Bracon zuleideae, Perioto, Nelson Wanderley, Lara, Rogéria Inês Rosa, Fernandes, Cleidson Soares Ferreira Daniell Rodrigo Rodrigues, Pedroso, Elizabeth Do Carmo, Volpe, Haroldo Xavier Linhares, Nais, Juliana & Correa, Lilian Roberta Batista, 2011

Perioto, Nelson Wanderley, Lara, Rogéria Inês Rosa, Fernandes, Cleidson Soares Ferreira Daniell Rodrigo Rodrigues, Pedroso, Elizabeth Do Carmo, Volpe, Haroldo Xavier Linhares, Nais, Juliana & Correa, Lilian Roberta Batista, 2011, A new phytophagous Bracon Fabricius (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) associated with Protium ovatum Engl. (Burseraceae) fruits from Brazilian savannah, Zootaxa 3000, pp. 59-65 : 61-65

Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. Perioto & Lara

Figures 4–24

Diagnosis. Female. Body light brown with dark brown areas in head and mesosoma, wings infuscated, length of body and fore wing less than 8.0 mm, antennae with 45–49 flagellomeres, apical tarsi with rounded basal lobe, relatively strongly sculptured metasoma, yellow and very slender ovipositor less than 4 mm long and ventral valves apically with five teeth and with seven more basal weaker serrations.

Female holotype: body length 6.6 mm, fore wing 7.3 mm and ovipositor (part exserted beyond apex of metasoma) 3.9 mm.

Head ( Fig. 4 ). Antenna with 49 flagellomeres. Terminal flagellomere strongly acuminate. Median flagellomeres rectangular, slightly longer than wide. First flagellomere 1.2 and 1.4 times length of 2nd and 3nd flagellomeres, respectively, the latter being 1.4 times longer (maximum length) than wide ( Fig. 5 ).

Mandibles twisted so only a single tooth visible in anterior aspect ( Fig. 4 ). Inter-tentorial distance: tentorioocular distance = 1.9:1.0. Inter-tentorial distance: height of clypeus = 2.7:1.0. Face largely smooth and shiny, with two distinct setose areas on either side, one bordering the lower half of the eye and extending to the malar region and a single line of setae submedially. Height of eye: shortest distance between eyes: width of head = 1.0:1.0:2.0. Oculo-antennal groove well developed. Frons shiny, weakly impressed and weakly minutely coriaceous ( Fig. 4 ). Stemmaticum triangular. Shortest distance between posterior ocelli: transverse diameter of posterior ocellus: shortest distance between posterior ocellus and eye = 1.0:1.3:3.1.

Mesosoma. 1.5 x longer than high, largely smooth, shiny, with sparse pilosity ( Fig. 6 ). Pronotum smooth with a medial transversal sulcus that extends to dorsal portion of lateral panel. Notauli obsolescent, well indicated on anterior portion of mesoscutum. Scutellar sulcus well demarcated. Scutellum smooth with sparsely punctate and anterior margin finely jagged ( Fig. 6 ). Lateral panel of metanotum with well demarcated trough and of same length as dorsellum. Propodeum without carinae, with long pubescence laterally ( Fig. 6 ).

Wings. Fore wing: lengths of veins SR1:3-SR:r = 5.5:2.8:1.0. Lengths of veins 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 1.5:2.1:1.0. Vein 2-M 1.6 times 3-SR. Vein 1-M nearly straight. Vein r-m with two bullae. Vein 1-SR forming an angle approximately 100° with vein C+SC+R. Vein m-cu 0.4 times 1-M. Vein cu-a interstitial. Hind wing: vein 1r-m:R1 = 1.0:1.9. Apex of vein C+SC+R with one especially thickened seta (basal hamulus). Base of hind wing with small glabrous area proximal to vein cu-a.

Legs. Claws with large basal lobe ( Fig. 7 ). Lengths of fore femur (excluding trochantellus): tibia: tarsus = 1.0:1.1:1.5. Fore tibia with transverse apical row of markedly thickened bristles which curve slightly dorsally. Lengths of hind femur: tibia: basitarsus = 1.9:2.9:1.0.

