Pholetesor indicus, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ahmad, Zubair
name: Ghramh, Hamed A.
name: Pandey, Kavita
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Pholetesor
Pholetesor indicus

description: Pholetesor indicus sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: A0F294EB-CC47-4DF7-A9FE-DA2201BECCA2
Fig. 3
Diagnosis
Pholetesor indicus sp. nov. is closely related to P. bicolor (Ness, 1874) in the European keys to the species of ʻ circumscriptus -groupʼ (Nixon, 1973; Papp 1983) on the basis of the following characters: metanotum strongly retracted from scutellum anteriorly, exposing mesothoracic postphragma; pterostigma almost 3.0× as wide as long; vein 1-R1 (metacarp) clearly as long as or shorter than pterostigma, vein r and 2-SR meeting angularly; propodeum largely smooth; T1 largely smooth, polished and strongly narrowed apically; T2 +3 smooth and polished, metasomal tergites and legs more often yellowish. However, it differs from P. bicolor in the following characters: mesoscutum punctations are prominent all along the mesoscutum surface (punctations becoming indistinct posteriorly near scutellum in P. bicolor); tegulae blackish brown (tegulae yellowish to pale yellowish in P. bicolor) pterostigma about 3.0× as wide as long (pterostigma about 2.5× as wide as long in P. bicolor); hind coxae black (hind coxae often yellowish in P. bicolor); ovipositor sheaths 0.9 × as long as hind basitarsi, small and thick (ovipositor sheaths 1.1–1.2× as long as hind basitarsi, comparatively large with blunt apex in P. bicolor); F2 2.3× as long as wide (F2 3.5× as long as wide in P. bicolor); F5–F11 with double rank of placodes (F5–F6 with double rank of placodes in P. bicolor).
The new species is also very similar to P. circumscriptus. However, it differs from P. circumscriptus in the following characters: vein 1-R1 (metacarp) as long as or shorter than pterostigma (vein 1-R1 (metacarp) clearly longer than pterostigma in P. circumscriptus); T2 subtriangular, 2.0× as wide as long posteriorly, hence more transverse (T2 strongly triangular, 3 × as wide as long posteriorly in P. circumscriptus); forewing vein r and 2-SR meeting angularly (forewing vein r and 2-SR meeting each other less angularly in P. circumscriptus).
Apart from the similarities with P. bicolor, the new species also runs close to P. teresitergum Liu & Chen, 2016 in the key to the Chinese species of the genus Pholetesor (Liu et al. 2016). However, it differs from P. teresitergum in the following characters: eyes 2.2× as long as temple in dorsal view (eyes 1.6× as long as temple in dorsal view in P. teresitergum); ocelli large (ocelli relatively small in P. teresitergum); scutellum highly polished (scutellum punctate with hairs in P. teresitergum); ovipositor sheaths small and thick, slender with a bluntly rounded tips, (ovipositor sheaths small and subfusiform in P. teresitergum); tegulae blackish brown (tegulae yellowish in P. teresitergum).
Material examined
Holotype INDIA • ♀; Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh; 27°54′51.0″ N, 78°04′24.7″ E; 27 Oct. 2005; Z. Ahmad leg.; ex. Acrocercops phaeospora Meyrick, 1914 on Syzygium cuminii (L.) Skeels; ZDAMU.
Paratypes INDIA • 5 ♀♀, 2 ƋƋ; same collection data as for holotype; ZDAMU.
Etymology
The new species is named after its type locality.
Description
Female
MEASUREMENTS. Body lenght = 1.7–1.8 mm; length of antenna =2.0 mm; Length of fore wing= 1.7 mm.
HEAD. Transverse, almost 2 × as wide as long in dorsal view; eyes 2.2× as long as temple in dorsal view; eyes 1.3 × as long as wide, setose; temple and vertex punctate with hairs; OOL: POL: AOL: OD = 4: 3: 2: 2; frons concave, smooth, shiny, punctate with hairs; face medially convex, punctate with white pilosity, 1.3× as wide as long; clypeus smooth, punctate with hairs; malar space 1.5× as long as basal width of mandible; antennae longer than body, scape 1.2× as long as wide, pedicel 0.66 × as long as wide, F2 2.3× as long as wide, F14 1.5 × as long as wide, F5–F11 with double rank of placodes, apical segment pointed.
MESOSOMA. 1.5 × as long as wide; mesoscutum as wide as head and strongly punctate with hairs, punctations prominent all along mesoscutum surface; scutellar sulcus narrow and crenulate; scutellum smooth and polished, side of scutellum smooth and shiny; propodeum almost 2× as wide as long, largely smooth except antero-medially punctate with long hairs, posterior corners somewhat weakly rugulose; propleuron smooth and shiny; mesopleuron concave, smooth and shiny, antero-lateral, punctate with hairs; metapleuron smooth and shiny with few hairs.
WINGS. Fore wings hyaline, about 3.0× as long as wide, pterostigma about 3.0× as wide as long, 1-R1, about 0.9× as long as length of pterostigma, r and 2-SR meeting angularly; venal lobe of hind wing convex.
LEGS. Hind coxae hairy, length of hind femur, tibia and basitarsus 2.6, 5.0 and 2.6 × their width, respectively, outer tibial spur 0.5× as long as hind basitarsus.
METASOMA. 1.7× as long as wide; T1 3.6× as long as its apical width and 1.8× its basal width, distinctly narrowed apically, smooth and shiny; T2 subtriangular, 3 × as wide as long, smooth except few punctations; hypopygium sclerotized, folded medially and blunt at apex; ovipositor sheaths small and thick, slender with bluntly rounded tips, 0.7× as long as hypopygium and 0.9× longer than hind basitarsi, hairy at apical one third, arising below at mid length of valvifer; ovipositor weakly curved downward.
COLOUR. Body blackish brown except for the following: ocelli testaceous; palpi, labarum, fore leg, mid leg and hind leg yellowish except coxae; tegulae blackish brown; scape, pedicel, latero-tergites of T1 and T2 and ovipositor yellowish brown; antennae brown; ovipositor sheaths, fore, mid and hind coxae black; mid and hind femur infuscate; pterostigma, vein C+ SC+R, 1-R1, 2-SR, Cu-a, 1-Cu1, 2-Cu1 and 2-M brown; remaining veins colourless, wings hyaline.
Male
Same as holotype except antennae longer than body length, F1–F3 with double rank of placodes.
Host
Acrocercops phaeospora.
Distribution
India: Uttar Pradesh.
Remarks
Pholetesor indicus sp. nov. can be distinguished from all previously described species by the unique combination of characters as follows: ocelli large; scutellum highly polished; propodeum almost 2 × as wide as long, largely smooth except antero-medially punctate with long hairs, posterior corners somewhat weakly rugulose; T1 3.6 × as long as its apical width and 1.8 × its basal width, distinctly narrowed apically, smooth and shiny; T2 subtriangular, 3× as wide as long, smooth except few punctations; T3 rectangular, 1.40× as long as T2, unsculptured; hypopygium sclerotized, folded medially and blunt at apex; ovipositor sheaths small and thick, slender with a bluntly rounded tips, 0.7× as long as hypopygium, hairy at apical one third, arising below at mid length of valvifer; ovipositor weakly curved downward.
description: Published as part of Ahmad, Zubair, Ghramh, Hamed A. & Pandey, Kavita, 2020, Parasitoids of the genus Pholetesor Mason, 1981 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Microgastrinae) from the leafminers Lepidoptera, with the description of three new species from India, pp. 24-37 in European Journal of Taxonomy 726 on pages 31-34, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2020.726.1171, http://zenodo.org/record/5627749