Adelius fasciipennis ( Rohwer, 1914 )

Shimbori, Eduardo M., Bortoni, Marco A., Shaw, Scott R., Souza-Gessner, Carolina Da S., Cerântola, Paula De C. M. & Penteado-Dias, Angélica M., 2019, Revision of the New World genera Adelius Haliday and Paradelius de Saeger (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Cheloninae: Adeliini), Zootaxa 4571 (2), pp. 151-200 : 171-174

Adelius fasciipennis ( Rohwer, 1914)

( Figs 52–58 )

Anomopterus fasciipenni s, Rohwer 1914: 80

Adelius fasciipennis, Muesebeck 1922: 14 , Marsh 1979: 241

Acaelius fasciipennis, Shenefelt 1973: 672 .

Type material examined. Paratype ♀, U.S. A: Virginia: Labels, top to bottom: 1. “ 1125x Hopk. U.S”; 2. “Reared Sept–20–1913 ”; 3. “ Falls Ch. Va ”; 4. “ Par. of Bastminer on Chestnut”. One topotype ♀, same data as holotype, 22.IX.1913 ( UWIM)

Description of paratype, ♀. Body length: 2.4 mm; fore wing length: 1.8–1.9 mm.

Color. Yellow. Propodeum and metanotum dark brown. Apical 1/3 of antenna brown.

Head. Length of head in dorsal view 0.6× longer than wide. Antennae 0.85× as long as the body; scape 2.0× longer than wide; subapical flagellomeres distinctly expanded ventrally, as long as wide to wider than long. Eye height 3.0× longer than malar space. Frons and vertex rugose-striate, striation on vertex concentric; temples finely areolate-rugulose; face weakly striate near eyes, clypeus very weakly rugose. Clypeus convex, its border straight at middle.

Mesosoma. Mesoscutum shallowly densely punctate and setose, scutellum weakly rugulose and densely setose. Notauli absent. Scutellar sulcus deep and narrow, with 8 divisions. Mesoscutellar trough costate. Metanotum rugose-costate. Pronotum smooth and polished with shallow crenulate ventral groove. Sternaulus extending over most of mesopleuron, sinuate and crenulate. Mesopleuron mostly smooth, weakly punctate anteriorly and with few weak wrinkles mid-dorsally; mostly setose but bare dorsally; subalar groove deep and crenulate. Propodeum with prominent transverse carina, dorsal aspect rugose with two pairs of longitudinal carinae, posterior aspect less rugose with a pair of carinae diverging from posterior knob. Metapleuron smooth ventrally, dorsally striate, rugose posteriorly.

Wings. Fore wing vein r absent, veins 2RS and 3RSa directly connected with stigma, vein R1 0.2× stigma length.

Legs. Hind tibial spurs 0.2× the hind tibia length. All legs smooth. Mid coxa with transverse sulcus dorsally. Hind tibia enlarged apically, narrower than hind femur, 4.7× longer than maximum width

Metasoma. All terga smooth. Mid basal sulcus on T1 weakly rugose with two carinae.

Variation. Body length 2.0– 2.4 mm.

Male. Unknown.

Diagnosis. Adelius fasciipennis is easily distinguished from other Nearctic species by its relatively large mostly yellow body, its antenna being apically brown with its apical flagellomere very short and nearly circular, the fore wing having two broad infuscate bands, and ovipositor sheaths being narrow and acute apically. See diagnosis of A. coloradensis for comparison with A. fasciipennis .

Biology. Recorded as reared from the bast-miner Ectoedemia phleophaga Busck, 1914 (Nepticulidae) on American Chestnut ( Rohwer 1914). Unfortunately, due to the spread of chestnut blight and the decline of the American Chestnut tree, this host larva species is now listed as extinct ( World Conservation Monitoring Centre 2018). Whether or not this Adelius species is also extinct is not known. If the wasp has a broader host range including other nepticulid species on other plants, then it might still exist; if it was a host specialist, then this Adelius species is probably extinct. The last reported record of the species was in 1970, from New Jersey ( Burbutis & Stewart 1979).

Distribution. Previously known from the US states of New Jersey, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Figures

FIGURES 52–58. Adelius fasciipennis Rower. 52–57, ♀ paratype: 52, habitus, lateral; 53, head, frontal; 54, propodeum; 55, head and mesonotum, dorsal; 56, ovipositor and sheaths; 57, mesosoma, lateral; 58, non-type ♀, dorsal habitus and cocoon.