Opius pachymerus Li & van Achterberg

Li, Xi-Ying, Achterberg, Cornelis van & Tan, Ji-Cai, 2013, Revision of the subfamily Opiinae (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) from Hunan (China), including thirty-six new species and two new genera, ZooKeys 268, pp. 1-186 : 58-60

Opius pachymerus Li & van Achterberg sp. n. Figs 157-166

Type material.

Holotype, ♀ (ZUH), "S. China: Hunan, Shaoyang, nr Suining, Huangsang N. R., 12-13.VI.2009, 1000 m, Xi-Ying Li, RMNH’09”, "CVA4251, sp. 17". Paratype, ♀ (RMNH), "China: Hunan, Changde, Taoyuan, Cha-an-pu, Song-yang-ping, tea plantation (8), CN 1012, 31.vii.2010, P.-P. Chen, RMNH’11”.

Diagnosis.

Hind femur robust (Fig. 157); third antennal segment of ♀ about 3.4 times as long as wide (Fig. 165); area between malar suture and clypeus with some distinct punctures (Fig. 163); setose part of ovipositor sheath about 0.16 times as long as fore wing and about 1.3 times as long as first tergite (Figs 157, 164); clypeus flattened; epistomal suture distinctly impressed; pronotum flattened and horizontal medio-anteriorly and with a minute round pronope; mesopleuron largely chestnut-brown.

Description.

Holotype, ♀, length of body 2.6 mm, of fore wing 2.5 mm.

Head. Antenna incomplete, with 21 segments remaining (paratype: with 30 segments and 1.3 times as long as fore wing); third segment as long as fourth segment, length of third and fourth segments 3.4 and 3.3 times their width, respectively (Fig. 165); length of maxillary palp equal to height of head; labial palp segments petiolate, rather moniliform (Fig. 157); occipital carina far removed from hypostomal carina (Fig. 163) and dorsally absent; hypostomal carina narrow; length of eye in dorsal view 1.4 times temple; frons slightly convex and glabrous, smooth; face smooth, medially weakly elevated; width of clypeus 1.8 times its maximum height and 0.55 times width of face; clypeus flattened, largely smooth (except some dorsal punctures) and its ventral margin thin and straight (Fig. 162); hypoclypeal depression slit-like, rather narrow (Fig. 162); malar suture present; with some distinct punctures between malar suture and clypeus (Fig. 163); mandible gradually widened baso-ventrally, with medium-sized and weakly protruding ventral carina (Fig. 163).

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.4 times its height; dorsal pronope minute, round and pronotum horizontal anteriorly (Fig. 166); pronotal side smooth and posterior groove absent (Fig. 157); epicnemial area smooth dorsally; precoxal sulcus only medially shallowly impressed, smooth as rest of mesopleuron (Fig. 157); pleural sulcus smooth; mesosternal sulcus narrow and finely crenulate; notauli absent on disc, only anteriorly indicated pair of narrow smooth depressions (Fig. 159); mesoscutum glabrous and strongly shiny; medio-posterior depression of mesoscutum absent (Fig. 159); scutellar sulcus narrow and finely crenulate; scutellum smooth and slightly convex; surface of propodeum smooth, except for some short carinae posteriorly (Fig. 160).

Wings. Fore wing (Fig. 158): pterostigma long elliptical; 1-R1 reaching wing apex and 1.1 times as long as pterostigma; r:3-SR:SR1 = 2:26:57; 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 16:26:7; r widened; 1-M and SR1 straight; m-cu slightly postfurcal; cu-a slightly postfurcal and 1-CU1 widened; first subdiscal cell narrowly open, CU1b absent; M+CU1 near ly completely unsclerotized. Hind wing (Fig. 158): M+CU:1-M:1r-m = 5:5:2; cu-a straight; m-cu absent, except for a superficial impression.

Legs. Length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 3.3, 8.8 and 7.0 times as long as wide, respectively; hind femur and tibia with medium-sized setae (Fig. 161).

Metasoma. Length of first tergite equal to its apical width, its surface distinctly convex medially and largely smooth and dorsal carinae developed next to spiracles, straight (Fig. 160); second suture slightly impressed; second and following tergites smooth; length of ventrally visible setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.16 times fore wing, 1.3 times first tergite and 0.5 times hind tibia (Figs 157, 164).

Colour. Black; antenna (but scapus and pedicellus yellowish) and mesosternum dark brown; palpi, tegulae and legs pale yellowish, but apex hind tibia and hind tarsus and telotarsi slightly darkened; clypeus ventrally, mandible and metasoma largely (but basal 0.8 of first tergite dark brown) brownish-yellow; mesopleuron largely chestnut- brown; pterostigma and veins mainly brown; wing membrane subhyaline.

Variation. Female paratype has 30 antennal segments, first tergite somewhat rugulose posteriorly, pterostigma brown and mesosoma largely chestnut brown.

Molecular data. COI, 16S, 28S (CVA4251).

Distribution.

*China (Hunan).

Biology.

Unknown.

Etymology.

Name derived from “pachys” (Greek for “thick”) and “meros” (Greek for “part”), because of the thick parts of the leg, especially the femora.

Notes.

The new species runs in the key by Chen and Weng (2005) to Opius clusilis Weng & Chen, 2005. Opius pachymerus differs by having the head roundly narrowed behind the eyes in dorsal view (directly narrowed in Opius clusilis ), the dorsal pronope minute (large), length of the first tergite equal times its apical width (1.4 times), the width of the clypeus 1.8 times its height (4 times) and length of the hind femur 3.3 times its width (4.6 times).