Dolichogenidea kunhi Gupta & Kalesh

Gupta, Ankita, 2012, Reared parasitic wasps attacking hesperiids from Western Ghats (Kerala, India) with description of a new species of Dolichogenidea (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) as a larval parasitoid of Thoressa evershedi (Evans) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), Zootaxa 3413, pp. 29-43 : 31-35

Dolichogenidea kunhi Gupta & Kalesh , sp. nov.

Plates. I, II & III.

Female. Holotype. Body length = 2.2 mm.

Diagnosis. Hind tibia slightly longer than ovipositor sheath. Tergite (2+3) distal to the basal area smooth and shiny without any coarse sculpture. Ovipositor sheaths thickened in apical one third with apical attenuation. First discoidal cell not wider than high. First metasomal tergal plate longer than wide with coarse sculpture at basal half and longitudinal carinae at the apical half; parallel sided; slightly wider apically; bearing a median longitudinal depression. 2nd tergum wider than long; shorter than 3rd tergum. Tergite (2+3) distal to the basal area smooth and shiny without any coarse sculpture; considerably longer than the basal area itself. Ovipositor sheaths distinctly projecting beyond apex of gaster. Hind tibia slightly longer than ovipositor sheath. Ovipositor sheaths long and hairy throughout; gently decurved.

Anterior third of mesopleuron coarsely puncto-reticulate and setose, posteriorly largely smooth and nitid. Metapleuron generally smooth except for very shallow punctures posteriorly, anterior pit deep. Hind coxae laterally and dorsally shagreened with shallow punctures.

Body colour. Black. Head black; scape blackish brown; pedicel dark brown; flagellar segments brownish black; ocelli brown. Fore and mid legs yellowish brown. Fore coxa black; trochantellus yellowish brown. Mid femur basal half dark brown; brown infuscation more intense around basal and lateral edges. Hind trochantellus brownish yellow; femur brownish black (except apical and basal tip paler); hind tibia yellowish brown (except at apex and at apical and lateral edges); tibial spur pale white; tarsi blackish brown with basitarsus pale yellow at apex. Tarsal claws blackish brown. Pterostigma, costal vein (Sc+R) and metacarpus (R1) dark brown.

Head and eyes densely setose with pale yellowish brown palps.

Mesosoma . Black. Wings hyaline, forewing veins translucent except pterostigma light yellowish brown with pale patch at basal tip and dark brown edges.; C+SC+R with dark brown colour; hindwing veins translucent. Tegulae brownish black.

Head. Head width = 0.58; compound eye height = 0.31 mm; intertentorial pit distance = 0.18 mm; tentorial pit distance /distance tentorial pit to compound eye (0.07) = 2.6; width of face at dorsal clypeal edge = 0.28 mm; clypeus width = 0.12 mm; vertex width (0.43)/distance between anterior ocelli and edge of torulus (0.10) = 4.3; length of first flagellomere = 0.166 mm; width of first flagellomere = 0.045 mm; length of second flagellomere = 0.167 mm; width of second flagellomere = 0.046 mm; length of third flagellomere = 0.16 mm; terminal flagellomere length = 0.087 mm; terminal flagellomere width = 0.043 mm; penultimate flagellomere length = 0.062 mm; penultimate flagellomere width = 0.046 mm; terminal flagellomere length/width = 2.02; malar space height (0.11)/ basal width of mandible (0.042) = 2.62; ocello-ocular distance (0.11)/lateral ocelli distance (0.09) =1.2.

PLATE I. 1–3. Dolichogenidea kunhi sp. nov. (1) Head frontal view, female. (2) Mesosoma dorsal view, female. (3) Propodeum with part of 1st tergum, female.

PLATE II. 4–7. Dolichogenidea kunhi sp. nov. (4) Tergum 1st, 2nd and part of 3rd, female. (5) Metasoma dorsal view, female. (6) Hind leg with part of metasoma, female. (7) Full view, female.