Metasoma ( Fig. 8 ). Smooth, shiny. Seven exposed tergites covered with sparse punctuations and fine white setae. First metasomal tergite 1.4 times wider than maximally long; median area largely smooth and shiny; dorsolateral carinae very strong and sub-lamelliform. Second tergite 2.3 times wider than medially long; shiny, smooth and bare, with mid-basal diamond-shaped area with apical portion extending approximately 0.7 times length of tergite, delimited laterally by grooves. Second suture bisinuate, strongly crenulated; abruptly terminated sublaterally. Third tergite 2.1 times wider than medially long, without transverse, subposterior groove. Sculpture of lateral areas of second and third tergite as in Figure 8 . Hypopygium sharply pointed, reaching apex of metasomal tergites. Ovipositor sheaths 2.0 times longer than hind tibia. Ovipositor very slender; dorsal valve with a distinct nodus; ventral valves apically with five teeth and with seven more basal weaker serrations ( Fig. 9 ).

Colour. Body light brown except: a spot between the ocellar triangle and insertion of antennae, antennae, apex of mandibles, anterior margin of pronotum, lateral panel of mesoscutum, scutellum laterally, propleuron, dorsal portion of mesopleuron, median coxae, hind legs, ovipositor sheath, venation of wings, apical tarsomeres of anterior and median legs dark brown; maxillary and labial palpi, 3/4 apical pterostigma, anterior legs, median trochanters, femorae, tibiae and basal tarsomeres yellow; wings infuscated.

Female variation (n=6). Length of body 4.3‒7.6 mm, of fore wing 4.6‒7.2 mm and ovipositor 3.3‒4.6 mm. Antenna with 45‒49 flagellomeres. First flagellomere 0.9‒1.2 and 0.9‒1.4 times length of 2nd and 3rd flagellomeres, respectively, the latter being 1.4‒2.0 times longer (maximum length) than wide. Inter-tentorial distance: tentorioocular distance = 1.4‒1.9:1.0. Inter-tentorial distance: height of clypeus = 2.5‒2.7:1.0. Height of eye: shortest distance between eyes: width of head = 1.1:1.0:2.0‒2.3. Shortest distance between posterior ocelli: transverse diameter of posterior ocellus: shortest distance between posterior ocellus and eye = 1.0:1.2‒1.7:2.9‒4.8. Mesosoma 1.5‒1.6 longer than high. Fore wing: lengths of veins SR1:3-SR:r = 5.5‒5.9:3.1‒3.4:1.0. Lengths of veins 2-SR:3- SR:r-m = 1.3‒1.6:2.1‒2.5:1.0. Vein 2-M 1.4‒1.6 times 3-SR. Vein m-cu 0.4‒0.5 times 1-M. Hind wing: vein 1rm:R1 = 1.0:1.9‒2.3. Base of hind wing with small-sized glabrous area distal to vein cu-a on posterior half of cell or absent in some exemplars. Lengths of fore femur (excluding trochantellus): tibia: tarsus = 1.0:1.1‒1.24:1.4‒1.6. Lengths of hind femur: tibia: basitarsus = 1.7‒1.9:2.7‒3.0:1.0. First metasomal tergite 1.3‒1.8 times wider than maximally long. Second tergite 2.3‒2.5 times wider than medially long, with bare mid-basal triangular or diamond shape area. Third tergite 1.8‒2.9 times wider than medially long. Ovipositor sheaths 2.0‒3.4 times longer than hind tibia. The colour of females shows a wide range of variation ( Figs. 10‒18 ).

