Glyptapanteles trilochae, Gupta, Ankita, 2013

Gupta, Ankita, 2013, Three new species of reared parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) from India, Zootaxa 3701 (3), pp. 365-380 : 374-379

Glyptapanteles trilochae sp. nov.

Plates.VI &VII

Description. Holotype. Female. Body length = 1.23 mm.

Body colour. Black. Fore and mid legs yellow except femora with little brownish tinge, hind legs with coxae black, trochantelli yellow brown, hind femora yellow with dorsal black patch at apex, apical half of hind tibiae with brown infuscation and tarsi with brownish tinge. All tarsal claws dark brownish black. All tibial spurs yellowish white. Scape and pedicel brown black dorsally and ventrally with yellow infuscation. Tegulae yellow brown. Mesosoma and metasoma black (except second tergum with lateral basal edges yellowish brown).

Antenna brownish black, palpi yellow white, labrum yellow brown, mandibles yellow with dark brown apical edges, ovipositor dark brown, ocelli brown. Wings hyaline, fore wing veins translucent with dark brown pterostigma, C+SC+R brown; hind wing veins translucent.

Head. Black. Face and eyes fully setose with medium density except on clypeus and ocellar region. Head height/width (2.766/3.10) = 0.89; compound eye height/width (0.17/.078) = 2.17; intertentorial pit distance = 0.03 mm; tentorial pit distance (0.03)/distance tentorial pit to compound eye (0.05)= 0.6; width of face at dorsal clypeal edge = 0.144 mm; clypeus width 0.10/height (0.03) = 3.3; inter ocellar distance = 0.0536 mm; length of first flagellomere = 0.11 mm; width of first flagellomere = 0.03 mm; length of second flagellomere = 0.114 mm; width of second flagellomere = 0.036 mm; malar space height (0.05)/basal width of mandible (0.027) = 1.85; ocell-ocular distance (0.526)/lateral ocelli distance = 1.1.

Clypeus with shallow sparse punctations; frons with distinct punctations, dense near the scrobes; vertex shiny with shallow scattered punctations and medium pilosity.

Mesosoma . Mesosoma length = 0.52 mm; mesosoma length/width (0.38) = 1.36. Mesonotum shiny with shallow punctations; scuto-scutellar groove straight with 13 costulae; scutellum shiny, setose with sparse shallow punctations, scutellum lateral area with narrow costulate sculpture which elongates towards posterior edge; metanotum subrectangular; propodeum with faint traces of median longitudinal carina in apical half, areola absent; spiracles large and oval; irregular faintly sculptured with setae confined in basal half.

Hind femur length = 0.33 mm; hind femur apical width = 0.06 mm; hind femur length/width (0.088) = 3.75; hind tibia length (0.38)/hind femur length (0.33) = 1.15; hind tibial spur = 0.084 (both spurs subequal in length); hind basitarsus = 0.18 mm.

PLATE VI. 28–31. Glyptapanteles trilochae sp. nov. (28) Habitus, female. (29) Mesosoma , female. (30) Propodeum with metasoma, female. (31) parasitized caterpillar of Trilocha varians with solitary cocoon of G. trilochae sp. nov.

PLATE VII. 32–33. Trilocha varians (Walker) (32) A. Unparasitized caterpillar (enlarged view). B. Unparasitized caterpillars. C. Pupa of T. varians (enlarged view). D. Pupae of T. varians . (33) Adult moth.

Wings. Fore wing length = 1.21 mm; width = 0.47 mm; 1RS length = 0.03 mm; 1CUa length (0.08)/1CUb length (0.09) = 0.8; length RS+Ma = 0.19 mm; length M+CU = 0.41 mm; pterostigma length (0.15)/height (0.091)= 1.6; 2r = 0.10 mm; Rs = 0.06 mm; M = 0.04 mm. Hind wing: 1M length = 0.16 mm; 1M length/M+CU length (0.16) = 1.0; length r-m (0.04)/length cu-a (0.10) = 0.4; 1A length = 0.13 mm.

