Lysitermus talitzkii Achterberg & Skeppstedt & Väänänen 2021, stat. nov.
Creators: name: Achterberg, Cornelis van
name: Skeppstedt, Fredrik
name: Vaeaenaenen, Simo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Lysitermus
Lysitermus talitzkii

description: Lysitermus talitzkii (Tobias, 1976) stat. nov. Figs 30-32, 33, 34-42, 43-44, 45-47  
Prolysitermus talitzkii Tobias, 1971: 205; Shenefelt 1975: 1155.  
Lysitermus talitzkii; Belokobylskij and Tobias 1986: 64 (as synonym of Lysitermus pallidus); van Achterberg 1991: 20 [examined].  
Prolysitermus longiventris Tobias, 1976: 50, 253.  
Lysitermus longiventris; Belokobylskij and Tobias 1986: 64; van Achterberg 1991: 20. Syn. nov.  
Material.  
 Holotype of Prolysitermus talitzkii, ♂ (ZISP), "MCCP [= Moldova], Kishinev, radiolu, 2.vi.[19]62, 65, Talitzkij", "Holotypus Praelysitermus [sic!] Praelysitermus talitzkii Tobias, [19]71"; 1 ♂ paratype of P. talitzkii (ZISP) from Moldova, Străşeni, 21.vii.1961. Holotype of Prolysitermus longiventris, ♂ (ZISP), "[Russia:] Sochi-Lazarevskoe, 3-4.v.[1]973, V. Tobias", " Prolysitermus longiventris sp. n., Tobias, det. 1973", "Holotypus Prolysitermus longiventris Tobias, 1976"; 1 ♀ paratype (ZISP), “28.iv.[19]75”, "[Russia:] Krasnodarskiy kray, Lazarevskoe, les na terrasirovannych sklonach, 28.iv.1975, V. Tobias", "Paratypus Prolysitermus longiventris Tobias, 1976"; 1 ♂ paratype (ZISP), “11.v.[19]75”, and same label data as ♀ paratype.   
Redescription.  
 Paratype ♀ of L. longiventris, length of fore wing 1.4 mm, and of body 1.6 mm.   
  Head.  Antenna 1.1 × as long as fore wing, with 15 segments, rather widened apically (Fig. 30), scapus oblique apically, length of third segment 1.1 × fourth segment; third, fourth, and penultimate segments 6.6, 5.8, and 2.9 × their width, respectively; face largely smooth, with long erect setae and 2.2 × wider than high; clypeus smooth and distinctly convex; head in dorsal view 1.6 × broader than long medially, eye 1.4 × longer than temple dorsally, strongly and roundly narrowed posteriorly (Fig. 32); vertex smooth and shiny, including area near stemmaticum (Fig. 32); occipital carina strong medio-dorsally and in front of it micro-crenulate; POL:diameter of posterior ocellus: OOL = 20:12:35; eye in lateral view 1.5 × as high as wide, temple distinctly broadening ventrally, smooth, and width of eye 1.3 × minimum width of temple laterally; malar space 0.5 × as long as height of eye and 1.7 × as long as basal width of mandible; frons smooth and shiny.   
  Mesosoma.  Mesosoma 1.5 × as long as high in lateral view; mesoscutum granulate and shiny, medio-posteriorly with indistinct groove (Fig. 32); notauli only anteriorly distinct, largely smooth, but anteriorly crenulated; scutellar sulcus with one median carina and 6 weak crenulae; scutellum largely smooth and shiny, convex (Fig. 32); propodeum shiny, largely smooth between carinae and with large areola, its median carina shorter than anterior side of areola; side of pronotum and mesopleuron largely smooth; precoxal sulcus rather shallow and only its anterior half present, largely smooth; metapleuron largely smooth and with long setae.  Wings.  Fore wing: pterostigma elongate triangular and 5.0 × longer than wide (Fig. 30), r issued from its middle and 0.7 × shorter than width of pterostigma; 2-SR absent except for some pigmentation (Fig. 30); 3-SR 3.1 × longer than r; SR1 straight and reaching tip of wing; m-cu rather short and largely unpigmented; subdiscal cell distally closed, CU1b far from m-cu and CU1a above level of 2-CU1 (Fig. 30).  Legs.  Hind coxa largely smooth; length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 4.5, 11.1, and 8.4 × their width, respectively; hind tarsus compressed.   
