Habroteleia mutabilis Chen & Talamas

Chen, Hua-yan, Talamas, Elijah J., Masner, Lubomir & Johnson, Norman F., 2018, Revision of the world species of the genus Habroteleia Kieffer (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae, Scelioninae), ZooKeys 730, pp. 85-120 : 89-91

Habroteleia mutabilis Chen & Talamas sp. n. Figures 1-2, 41-46, 47-52

Description.

Body length of female: 3.60-3.74 mm (n=20). Body length of male: 3.36-3.72 mm (n=20). Length of A3 in male: longer than A2. Punctation of frons above antennal scrobe: sparse. Sculpture of antennal scrobe: foveate. Central keel: absent. Sculpture of ventrolateral frons: denstly punctate. Occipital carina: complete. Sculpture of posterior vertex: punctate rugose. Sculpture of gena: punctate rugose ventrally, sparsely punctate dorsally. Sculpture of occiput: smooth.

Color of mesosoma: black; orange. Sculpture of dorsal pronotal area: punctate rugose. Sculpture of lateral pronotal area: smooth anteriorly, foveate posteriorly. Sculpture of netrion: coarsely striate. Setae of netrion: sparse throughout. Sculpture of notaulus: discretely punctate. Sculpture of mesoscutal midlobe: coarsely carinate with two rows of contiguous coarse punctures; largely smooth, with two rows of discrete coarse punctures. Sculpture of lateral lobe of mesoscutum: smooth. Sculpture of lateral propodeal area: foveate. Setation of mesoscutellum: sparse. Sculpture of mesoscutellum: sparsely punctate. Median propodeal projection: short; long. Mesopleural carina: distinct. Sculpture of mesepisternum anteroventral to mesopleural depression: smooth with a row of punctures along mesopleural carina. Sculpture of dorsal metapleural area: smooth. Sculpture of ventral metapleural area: smooth to foveate. Setation of ventral metapleural area: sparse. Color of legs: orange-yellow to dark brown; dark brown to black. Sculpture of hind coxa: smooth.

Color of metasoma: black; orange with dark brown to black patches. T1 horn in female: absent. Sculpture of posterior margin of T1 in female: sparsely longitudinally striate. Transverse sulcus on T2: absent. Sculpture of T2-T5: T2-T3 sparsely longitudinally striate throughout, T4-T5 smooth medially, longitudinally striate. Sculpture of T6 in female: smooth. Length of T6 in female: wider than long. Apex of T6 in female: round. Sculpture of S2: sparsely longitudinally striate. Sculpture of T1 in male: sparsely longitudinally striate, smooth in interstices. Male T8 apical spine: absent.

Etymology.

The epithet is inspired by the Latin word for changeable, in reference to the variations in body color, sculpture of mesoscutal midlobe, and the length of median propodeal projection, and is intended to be treated as an adjective.

Link to distribution map.

[http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=448460]

Material examined.

Holotype, female: FIJI: Northern Div., Bua Prov., Vanua Levu Isl., 6km NW Kilaka Village, MT5, 98m, 16.807°S, 178.991°E, Batiqere Range, 28. VI– 21.VII.2004, Malaise trap, Schlinger & Tokota’a, FBA 142603 (deposited in BPBM). Paratypes: FIJI: 53 females, 27 males, FBA 070892, OSUC 232898, OSUC 232901, OSUC 232902, OSUC 232903, OSUC 232904, OSUC 232905 (BPBM); FBA 014394, 014404, 014409, 014413-014414, 019832, 025807, 025815, 029311, 029313, 029315, 029318-029320, 029323, 032077, 032086, 036322, 036328, 047849, 047855, 058998, 059005, 059026, 070887, 070893-070894, 082922, 084174-084175, 084181, 084183, 088442, 094483, 094485, 094487, 099217, 101111, 101129, 101568, 140945, 140956, 140961, 142806, 143124, 143130, 143134, 143209, 143217-143219, 144459, 151785, 151788, 164303, 166124, 166126, 166129, 166160, 166162-166163, 179833, 179838, 182136, 182139-182140, 182142, 186114, 188585, 188680, OSUC 688078, OSUC 688161, OSUC 688162 (CNCI). Other material: FIJI: 1 female, 1 male, OSUC 232900 (BPBM); FBA 084185 (CNCI).

Comments.

This species is well supported by many characters, although the color of mesosoma and metasoma, sculpture of mesoscutal midlobe, and the length of median propodeal projection are variable. The color of mesosoma and metasoma varies from orange to dark brown. The sculpture of the mesoscutal midlobe varies from largely smooth with two rows of discrete coarse punctures to coarsely carinate with two rows of contiguous coarse punctures. The length of the median propodeal projection varies from short to long. These variations are gradual among specimens. Therefore, we consider them as intraspecific rather than interspecific differences.