Balcha camptogastra Gibson 2005, n. sp.
Creators: name: Gibson, Gary A. P.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2005
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Eupelmidae
Balcha
Balcha camptogastra

description: Balcha camptogastra n. sp. (Figs. 2, 25, 41, 58, 59)   
 Type material. Holotype (♀, BMNH): “ BRUNEI: Labi lowland forest, VIII.79, I. Gauld / CNCI JDR­specm 2004­126 / Holotype Balcha camptogastra Gibson ”; glued laterally on card rectangle, entire.   
 Paratypes: ORIENTAL. BRUNEI: Bukit Sulang, Nr. Lamunin, 20.VIII­10.IX.1982, N.E. Stork, B.M. 1982 ­ 388, CNCI JDR­SEM 2004­054 (1♀ BMNH). MALAYSIA: [Sabah], Borneo, Sandakan, Baker (1♀ USNM).   
 Etymology. Formed from the Greek words kamptos (bent or flexible) and gaster (stomach), in reference to the conspicuously recurved gaster of females (Fig. 58); a noun in apposition.   
 Description. FEMALE. Length, 6.5–8 mm. Antenna dark brown except scape and sometimes pedicel and Fl 1 yellow to yellowish­brown; scape widened apically but spindlelike and with outer surface uniformly setose; Fl 1 slightly longer than apical width and about half as long as pedicel; Fl 2 subequal in length to clava. Head with punctures green to blue or purple in contrast to dark or coppery interstices at least on parascrobal region (Fig. 2), the lower face more uniformly green to blue under some angles of light, and upper parascrobal region with large green to blue spot in coriaceous­punctulate region (cf. Fig. 12); ocellar region and about anterior half of vertex posterior to ocelli dark with coppery luster under some angles of light, the dark or coppery region tapered posteriorly into mostly green to blue or purple occiput medially in region between posterior ocelli and laterally in region between posterior ocellus and inner orbit. Face with setiferous punctures (Fig. 25), the punctures closely crowded near oral margin but elsewhere separated by flat, coriaceous interstices, except about dorsal third of parascrobal region flat with punctures increasingly smaller and shallowed into coriaceous sculpture adjacent to ocelli, and uniformly setose with white setae. Scrobal depression with scrobes dark or with slight purple or violaceous luster under some angles of light, and transversely reticulate­strigose dorsally; channel transversely reticulate­strigose ventrally to coriaceous and setose dorsally (Fig. 25), and with two bright green to blue bands, a transverse band ventrally and a more dorsal V­ like band formed by paramedial spots, the region between the bands and below anterior ocellus dark or with slight coppery luster under some angles of light (Fig. 2).   
Pronotum dark with coppery luster anteriorly, but posteriorly and laterally greenish to blue; distinctly coriaceous to transversely coriaceous­aciculate. Tegula yellowish. Mesoscutum green laterally and posterodorsally except for at least a small purple region anterior to axilla, with dark notaular and parapsidal bands having distinct coppery to slightly reddish luster forming a somewhat T­like pattern, the bands broadly contiguous over about anterior half of mesoscutum except separated posteriorly by slender paranotaular band, the parapsidal band extending for only short distance posterior to parapsidal line but broadened laterally near apex of parapsidal band, and with notaular band medially about one­third width of scutellar­axillar complex and widened posteriorly to extend across width of scutellum. Mesoscutum (Fig. 41) alveolate laterally, dorsally the punctures smaller, distinctly reticulate­punctulate posterolaterally in small region anterior to axilla, between notauli, and near parapsidal line; without distinct depression anterior to level of inner margin of axilla; laterally with white, slightly lanceolate setae and dorsally with mixture of brownish to white, but more hairlike setae. Scutellum dark with coppery to reddish luster except narrowly greenish to blue along sides; reticulate with longitudinal interstices not aligned into rugae (Fig. 41). Metanotum green or with dorsellum purple under some angles of light; dorsellum thick, with crenulate dorsal surface and coriaceous, bare, posterior surface; precrenular region of panel sparsely setose, the setae indistinctly aligned into 2 rows. Acropleuron with elongate­slender, minutely coriaceous subalar region separating punctate­alveolate prealar region from finely coriaceous­aciculate postalar region; prealar region green anteriorly, violaceous medially and bluish to green posteriorly, but subalar region usually dark and postalar region dark with violaceous to greenish­blue luster under some angles of light. Lower mesepimeron coriaceous to shallowly punctate­reticulate. Metapleuron coriaceous­reticulate to scabrous, with distinct crenulate furrow along posterior margin but uniformly sculptured anteriorly. Propodeum mostly green dorsally but vertical surface of callus purple; paraspiracular region bare, the setae anterior to spiracle extending mesally only to about level of inner margin of spiracle; callus virtually smooth between setal pores; plical region bare, with carinate margin of foramen ­like recurved to anterior margin of propodeum as fine median carina similar in appearance to crenulae lateral to median carina. Forewing hyaline; vannal area with subcubital setal line extending over about apical half. Legs yellowish beyond coxae except outer and dorsal surfaces of profemur apically and protibia extensively brown.  
Petiole composed of anterior carina and slightly wrinkled but quite shiny lunate horizontal surface (Fig. 41). Gaster in dorsal view dark brown except syntergum with greenish luster under some angles of light, in lateral view all terga green to blue dorsally and purple to violaceous ventrally under some angles of light; about twice as long as head and mesosoma combined with about posterior half, consisting of penultimate tergum and syntergum, variably strongly recurved dorsally to anterodorsally (Fig. 58). Syntergum about 0.75–0.8 x as long as remaining gaster, with about basal third comprising larger region surrounding ovipositor sheaths and having cercus at base, and about apical twothirds forming slender, convex surface above ovipositor sheaths (Fig. 59); uniformly setose and sculptured.  
MALE. Unknown.  
 Biology. Unknown.   
 Discussion. Balcha camptogastra is known only from the island of Borneo. Females are readily differentiated from other laciniosa ­group species by their conspicuously curved gaster (Fig. 58) and elongate syntergum that is differentiated into a basal portion that surrounds the ovipositor sheaths and a slender dorsoapical portion that lies above the ovipositor sheaths (Fig. 59). The unknown males likely most closely resemble B. laciniosa males. All males identified as B. laciniosa have some conspicuous, white, lanceolate setae interspersed with hairlike setae posteriorly on the mesoscutum, even through the notaular band (Fig. 9), which B. camptogastra males probably lack. Males of B. camptogastra may also have a flatter and more distinctly reticulate scutellum than B. laciniosa males, if scutellar structure and sculpture in males is similar to females (cf. Figs. 36, 41).
description: Published as part of Gibson, Gary A. P., 2005, The world species of Balcha Walker (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eupelmidae), parasitoids of wood-boring beetles, pp. 1-62 in Zootaxa 1033 (1) on pages 15-17, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1033.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5050581