, but internally on lobes less shining, more finely wrinkled and reticulo-punctate with intercalated microaciculation. Mesopleuron shining, with strong reticulate wrinkling, speculum smooth and polished with some large punctures, sternaulus broad and well defined throughout, weakest on apical half. Wing venation with areolet large, high, with intercubiti rather strongly convergent above, second abscissa of radius 0.7 times as long as first intercubitus; axillus close to hind margin of hind wing. Propodeum with spiracle subelliptic, 2.3 times as long as wide; basal transcarina very fine and weak; apical transcarina obsolete except for the rather small but conspicuously projecting subligulate cristae. First gastric tergite with postpetiole strongly expanded, 1.4 times as wide at apex as long from spiracle to apex, its surface toward base silky shining with minute aciculation, but toward apex becoming smoother and more polished with scattered small to medium sized punctures; dorsal longitudinal carinae defined but not sharp toward apex of postpetiole and on base of petiole. Second gastric tergite a little dully shining with fine micro-aciculation and many inconspicuous, well spaced, small to medium sized punctures which emit short, non-overlapping setae. Ovipositor with sheathed portion 0.40 times as long as fore wing; straight, stout, moderately compressed; tip with nodus scarcely raised, its presence indicated by a tiny notch, tip profile between notch and apex only slightly declining until just before apex where it is abruptly and almost vertically truncate; ventral valve on tip with long but not much projecting weakly inclivous ridges; tip 0.37 times as high at nodus as long from nodus to apex.

Type material. Holotype female, ARGENTINA, La Rioja Province, Sierra de Velasco, San Pedro , 1600 m, 30-IV-2007, C. Porter [ IMLA].

group. Otherwise, it is close to T. albomarginatus and T. uspallatae but has the clypeus more strongly raised and more asymmetric, indeed subnasute rather than subpyramidal in profile; the submarginal groove of the pronotum stronger and deeply foveolate throughout, and the notauli longer, 0.8 instead of 0.5-0.6 times the length of mesoscutum.

Specific name. From the Greek adjective tmetós (cut, hewn), latinized as tmetus and chosen with regard to the truncate ovipositor tip that characterizes this species.

Figures

Figure 3. Trachysphyrus tmetus, female, holotype. San Pedro, La Rioja, Argentina. Lateral view of entire insect.

Figure 4. Trachysphyrus tmetus, female, holotype. San Pedro, La Rioja, Argentina. Lateral view of apical part of ovipositor, showing the almost truncate tip.