Chelonus (Microchelonus) illatus Zhou & Achterberg & Tang & Chen 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Zhou, Jin-Jin
name: Achterberg, Cornelis Van
name: Tang, Pu
name: Chen, Xue-Xin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Chelonus
Chelonus illatus

description: Chelonus (Microchelonus) illatus sp. nov.
Figs 35–36
Material examined. Holotype: male, Qingliang Mt., Zhejiang Prov., China, 9.VIII.2005, Hongying Zhang, No. 200603221 (ZJUH).
Diagnosis. This new species is similar to C. (M.) gratus (Tobias, 1989), sharing the parallel-sided metasomal carapace in dorsal view (Fig. 36E), but the two species can be separated by the following characters: face very narrow, its width 1.5 × its height (Fig. 36G) (versus very wide, 2.4 × in C. (M.) gratus); vein SR1 of fore wing straight (Fig. 36A) (versus sinuate), vertex coarsely transversely rugose (Fig. 36H) (versus weakly striate); base of carapace irregularly reticulate-rugose (Fig. 36E) (versus clearly longitudinally rugose).
Description. Holotype, male, length of body 4.3 mm, of fore wing 3.3 mm.
Head. Head transverse, width of head 2.2 × its dorsal length; occiput slightly excavated; antenna damaged and with 16 antennomeres remaining; eye in dorsal view 1.9 × as long as temple; OOL: OD: POL=20: 9: 14; temple narrowed behind eyes; vertex and frons coarsely transverse-rugose (Fig. 36H); face flat, transversely coarsely reticulate-rugose, width of face 1.5 × its height; eyes about parallel; clypeus dense punctate, shiny, clypeus 2.1 × wider than high; distance between tentorial pits 2.1 × distance between pits and eyes (Fig. 36G).
Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.7 × its height; side of pronotum sparsely punctulate (Fig. 36B); notauli distinct, mesoscutum punctate-rugose, but medio-posteriorly coarsely reticulate-rugose; scutellum punctate; scutellar suture comparatively deep and broad, with carinae; propodeum coarsely rugose, tubercles very small and weak (Fig. 36C).
Wings. Vein r slightly arched; marginal cell as long as pterostigma; pterostigma 2.8 × longer than wide; r: 3-SR: SR1=18: 19: 77; SR1 straight (Fig. 36A); marginal cell 2.3 × longer than second submarginal cell; 1-CU1: 2-CU1=15: 38; 2-R1 short (Fig. 36A).
Legs. Hind coxa mainly smooth, densely setose laterally; length of hind femur, tibia and basitarsus 3.0 ×, 4.0 × and 4.8 × their maximum width, respectively; length of inner hind tibial spur 0.5 × hind basitarsus.
Metasoma. Length of carapace 2.9 × its maximum width in dorsal view, parallel-sided, apically rounded; base of carapace reticulate-rugose up to middle, rugose apically (Fig. 36D); carapace in lateral view 3.4 × longer than high, posterior height of metasoma 1.4 × its anterior height, apex of metasomal carapace slightly incurved (Fig. 36E); apical aperture in posterior view large, oval and median process of aperture shaped as vertical carina (Fig. 36F).
Colour. Body black; antenna brown but scapus yellowish; mandible yellow but tip darkened; palpi light yellow; pterostigma brown, middle of wing and its veins yellowish (Fig. 36A), wing base and its veins light brown; legs almost entirely yellow but apices of hind femur and tibia dark brown; metasoma with pair of large yellowish spots basally.
Female. Unknown.
Biology. Unknown.
Distribution. China (Zhejiang).
Etymology. Named after the parallel-sided metasomal carapace in dorsal view: “ il- ” is Latin for negative prefix and “ latus ” is Latin for broad, wide.
description: Published as part of Zhou, Jin-Jin, Achterberg, Cornelis Van, Tang, Pu & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2024, A review of the subgenera Carinichelonus, Microchelonus, Parachelonus and Stylochelonus of the genus Chelonus Panzer (Braconidae: Cheloninae) with descriptions of twenty-one new species from China, pp. 1-127 in Zootaxa 5412 (1) on pages 45-47, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5412.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/10675974