Male (n=6). The colour of the males showed less variation than the females (compare Figs. 19–24 ). Males are similar to females except for the following: length of body 3.2‒6.2 mm and of fore wing 2.7‒4.6 mm. Antenna with 33‒47 flagellomeres. First flagellomere 0.9 times length of 2nd and 3rd flagellomeres, the latter being 1.7‒2.0 times longer (maximum length) than wide. Inter-tentorial distance: tentorio-ocular distance = 1.7:1.0. Inter-tentorial distance: height of clypeus = 2.5‒2.7:1.0. Height of eye: shortest distance between eyes: width of head = 1.1:1.0:2.0‒2.3. Shortest distance between posterior ocelli: transverse diameter of posterior ocellus: shortest distance between posterior ocellus and eye = 1.0:1.6‒2.0:2.7‒3.8. Mesosoma 1.6‒1.7 longer than high. Fore wing: lengths of veins SR1:3-SR:r = 4.3‒4.4:2.4‒2.8:1.0. Lengths of veins 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 1.5‒1.8:2.3‒2.7:1.0. Vein 2- M 1.5 times 3-SR. Vein m-cu 0.4‒0.5 times 1-M. Hind wing: vein 1r-m:R1 = 1.0:2.2. Base of hind wing without glabrous area distal to vein cu-a. Lengths of fore femur (excluding trochantellus): tibia: tarsus= 1.0:1.2‒1.3:1.5‒1.6. Lengths of hind femur: tibia: basitarsus = 1.7:2.5:1.0. First metasomal tergite 1.3‒1.6 times wider than maximally long. Second tergite 1.6‒2.0 times wider than medially long. Third tergite 2.5‒2.9 times wider than medially long.

Distribution. Brazil (São Paulo).

Remarks. Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. and B. phytophagous are different from B. flavipalpis (Szépligeti) and B. glabresecens (Szépligeti) by not having black coloration ( Flores et al., 2005). The first two belong to the flavipalpis group proposed by Flores et al. (2005), whose species have a relatively strongly sculptured metasoma and a very slender ovipositor. Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. differs from B. phytophagous by the body and fore wing being less than 8.0 mm long, ovipositor sheaths yellow and less than 4 mm long, antennae with fewer than 50 flagellomeres, rounded basal lobe, wings infuscated, small-sized glabrous area distal to vein cu-a on posterior half of cell, ventral valves apically with five teeth and with seven more basal weaker serrations.

Biology. Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. larvae develop inside fruits of P. ovatum (Burseraceae) , where they feed on the endosperm of seeds ( Fig. 3 ). To emerge, the adults chew a tunnel from inside the seed to the external environment. The emergence of adults occurs when fruits are close to maturity. Only one larva develops inside a seed.

Etymology. In honor of Dra. Zuleide Alves Ramiro, former director of the Instituto Biológico, São Paulo, Brazil, who has devoted his retirement to the study of neotropical braconids.

Type material. HOLOTYPE female. BRASIL / S[ão] P[aulo] / Luiz Antônio, Estação Ecológica de Jataí, ex. frutos Protium ovatum (Burseraceae) , 7.XI.2007, N.W.Perioto, e equipe cols. ( MZSP). Paratypes. 51 females, 18 males. Luiz Antônio: same data as holotype (17 females, 5 males, MZSP); Luiz Antônio: from same locality as holotype but collected in 18.X.2007 (24 females, 7 males, LRRP); idem 3.IX.2008 (10 females, 6 males, DCBU).

Figures

FIGURES 4 – 9. Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. female. 4. Head, frontal view. 5. Antenna. 6. Mesosoma, dorsal view, and detail of the anterior margin of scutellum. 7. Basal lobe of tarsal claw. 8. Metasoma, dorsal view. 9. Ventral valves, lateral view.

FIGURES 10 – 18. Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. female, coloration. 10, 13, 16. Habitus, lateral view. 11, 14, 17. Head, frontal view. 12, 15, 18. Habitus, dorsal view. Scale = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 19 – 24. Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. male, coloration. 19, 22. Habitus, lateral view. 20, 23. Head, frontal view. 21, 24. Habitus, dorsal view. Scale = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 1 – 3. Protium ovatum Engl. (Burseraceae). 1. Branch with fruits. 2. Cross section of healthy fruit. 3. Cross section of fruit damaged by Bracon zuleideae sp. nov. larvae.