Rugosimirax obsolescens Liu & Polaszek 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Zhen
name: Polaszek, Andrew
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Rugosimirax
Rugosimirax obsolescens

description: Rugosimirax obsolescens sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: ACCB02F7-CCCA-4BE8-9002-DC8D50AC0715
Fig. 1
Diagnosis
Body length 1.0 mm, yellow; eyes 2.1 × as long as temple dorsally; POL:OD:OOL = 3.3:1.0:1.8; frons clearly concave in front of anterior ocellus, with minute punctures at sides; clypeus 2.2 × as wide as medial length; 1 st flagellomere nearly 1.2 × as long as 2 nd, ultimate flagellomeres 3.2 × as long as wide; notaular courses distinct in anterior half; hind depressions on scutellum obselete; propodeum highly polished with distinct oblique carinae laterally and transverse carina forming open U-shaped areola; vein 1-R1 short; T2 particularly long, at least 1.2 × as long as wide; ovipositor sheath with long and dense setae apically.
Etymology
The specific epithet ‘ obsolescens ’ derives from Latin, referring to the obsolete posterior depressions on scutellum.
Material examined
Holotype BRUNEI • ♀; Bukit Sulang nr. Lamunin; N.E.Stork leg.; NHMUK010639261.
Paratypes BRUNEI • 1 ♀; same data as for holotype; NHMUK010639273 • 4 ♂♂; same data as for holotype; NHMUK010639264, NHMUK010639277, NHMUK010639279, NHMUK010639287.
INDONESIA • 1 ♀; Sulawesi, Utara, Dumoga Bone N.P.; Jul. 1985; NHMUK010639284 • 1 ♂; same data as for preceding; NHMUK010639285.
Description
Female
MEASUREMENT. Body length 1.0 mm, fore wing length 1.1 mm (Fig. 1a).
HEAD. 1.7 × as wide as long, 1.2 × as wide as mesoscutum. Eyes 2.1 × as long as temple dorsally. Temple smooth, impunctate and shiny, constricted behind eyes in dorsal view (Fig. 1b). Ocelli small, distance between fore and hind ocellus 1.7 × as long as transverse diameter of hind ocellus, POL:OD:OOL = 3.3:1.0:1.8, frons clearly concave in front of anterior ocellus, with minuate punctures at sides. Face (Fig. 1c) smooth, setose and shiny nearly impunctate, convex medially, transverse, 1.3 × as wide as high. Clypeus 2.2 × as wide as medial length. Antenna (Fig. 1d) slightly shorter than body length (0.9 ×), with scape, pedicel and 1 st, 2 nd, penultimate and ultimate flagellomeres 1.9, 1.7, 4.3, 3.7, 2.9 and 3.2 × as long as wide, 1 st nearly 1.2 × as long as 2 nd, other flagellomeres subsquent to the 2 nd nearly the same size as 2 nd.
MESOSOMA. Length:width:height = 7.0:5.0:5.0. Mesonotum (Fig. 1e) shiny with superficial indistinct punctures, notaular courses distinct in anterior half, absent in posterior half, polished along posterior margin. Scutellar sulcus slightly curved, narrow without distinct carina. Scutellum shiny, smooth with pubescence but narrowly glabrous medio-posteriorly, hind depressions indistinct. Metanotum with two distinct pits posterior to scutellum. Propodeum shiny, smooth with distinct oblique carinae at sides, and transverse carina forming open U-shaped areola. Mesopleuron highly polished, impunctate.
LEGS. Hind femur (Fig. 1h) 3.0 × as long as its widest part. Length of hind femur:tibia:basitarsus = 1.6:2.7:1.0. Basitarsus of hind leg 0.7 × as long as tarsomeres 2–5.
WINGS. Fore wing (Fig. 1g): pterostigma narrow, 3.6 × as long as its widest part, vein 1-R1 present, nearly 0.3 length of pterostigma; vein r:2-SR:2-M = 1.0:3.9:1.4, 1-SR:1-M = 1.0:2.5, 1-CU1:2-CU1 =1.0:1.7; first discal cell of fore wing 1⅓ × as wide as high. Hind wing: vein M+CU:1-M:r-m = 2.2:3.2:1.0.
METASOMA. Nearly 1.1 × as long as mesosoma. T1 (Fig. 1i) smooth, spatulate-shape, 2.6 × as long as its maximum width, distinctly narrowed medially. T2 particularly long, at least 1.2 × as long as wide. T3 0.6 × as long as median T2. Hypopygium distinctly shorter than apex of metasoma. Ovipositor (Fig. 1h) sheath indistinctly (1.1 ×) as long as hind basitarsus, with long and dense setae apically.
COLOUR. Yellow (Fig. 1a), except notaular courses and metasomal terga brown. Palpi and spurs pale yellow. 2 nd to penultimate flagellomeres and apex of ovipositor sheath brown. Wing membrane hyaline, vein r, pterostigma, 1-SR, 1-M and 1-CU1 brown, other veins light brown.
Male
Similar to female, except body length 1.1 mm, fore wing 1.2 mm, antenna slightly longer, body colour lighter, and scutellar hind depressions more obvious.
Host
Unknown.
Distribution
Borneo (Brunei); Indonesia (Sulawesi).
Remarks
This species is very small (1 mm) which is known only in a North American miracine species Mirax minuta Ashmead, 1893, but it differs distinctly from the latter in the following: propodeum with distinct oblique carinae and transverse carina (propodeum without striae or rugae in M. minuta); head yellow (head black in M. minuta); and 7 terminal flagellomeres about 3 × as long as wide (shorter, scarcely 2 × in M. minuta).
description: Published as part of Liu, Zhen & Polaszek, Andrew, 2024, First records of Miracinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Borneo with description of two new species, pp. 283-292 in European Journal of Taxonomy 935 on pages 285-287, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2024.935.2563, http://zenodo.org/record/11616432