Gastrotrypes brevis Sunita et Rajmohana, 2022

Sunita, Patra, Rajmohana, Keloth, Manoj, Kandoth & Anjana, Madathil, 2022, Two New Species Of The Rare Genus Gastrotrypes Brues (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae) From India, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 68 (3), pp. 239-246 : 240-242

Gastrotrypes brevis Sunita et Rajmohana sp. n.

( Figs 1–6 )

Material examined: Holotype (Reg. No. 27896/H3), female on card labelled INDIA: Karnataka, Kandimakki, Coorg (12°09.545’, 075°48.262’), 27.ii.2016, coll. Manoj K. Paratype: 1 female, with same data as holotype .

Diagnosis: Frons, vertex and occiput finely reticulate; hyperoccipital carina absent; OOL subequal to OD; A7–A9 as long as wide, A10 1.5× as long as A9; marginal fringe well developed in both fore wings and hind wings; T5 not much elongate, only 1.1× as long as wide.

Description: Female (holotype) body length = 0.7 mm.

Body brown to blackish brown; basal A1 and A2 towards apex yellow, rest of antenna brown, A7–A9 blackish brown; legs including coxae yellowish brownish to brown; mandibles and tegula deep brown; body pilosity whitish brown to brown; wings hyaline.

Head: FCI = 1.2, LCI = 1.6 ( Fig. 2 ); head almost as wide as high and 1.53× as high as long; head 1.1× as wide as mesosoma, rounded; head in front view, including frons, gena and vertex smooth and with fine reticulate impressions, a bit effaced on lower frons ( Fig. 3 ); inner orbits bordered by a row of white setae; upper and lower frons with sparse setae; hyperoccipital carina absent; occiput towards its lower margin with closely placed irregular and concentric curved striae ( Fig. 2 ); eyes with extremely sparse micropilosity, visible only in high magnifications; OOL:OD: POL:LOL= 2:2:20:7; IOS 1.40× eye height and 0.69× width of head; antenna with 10 segments, clava 4 segmented. antennal segments finely setose, denser on claval segments; A7 to A9 subequal in length; length to width ratio of A1– A10 being 46:9; 9:7; 0.5:0.5; 11.5:9.3; 7:6; 3.8:3.8; 11:9; 11:9; 11:9; 15:10, respectively ( Fig. 5 ); A10 1.5× as long as wide.

Mesosoma: 1.33× as long as wide; smooth and shiny, with sparse setae; mesoscutum 1.8× as long as wide, without notauli, sparsely setose; with a small patch of reticulation on either side anterolaterally; median lobe 0.78× longer than wide and overlapping mesoscutellum to nearly one-third part of it ( Fig. 6 ); pronotum visible as a wide zone, not angular at sides; cervical area with a few transverse irregular striae; pronotum smooth and shiny, sparsely setose; lateral pronotum and mesopleura also smooth; anterior margin of metapleura smooth, rest with dense yellow recumbent setae; scutoscutellar sulcus not distinct; mesoscutellum slightly wider than long, densely setose; lateral pronotal area with a few white scattered setae; mesopleuron and metapleuron smooth, metapleuron with dense pilosity posteriorly ( Fig. 2 ); median and lateral propodeal carina slightly raised; anterior lateral propodeal area coarse, posterolateral propodeal area densely setose; forewing surpassing tip of metasoma, 2.22× longer than wide and with fine microtrichia; marginal cilia of forewing 0.25× wing width and that of hindwing nearly subequal to wing width ( Fig. 1 ).

Metasoma: With 5 tergites, 2× as long as wide and length 1.2× combined length of head and mesosoma; 1.3× wide as head; length and width of T1–T5 being 3:8; 2:15; 2:7; 1:5; 6:5, respectively ( Fig. 4 ); T1 coarse, with a raised median longitudinal carina, T2 laterally with short longitudinal striations radiating and reaching almost one-third of T2; rest smooth; T3 and T4 anteriorly with a transverse row of sparse and widely placed white setae ( Fig. 6 ); T5 1.1× longer than wide, densely and irregularly striolate at its basal onefourth; S5 also with same sculpture as of T5. S1 and base of S2 densely setose. Ovipositor exserted ( Fig. 1 ).

Male: Unknown

Etymology: The species is named brevis (= short, in Latin), due to their short claval segments.

Comments: Sculpture on frons and metasomal tergites are significant in distinguishing Gastrotrypes species ( HUGGERT 1980). G. brevis sp. n. is morphologically similar to G. manii in the proportions of A8 and A9 and POL:LOL ratio. However, G. manii can be separated from G. brevis at once by their smooth frons and a distinct hyperoccipital carina. Though both G. brevis and G. vindhyensis have fine reticulations on frons, vertex and occiput and also a slightly elongate T5, both the species differ clearly in length to width ratio of antennal segments, A7–A9.

Figures

Figs 1–6. Gastrotrypes brevis Rajmohana et Sunita sp. n.: 1 = habitus; 2 = head frontal view; 3 = head with mesosoma; 4 = metasoma; 5 = mesosoma with metasoma; 6 = antenna