Metasoma. First tergum basal width = 0.089 mm; apical width = 0.045 mm; first tergum median length (0.16)/ distal width (0.045) = 3.5; second tergum length (0.07)/distal width (0.127) = 0.59; first metasomal tergum 3.5× basal width; widest basally with little concavity; tapering towards apex; apically narrowest with shallow sculpture; faint sculpture in basal half, more pronounced on edges. Second metasomal tergum shiny, lateral grooves diverging apically, triangular, median tergum length 0.59× distal width. Third tergum onwards smooth, shiny, and equally setose. Third tergum length = 0.109 mm; 1.55× longer than second tergum. Fourth tergum length = 0.052 mm; fifth tergum length = 0.053 mm; sixth tergum length = 0.045 mm. Ovipositor short and stout, not exserted from hypopygium. Hypopygium short.

Cocoon size L/W (mm) = 1.87: 0.75; creamy white (Fig. 31).

Male. Not known.

Distribution. India: Karnataka.

Material examined. Holotype, female on card, INDIA, Karnataka, Bangalore, 13.08220°N 77.57627°E, 18.x.2012, ex. solitary cocoon from parasitized caterpillar of Trilocha varians (Walker) ( Lepidoptera : Bombycidae ) on Ficus racemosa L. ( Moraceae ), leg. Rajesh. Code NBAII/Micro/Gly/tril/ 181012 -A. Paratype, one female on card, with same data as holotype. All types deposited in National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects (NBAII), Bangalore, India.

Comments. Glyptapanteles trilochae is similar to two closely allied Indian species viz., G. spodopterae and G. hypermnestrae . It resembles G. spodopterae and in having hind wing vannal lobe evenly convex with long hair basally, but differs in having mid femur yellow with little brownish tinge (mid femur entirely black in G. spodopterae ). Also differs in first metasomal tergum 3.5× basal width; widest basally and narrowest apically; faint sculpture in basal half, more pronounced on edges (first metasomal tergum 1.4× maximum width; smooth and shiny in G. spodopterae ). Cocoon L/W (mm) = 1.87: 0.75; solitary in nature (cocoons 3 mm long; gregarious in G. spodopterae ).

This new species differs from G. hypermnestrae in following characters: first tergum narrowest apically in G. trilochae (first tergum smooth except for some very fine striations pre apically; apex much wider; widest preapically; apically narrower and curvaceous on lateral edges in G. hypermnestrae ), and second tergite smooth, shiny, and more triangular in G. trilochae (second tergite smooth and subrectangular in G. hypermnestrae ).

Host record. Caterpillar of Trilocha varians (Walker) ( Lepidoptera : Bombycidae ) on host plant Ficus racemosa L. ( Moraceae ) (Figs 32 & 33).

Etymology. Gender, neutral. This species is named after the host ‘ Trilocha varians ’.

Paraphylax sp. Plate. VIII

Diagnosis. Female. Body length = 3.25mm.

Upper tooth of mandible pointed, maxillary palps elongate; mesoscutum short and shiny, notauli sharp reaching beyond center, scutellum moderately long; sternaulus reaching beyond mid length of mesopleuron later weakens. Propodeum with greenish tinge; strong basal and apical transverse carinae; diverging longitudinal carinae present; areola hexagonal. First tergite with dorsal longitudinal carinae in middle region along with two distinct lateral carinae in basal half. Second and third tergite punctate with longitudinal carinae in basal 1/4th; apical 1/4th of second tergite and apical half of third tergite smooth and shiny. Fifth tergum smooth. Fore wing with infuscation below pterostigma and other one near 1Cua vein. Exerted part of ovipositor 0.36× as long as fore wing. Fourth tergum with basal 1/4th punctate.

Comments. Paraphylax sp. is recorded for the first time from Glyptapanteles trilochae sp. nov. cocoons associated with caterpillar of Trilocha varians (Walker) . This is surely a case of hyperparasitism. The species identity could not be confirmed as more specimens are required for identification.

Male. Not known.

PLATE VIII. 34–37. Paraphylax sp. (34) Habitus, female. (35) Metasoma, female. (36) Head in frontal view, female. (37) Mesosoma in dorsal view, female.

Distribution. India: Karnataka.

Material examined. Two females on card, INDIA, Karnataka, Bangalore 13.08220°N 77.57627°E, 18.x.2012, ex. solitary cocoon from parasitized larvae of Trilocha varians (Walker) ( Lepidoptera : Bombycidae ) on Ficus racemosa L. ( Moraceae ), leg. Rajesh. Code NBAII/Ichneu/Para/ 181012 -B. All specimens deposited in National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects (NBAII), Bangalore, India.