  Metasoma.  Length of first tergite 0.6 × its apical width, its surface longitudinally striate and with additional granulate sculpture between striae, dorsal surface evenly convex, its dorsal carinae lamelliform and medially interconnected anteriorly; medial length of second tergite 0.9 × its basal width, and 1.4 × as long as third tergite; second and third tergites longitudinally striate and with distinct additional granulate sculpture between striae; second transverse suture coarsely crenulate and nearly straight (Fig. 31); third tergite antero-laterally with minute tooth-shaped protuberance and gradually narrowed posteriorly (Fig. 31), with distinct and sculptured posterior rim; apical lamella of third metasomal tergite moderately protruding laterally (Fig. 31), straight and narrow medially in dorsal view, with approx. 14 carinae; setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.4 × as long as hind tibia.   
  Colour.  Mainly dark brown; third tergite dark brown, contrasting with largely yellowish brown second tergite (Figs 30, 31); first tergite yellowish brown; scapus infuscated, pedicellus, third and fourth segments yellow; remainder of antenna, ptero stigma, and veins M+CU1 apically, 1-CU1, 1-M, and veins of apical half of fore wing brown; palpi and tarsi pale yellowish; remainder of legs yellowish brown; wing membrane subhyaline.   
 Male. Colour very variable: body entirely dark brown (Fig. 43) to partly yellowish brown (Fig. 45); metasoma slender, darkened and antero-lateral small tooth-like protuberance of third tergite either absent (holotypes, but area slightly convex; Figs 36, 47) or present (Fig. 44); first tergite weakly narrowed posteriorly (Figs 36, 44) or parallel-sided (Fig. 47); vein 3-SR of fore wing 1.4-3.0 × longer than vein r (Figs 34, 43, 45); length of body1.4-1.9 mm and fore wing 1.4-1.5 mm.   
Biology.  
Unknown.  
Distribution.  
Moldova, Poland (Huflejt 1997), Russia.  
Notes.  
 The male holotype of L. talitzkii (Tobias, 1971) was considered to be a synonym of L. pallidus Foerster by Belokobylskij and Tobias (1986) and van Achterberg (1991), but after examination of reared series consisting of both sexes it is obvious that the holotype male with its gradually widened hind tibia (Fig. 45) fits better with L. longiventris, as defined above, and the latter is synonymised with it. The holotype has the notauli shallowly impressed posteriorly (van Achterberg 1995) although normally the posterior half of the notauli are absent, but specimens with vaguely to distinctly indicated notauli have been examined among specimens of the closely related L. tritoma from Sweden (holotype of L. suecicus), Italy, and Portugal, and, therefore, we do not consider the more developed notauli as a valid reason to maintain L. longiventris as a species different from L. talitzkii.   
 Lysitermus longiventris (Tobias) was described from N. Caucasus and is very similar to L. tritoma (Bouček) but differs by having the third metasomal tergite of ten with a minute tooth-like protuberance antero-laterally and its posterior lamella straight medially or nearly so, the metasoma slightly slenderer, the third tergite slightly less narrowed posteriorly, and vein 3-SR of the fore wing usually more than twice as long as vein r. The reduction of the longitudinal rugae on the third tergite is considered less distinctive because reduction of sculpture is common in Lysitermus males and to a lesser degree in females. Other differences given by Belokobylskij and Tobias (1986), such as the first tergite as long as wide at apex and the second tergite longer than its apical width, disagree with the only figure in the very short original description and the figures included here (Figs 31, 36, 44). Characters such as the third tergite less sculptured than second tergite and without distinct lamella apically, the face twice as wide as high, and the width of the hypoclypeal depression equal to distance from eye to depression are more or less also found in males of L. tritoma.
description: Published as part of Achterberg, Cornelis van, Skeppstedt, Fredrik & Vaeaenaenen, Simo, 2021, Revision of the Palaearctic species of Lysitermus Foerster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Hormiinae), pp. 65-89 in ZooKeys 1040 on pages 77-83, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1040.66274