PLATE III. 8–9. Thoressa evershedi (Evans) (8) Final instar larva with D. kunhi cocoons. (9) Adult butterfly.

Clypeus with dense pilosity; face and frons with medium pilosity and fine punctuations; vertex with dense pilosity.

Mesosoma . Mesosoma length = 0.93 mm; mesosoma length/width (0.65) = 1.43. Mesonotum with coarse punctate sculpture that fades near the scutellar groove; scuto–scutellar groove distinctly crenulate with twelve deep costulae; scutellum medial area essentially nitid with shallow punctuations near the edges, scutellum laterally with costulate sculpture which become narrower and elongated towards posterior edge; presence of shiny lateral edges beyond the costulate sculpture; posterior band of scutellum polished; metanotum subrectangular; propodeum with clearly defined wide and strong and shiny areola and costulae prominent; coarse punctuations on the apical half; more noticeable in the median apical half of propodeum; spiracles large and oval.

Hind tibia length = 0.64 mm; ovipositor sheath = 0.61 mm.

Wings. Pterostigma length (0.285)/height (0.154) = 1.85. 1RS length = 0.06 mm; 1CUa length (0.146)/1CUb length (0.15) = 0.97; length RS+Ma = 0.352 mm; length M+CU = 0.791 mm; Hindwing: 1M length = 0.286 mm; 1M length/M+CU length (0.296) = 0.97; length r-m (0.103)/length cu-a (0.197) = 0.15; 1A length = 0.258 mm.

Metasoma. First tergum length = 0.39 mm; first tergum basal width = 0.18 mm; first tergum apical width = 0.205 mm; first tergum median width = 0.211 mm; first tergum length/distal width = 1.9 mm; second tergum basal width = 0.264 mm; second tergum median length /distal width = 0.30; third tergum median length = 0.158 mm; third tergum apical width = 0.551 mm; fourth tergum median length = 0.158 mm.

First metasomal tergal plate longer than wide; black with coarse sculpture; parallel sided; slightly wider apically; coarse sculpture at base with longitudinal carinae on the apical half; bearing a median longitudinal depression. 2nd tergum wider than long; shorter than 3rd tergum. Tergite (2+3) distal to the basal area smooth and shiny without any coarse sculpture; considerably longer than the basal area itself. Ovipositor sheaths projecting considerably beyond the apex of gaster. Hind tibia slightly longer than ovipositor sheath. Ovipositor sheaths long and hairy throughout; gently decurved.

Male. Similar to female.

Distribution. India: Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Material examined. Holotype, one female on card, INDIA, Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, January 2011, emerged from parasitized larvae of Thoressa evershedi (Evans) (Plate III) on host plant Ochlandra sp. ( Poaceae )., leg. Kalesh, S. Paratype, one male on card, with same data as holotype. All types deposited in National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects ( NBAII), Bangalore, India. Code. NBAII /Bra/Mic/Dol/111 (Holotype), NBAII / Bra/Mic/Dol/112 (Paratype).

Discussion. This new species runs close to A. bambusae Wilkinson in the key to the Indo-Australian species of the ultor- group of Apanteles by Nixon (1967). The types of A. bambusae being partly damaged, as mentioned by Nixon (1967), hence compared with its description. Basal area of tergite (2+3) feebly rugose in A. bambusae and hind femur infuscate. Tergite (2+3) smooth and shiny without any coarse sculpture and hind femur distinctly bicoloured in D. kunhi .

Host Record. Thoressa evershedi (Evans) larva ( Lepidoptera : Hesperiidae ) on host plant Ochlandra sp. ( Poaceae ).

Etymology. Gender, neutral. This species is named after E. Kunhikrishnan, Professor of Zoology, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, for his immense interest in Lepidoptera and parasitoid research. The word ‘ kunhi ’ in Malayalam, the state language of Kerala, means small in size.