Heterospilus shenefelti Marsh

Marsh, Paul M., Wild, Alexander L. & Whitfield, James B., 2013, The Doryctinae (Braconidae) of Costa Rica: genera and species of the tribe Heterospilini, ZooKeys 347, pp. 1-474 : 160-162

Heterospilus shenefelti Marsh sp. n. Figure 110

Female.

Body size: 3.5-4.0 mm. Color: head with vertex and frons brown, face, temple and eye orbits light brown or honey yellow; scape yellow without lateral longitudinal brown stripe, flagellum brown; mesosoma dark brown; metasomal terga 1-4 dark brown, terga 5-7 yellow; wing veins including stigma brown; legs yellow. Head: vertex transversely costate; frons transversely costate; face striate; temple in dorsal view narrow, width less than 1/2 eye width; malar space greater than 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance about 2.5 times diameter of lateral ocellus; 26-32 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes granulate and dull; notauli scrobiculate, meeting at scutellum in wide rectangular rugose area; scutellum granulate; prescutellar furrow with 3 cross carinae; mesopleuron granulate; precoxal sulcus scrobiculate, shorter than mesopleuron; venter granulate; propodeum with basal median areas margined, granulate, basal median carina present, short, areola usually not distinctly margined, areolar area rugose, lateral areas entirely rugose. Wings: fore wing vein r shorter than vein 3RSa, vein 1cu-a beyond vein 1M; hind wing vein SC+R present, vein M+CU shorter than vein 1M. Metasoma: first tergum longitudinally costate, apical width equal to length; second tergum longitudinally costate, width slightly less than 4 times length; anterior transverse groove present, sinuate; posterior transverse groove present; third tergum costate basally, smooth apically; terga 4-7 smooth; ovipositor as long as length of metasomal terga 1+2.

Holotype female.

Top label (white, printed) - COSTA RICA: Puntarenas [;] R. F. Golfo Dulce, [;] 24km W. Piedras Blancas, [;] 200m [;] Feb. 1992, Paul Hanson; second label (red, partially printed and hand written) - HOLOTYPE [;] Heterospilus [;] shenefelti [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, Costa Rica: Limon [;] Sector Cocori, 100m [;] 30km N Cariari, i.1995 [;] E. Rojas, Malaise #4526 [;] L.N. 286000-567500 (ESUW). 1 ♀, Costa Rica: Guanacaste [;] Est. Biol. Maritza, 600m [;] i.1997, C. Zuniga, Malaise [;] L.N. 3269000-373000 #47557 (ESUW).

Comments.

The striate face and short ovipositor are distinctive for this species.

Etymology.

Named for the late R. D. Shenefelt in recognition of his monumental work on braconid literature.