Apanteles salsala 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 salsala

description: Apanteles salsala Liu & Chen, sp. nov.   
(Figures 72, 102)  
 Description. Holotype. Female. Body length 2.1 mm, fore wing length 2.8 mm.   
 Head. Transverse in dorsal view, 1.9× as wide as long, 0.9× as wide as mesoscutum. Vertex between eye and posterior ocellus slightly shiny with shallow punctures. Temple dull with coarse punctures, not constricted. Face 0.8× as high as wide, dull, rough with even, small punctures, inner margin of eyes subparallel-sided. Ocelli large, posterior tangent to anterior ocellus just touching posterior ocelli, distance between fore and hind ocellus not shorter than diameter of hind ocellus, POL:OD:OOL=4.0:2.0:3.5.Antenna about as long as body length, closely articulated, penultimate flagellomere 1.8× longer than wide.   
 Mesosoma. Length:width:height = 40.0:28.0:28.0. Disc of mesonotum slightly shiny with coarse, close punctures, interspaces much smaller than diameter of puncture, punctures confluent at posterior end of notaulic courses, shiny and nearly impunctate along middle. Scutellar sulcus straight, narrow with short carinae inside. Scutellum highly shiny, smooth, except for some superficial punctures anterio-laterally, median length not longer than basal width, and much wider posteriorly. Lateral polished field of scutellum reaching over half length of scutellum. Propodeum slightly shiny, strongly areolated, V-shaped apically, and polished inside, costulae not defined, spiracle enclosed by strong posterior keels, strongly rugose anterio-laterally, smooth with some weak, indistinct carinae around areolation. Mesopleuron highly shiny, anterior parts slightly shiny with shallow, sparse punctures.   
 Legs. Hind femur thick, 2.9× longer than wide. Hind coxa shiny with dense, large punctures above (basally). Spines on outer side of third tibia stout and scattered. Inner spurs of hind tibia almost half length of hind basitarsus, outer spur 1/3. Basitarsus of hind leg about as long as tarsomeres 2–4 combined, claws of normal size.   
 Wings. Pterostigma 3.1× as long as its widest part. Vein 1-R1 1.2× longer than pterostigma, 3.6× as long as its distance from apex of marginal cell. Vein r arising from middle of pterostigma, perpendicular to the latter, 1.2× as long as width of pterostigma, r slightly longer than 2-SR, indistinctly angled at junction, 2-M 2/3 length of 2-SR, as long as 1-SR and 2-SR+M, cu-a as long as 2-SR. First discal cell of fore wing as wide as high. Second submarginal cell of hind wing 1.5× wider than high. Vein cu-a curved at apex. Hind wing broad, length of 1-M much shorter than distance between its distal extremity and apex of vannal lobe, and vannal lobe beyond its widest part concave and without setae.   
 Metasoma. Nearly 0.9× as long as mesosoma (34.0:40.0). T1 parallel-sided, strongly constricted at apical third, short, 1.5× longer than hind width, concave at basal third, turned-over part slightly shiny and rugose-punctate, longitudinal trough indistinct, shiny with sparse, independent punctures apically, and apical tubercle shiny and polished. T2 shiny and smooth, scattered some indistinct punctures laterally, 3.3× wider than long in the middle, nearly straight apically. T3 1.6× longer than T2. Tergites posterior to T2 shiny, smooth and sparsely pubescent. Hypopygium not longer than apex of metasoma, protruding into a short spinule. Ovipositor sheath short, as long as length of hind basitarsus, relatively narrow.   
 Colour. Black. Tegula brown. Palpi yellowish brown and spurs pale yellow. Antenna yellowish brown. Ovipositor sheath brown. Labrum and mandible dark reddish brown. Legs reddish brown, except most part of fore femur, fore tibia with tarsus, middle tibia with tarsus, and basal fourth of hind tibia lighter or yellowish brown, apical third of hind tibia and hind tarsus brownish to black. Wing membrane indistinct brownish, C+SC+R, 1-R1, and upper border of pterostigma brown, pterostigma, r, 2-SR and 2-M pale yellow, the rest more or less pale yellowish.   
 Variation. Body length 1.8–2.6 mm, fore wing length 2.1–3.0 mm.   
 Male. Body length 1.8–1.9 mm, fore wing length 2.4–2.5 mm. Similar to female, except: spiracle enclosed by indefinite posterior keels and antenna much longer, penultimate flagellomere 2.5× longer than wide.   
 Host. According to the label, Iambrix salsala (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae).   
 Material examined. Holotype: 1♀, Changhua, Zhejiang, 1976.VII.9, He Junhua, No. 760310, ex Iambrix salsala. Paratypes: 1♀, Shumuyuan, Shenzhou, Fujian, malaise trap, 1991.IV.11, Tang Yuqing, No. 20009970; 16♀♀ 4♂♂, ditto, 1976.VII.9, ditto, No. 760310, ex Iambrix salsala; 1♀, Xianrending, Mt. Tianmu, Zhejiang, 2003.VII.30, Shi Min, No. 20058201; 1♀, Laodian, Mt. Tianmu, light trap, Zhejiang, 1999.V.18, Zhao Mingshui, No. 20001589.   
 Distribution. China (Fujian, Zhejiang).   
 Etymology. The specific name “ salsala ” derives from the host Iambrix salsala.   
 Remarks. This species is similar to A. javensis Rohwer, but differs in the following: T1 rugose-punctate (almost smooth, highly polished in latter); mesoscutum coarsely punctate (reduced so that the surface is strongly shiny and almost smooth in latter); and cu-a as long as 2-SR (apparently slightly longer than 2-SR 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 147-149, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4807.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3927639