Exoryza safranum Rousse et Gupta

Rousse, Pascal & Gupta, Ankita, 2013, Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) of Reunion Island: a catalogue of the local species, including 18 new taxa and a key to species, Zootaxa 3616 (6), pp. 501-547 : 530-531

Exoryza safranum Rousse et Gupta , sp. nov.

( Fig. 14 )

Diagnosis. Black and orange species characterized by the wide terga 1 and 2 (generic features). Mesopleuron and mesoscutum coarsely puncto-striate. Scutelllum almost polished. Ovipositor sheath nearly twice as long as hind tibia.

Color. Black. Light orange testaceous: palpi, apex of metasoma (but extreme apex), metasomal sternites, fore and middle legs (but coxae), hind trochanter/trochantellus and base of hind tibia. Blackish testaceous: mandible, apex of hind tibia and hind tarsi. Wings hyaline, venation brown.

Description.

FEMALE (Holotype). B: 3.7; A: 3.4; L: 3.9.

Head. Densely and shortly setose, including eyes. Face and clypeus densely punctate shagreened. H i: 0.9; EH i: 0.6; C i: 2.5; Fl 1i: 4.2; Fl 2i: 4.0; FL1– 2 i: 1.1; Fl 15i: 1.1; Fl 16i: 3.0; OO i: 4.3; IO i: 1.5.

Mesosoma . Moderately and shortly setose. Pronotum polished. Entire mesopleuron coarsely puncto-striate. Metapleuron shallowly sculptured with some punctures. Mesoscutum coarsely puncto-striate anteriorly, punctuation rather more regular on posterior half. Scuto-scutellar suture deep and wide, crenulate. Scutellum elongate, polished with some sparse and shallow punctures. MSC i: 0.8. Propodeum coarsely rugose punctate, abruptly decurved beyond costulae line. Areola complete, pentagonal, apically truncate and basally petiolate. Costulae strong. Fore wing. R1/Pl i: 1.8; r/Pw i: 1.7; r/2Rs i: 1.5. Hind wing. Apical half of hind margin of vannal lobe flattened, with hairs longer near base. Legs. Hind coxa shallowly punctate. Hind femur somewhat stout. Cx/T 1i: 1.1; F i: 3.4.

Metasoma. Metasoma distinctly short, tergite 1 a little less than half length of metasoma. Tergum 1 coarsely rugose punctate, mid-longitudinally, lateral margins sub-parallel but basally constricted, apical margin slightly concave, tergum covering the entire surface of tergite 1 in dorsal view, and abruptly curved near half length in profile view. Tergum 2 transverse and rectangular, apical margin slightly concave, similarly sculptured as tergum 1. Hypopygium folded and medially desclerotised, not protruding beyond metasomal apex. Ovipositor very long, apically decurved. T1a i: 1.1; T1b i: 1.7; T1/T 2i: 3.6; T2a i: 0.3; T2b i: 0.3; T2/T 3i: 1.2; OT i: 1.9.

MALE. Unknown.

Material examined. HOLOTYPE Ƥ (MNHN EY8818) Verbatim label data: Plaine des Palmistes / Grand Etang, 11/2010, piège lumineux, leg. T. Ramage; complete.

Etymology. The species is named after the Latin word “ safranum ” which depicts the yellow-orange colour of the vivid stigmas of saffron, and in this instance, referring to the orange coloration of many parts of the new species.

Distribution records. Reunion.

Comments. Exoryza safranum sp. nov. can be separated from all other Exoryza species by the contrast between the coarsely sculptured mesopleuron and the very shallow sculpture of metapleuron.

Genus Glyptapanteles Ashmead (Whitfield 1997, Whitfield et al. 2009)

Fore wing with areolet open (r–m absent). Hind wing with distal margin of vannal lobe convex, with or without a fringe of hairs. Propodeum usually mostly smooth but often distinctly sculptured on all or part of its surface. Rarely with a mid-longitudinal carina and never with even a trace of areola (sometimes with faint striations diverging forwardly from metasomal foramen). Tergum 1 at least 1.5x times longer than its greatest width, its margins either gradually narrowing toward apex or sub-parallel for the basal 0.8 then strongly rounded. Tergum 2 with basal margins strongly diverging toward apex, its shape thus subtriangular to truncate-pyramidal. Median length of tergum 2 half shorter to as long as tergum 3. Terga 1–3 often smooth and shining, though sometimes terga 1–2 distinctly sculptured. Hypopygium evenly sclerotised, without a mid-longitudinal crease. Ovipositor and sheath short, rarely longer than half length of hind tibia, mostly concealed by hypopygium.

Glyptapanteles is a large cosmopolitan genus of several hundred species, most diverse in tropics. They have been reared from a large variety of macrolepidoptera. This genus is well characterized by the shape of the basal metasomal terga and their weak sculpture, though it could be confused with some Distatrix spp. One new species is described here, and three former Apanteles species are moved into Glyptapanteles .

Figures

FIGURE 14. Exoryza safranum sp. nov. a: female, habitus; b: fore wing; c: mesonotum; d: terga 1 – 2.