Aleiodes albidactyl, Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2014

Shimbori, Eduardo Mitio & Shaw, Scott Richard, 2014, Twenty-four new species of Aleiodes Wesmael from the eastern Andes of Ecuador with associated biological information (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae), ZooKeys 405, pp. 1-81 : 9-10

Aleiodes albidactyl sp. n. Figures 4-6

Description of holotype.

Female (holotype). Body length 5.2 mm; antenna length 6.6 mm; fore wing length 4.9 mm.

Color. Distinctive black and white color pattern. Head mostly pale yellow with small dark brown spot just above clypeus; occiput laterally and stemmaticum dark brown. Antenna dark brown, scape and pedicel brown. Mesosoma mostly black; mesoscutum mostly pale yellow with postero-lateral borders dark brown; metapleuron, propodeum posteriorly based triangular area, thumb shaped area posteriorly on mesopleuron, ventral half of pronotum, and propleuron white. Metasoma mostly black dorsally and completely white ventrally; T1 apical 1/3 and small mid-basal spot white; T2 mostly white with two round antero-lateral spots; T3 with white semicircular basal spot; lateral borders of remainder terga white; ovipositor sheaths basal 1/5 white, remainder dark brown. Fore and mid legs pale light brown. Hind legs brown; basal half of femur and coxa, trochanter and trochantellus white. Wings very weakly infuscate, veins dark brown.

Head. Antenna 50 antennomeres, apical flagellomere with “bottle-nipple” -shaped apex; malar space slightly longer than basal width of mandible, 0.4 × eye height; in dorsal view eyes 2.75 × longer than temples; occipital carina incomplete, directed toward vertex, getting close to lateral ocelli, well defined laterally and meeting hypostomal carina; oral space small and circular, maximum width slightly smaller than basal width of mandible; clypeus not swollen; ocell–ocular distance as long as diameter of lateral ocellus; maxillary palp not swollen; head surface sculpture shining granulate, occiput smooth and shining; vertex with few wrinkles; higher face with few transverse rugosity; frons smooth with pairs of wrinkles concentric to each toruli, frons excavated with excavation bordered by a “W-shaped” carina.

Mesosoma. Sculpturing granulate; pronotum smooth latero-ventrally, latero-dorsally foveate; mesopleuron with antero-dorsal corner rugose, mid-longitudinally depressed area foveate; propodeum coarsely shining granular with complete mid-longitudinal carina; notauli very shallow anteriorly, virtually absent; posterior margin of mesoscutum with complete carina; scutellar sulcus with five carina, relatively strong but irregular and not reaching anterior margin of sulcus.

Wings. Fore wing: stigma 3.4 × longer than high; vein r about as long as vein 2RS, 1.5 × longer than vein RS+Mb, and 0.8 × vein m-cu; vein 3RSa 0.43 × vein 3RSb, and 0.9 × vein 2M; vein 1CUa 3.3 × vein 1cu-a; vein 1CUb 0.7 × vein 1CUa; vein 1M slightly and evenly curved. Hind wing: vein m-cu only very weakly indicated; vein M+CU 1.8 × longer than vein 1M; 1M slightly shorter than r-m; RS smoothly curved at middle; vein 1M straight, almost unpigmented; vein 2-1A absent.

Legs. Hind tibia with comb of modified setae; tarsal claws simple, with a comb of relatively long thin setae basally; hind basitarsus 3.6 × longer than inner apical spur on hind tibia.

Metasoma. T1, T2 and basal 2/5 of T3 granulose-striate, longitudinal carina present along this sculpturing; remainder visible terga granular coriaceous; ovipositor sheaths about as long as hind tarsomere II; ovipositor sheaths parallel sided with lanceolate apex; T1 about as long as its apical width.

Male unknown.

Type material.

Type-locality: ECUADOR, Napo Province, Yanayacu Biological Station, Macucoloma trail, S00°35.9', W77°53.4', 2163 m, cloud forest, August 17, 2006, A. Townsend.

Type-specimen: Holotype female, point mounted. Top label: "ECUADOR: Napo Prov. / Yanayacu Biological Station / 17-Aug-2006 Macucaloma trail / Yellow pan 2163m. A. Townsend" (UWIM).

Discussion.

This species belongs to seriatus species-group. It differs from all other species of this group by the white posterior thumb like marking on the black mesopleuron, and the long vein 1CUa on fore wing, about 1.5 × longer than 1CUb and 3.5 × vein 1cu-a. This species is most closely related to Aleiodes dyeri sp. n., but the color patterns of both species are quite distinct (see comments for Aleiodes dyeri sp. n.).

Etymology.

From the Latin roots meaning "white finger", a reference to the white thumb like mark on mesopleuron.