Heterospilus menkei 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 : 115-116

Heterospilus menkei Marsh sp. n. Figure 77

Female.

Body size: 4.0 mm. Color: head dark brown to brown; scape honey yellow without lateral longitudinal brown stripe, flagellum brown with apical 8-10 flagellomeres white; mesosoma dark brown; metasoma dark brown, terga 5-7 yellow; legs yellow, hind tibia at extreme base and hind tarsus brown; wing veins including stigma brown. Head: vertex transversely costate; frons transversely costate; face smooth; temple in dorsal view narrow, not bulging behind eye, less than 1/2 eye width; malar space greater than 1/4 eye height; ocell-ocular distance about twice diameter of lateral ocellus; 29-35 flagellomeres. Mesosoma: mesoscutal lobes smooth, rugose along notauli; notauli scrobiculate, meeting at scutellum in triangular costate area; scutellum smooth; prescutellar furrow with 3 cross carinae; mesopleuron smooth; precoxal sulcus smooth, shorter than width of mesopleuron; venter smooth; propodeum with basal median areas distinct but not margined, basal median carina absent, areola not distinctly margined, areolar area areolate-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 or porcate, length slightly greater than apical width; second tergum longitudinally costate or porcate, width about 4 times median length; anterior transverse groove present, straight; posterior transverse groove present; third tergum costate at base, smooth apically; terga 4-7 smooth; ovipositor longer than metasoma.

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 [;] menkei [;] P. Marsh. Deposited in ESUW.

Paratypes.

1 ♀, top label - COSTA RICA, Heredia [;] Est. Biol. La Selva, 50- [;] 150m, 10°26'N, 84°01'W [;] May 1993, INBio-OET; second label - 18 Mayo 1993 [;] Bosque secundario [;] M/04/099; third label - INBio bar code (ESUW).

Comments.

This species is distinguished by the mesoscutal lobes being rugose along the notauli and is similar to Heterospilus milleri but is separated by its smooth mesoscutal lobes rather than granulate in Heterospilus milleri .

Etymology.

Named for my longtime friend, colleague and college classmate Arnold Menke.