Apanteles aphanofossa Liu & Chen 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Zhen
name: He, Jun-Hua
name: Chen, Xue-Xin
name: Gupta, Ankita
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Apanteles
Apanteles aphanofossa

description: Apanteles aphanofossa Liu & Chen, sp. nov.   
(Figures 9, 98)  
 Description. Holotype. Female. Body length 2.6 mm, fore wing length 3.0 mm.   
 Head. Transverse in dorsal view, 2.0× as wide as long, 1.1× wider than mesoscutum. Vertex between eye and posterior ocellus dull, rough without punctures. Temple rough with shallow punctures, slightly constricted. Face 0.7× as high as wide, dull, densely and strongly punctate, sparsely pubescent, inner margin of eyes parallel-sided. Ocelli large, posterior tangent to anterior ocellus touching posterior ocelli, distance between fore and hind ocellus indistinctly shorter than diameter of hind ocellus, POL:OD:OOL=4.5:2.5:5.0. Antenna distinctly longer than body length, loosely articulated, penultimate flagellomere 1.4× longer than wide.   
 Mesosoma. Length:width:height = 46.0:27.5:33.0. Disc of mesonotum relatively long, nearly 0.9× as long as wide, slightly shiny with relatively strong, coarse punctures, interspaces not smaller than diameter of puncture, punctures confluent to striae at posterior end of notaulic courses. Scutellar sulcus straight, narrow with carinae inside. Scutellum shiny and smooth entirely, except for indefinite punctures laterally, median length indistinctly longer than basal width. Lateral polished field of scutellum hardly reaching half length of scutellum. Propodeum shiny, long, imaginary areola indefinite by rugosity, strongly punctate anterio-laterally, without costulae, spiracle distinctly enclosed by hind keels, elsewhere shiny, smooth, at most with irregular carinae posterio-laterally. Mesopleuron shiny, anterior parts with shallow, sparse punctures.   
 Legs. Hind femur thick, 2.9× longer than wide. Hind coxa shiny with superficial punctures above (basally). Spines on outer side of third tibia relatively dense. Inner spurs of hind tibia nearly 3/5 length of hind basitarsus, outer spur 0.3. Basitarsus of hind leg as long as tarsomeres 2–4 combined, claws of normal size.   
 Wings. Pterostigma 3.2× as long as its widest part. Vein 1-R1 1.3× as long as pterostigma, 4.3× as long as its distance from apex of marginal cell. Vein r arising from apex of pterostigma, almost perpendicular to the latter, slightly longer than width of pterostigma, as long as 2-SR, distinctly angled at junction, 2-M half length of 2-SR, and as long as 1-SR and 2-SR+M, m-cu 4/5 length of 2-SR. First discal cell of fore wing 1.3× wider than high. Second submarginal cell of hind wing 1.8× wider than high. Vein cu-a strongly curved, slightly longer than 1-1A. Hind wing not broad, length of 1-M indistinctly shorter than distance between its distal extremity and apex of vannal lobe, and vannal lobe beyond its widest part straight and hairless.   
 Metasoma. 1.1× longer than mesosoma. T1 parallel-sided, indistinctly converged at apex, long, 2.6× longer than hind width, concave at basal two-fifths, turned-over part dull, rough with coarse punctures laterally, longitudinal channel indistinct by weak rugosity, and apical tubercle polished. T2 slightly shiny and smooth, except for several indefinite punctures laterally, highly triangular, 2.1× wider than long in the middle, sulcus between T2 and T3 indistinct. T3 1.5× longer than T2. Tergites posterior to T2 slightly shiny, smooth and sparsely pubescent. Hypopygium down curved, not shorter than apex of metasoma. Ovipositor sheath about as long as length of hind tibia, thin, hairs long, apical attenuation of ovipositor indistinct and short.   
 Colour. Black. Tegula dark brown. Palpi and spurs pale yellowish. Antenna and ovipositor sheath dark brown. Labrum and mandible dark brown. Legs dark brown to black, except fore leg, apical third of mid femur, mid tibia with tarsus, basal two thirds and basal third of hind basal tarsus yellow. Wing membrane hyaline, C+SC+R, 1-R1, border of pterostigma, r, 2-SR and 2-M light yellowish brown, other alar veins more or less light brown, pterostigma pale yellowish.   
 Variation. Body length 2.5–2.6 mm, fore wing length 2.8–3.0 mm.   
 Male. Unknown.   
 Material examined. Holotype: 1♀, Sanmuping, Mt. Tianmu, Zhejiang, 1998.VII.29, Zhao Mingshui, No. 999190. Paratype: 1♀, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 1981.VI.28, Gao Qikang, No. 911438.   
 Distribution. China (Zhejiang).   
 Etymology. The specific name “ aphanofossa ” derives from the Greek prefix “aphano-” and Latin noun “ fossa ”, referring to the sulcus between T2 and T3 indistinct.   
 Remarks. This species is similar to A. tachardiae Cameron, but differs in the following: r as long as 2-SR (definitely longer than 2-SR in latter); sulcus between T2 and T3 indistinct (distinct in latter); and inner spurs of hind tibia nearly 3/5 length of hind basitarsus (3/ 7 in latter).
description: Published as part of Liu, Zhen, He, Jun-Hua, Chen, Xue-Xin & Gupta, Ankita, 2020, The ater-group of the genus Apanteles Foerster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from China with the descriptions of forty-eight new species, pp. 1-205 in Zootaxa 4807 (1) on pages 27-30, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4807.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3927639