Ephedrus carsteni Davidian & Manukyan & Belokobylskij 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Davidian, Elena M.
name: Manukyan, Andranik R.
name: Belokobylskij, Sergey A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Ephedrus
Ephedrus carsteni

description: Ephedrus carsteni Davidian, sp. nov.
Figs 1, 2
http://zoobank.org/ 4C6CC756-81F0-4F26-AD74-4EB6C018857E
Type material. Holotype: female, GPIH N. 5080 (CCGG N. 9184).
Type locality and horizon. Baltic amber. Upper Eocene, Prussian Formation. Baltic Sea coast and amber quarry Yantarny near Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Province, Russia.
Etymology. Named in honour of Mr Carsten Gröhn, Chairman of Association for the Promotion of the Geological-Palaeontological Museum of the University of Hamburg e. V. “Working Group Bernstein”.
Description. Female. Body length 1.2 mm, fore wing length 0.9 mm, antenna length 0.7 mm.
Head (Figs 1A, B) transverse (dorsal view), wider than mesoscutum, covered by dense and short setae. Eye semi-spherical, convex, glabrous. Temple approximately 0.7 × as long as eye (dorsal view). Maxillary palpus 4-segmented, labial palpus 2-segmented. Second segment of maxillary palpus 5.0 × longer than its medial width and approximately equal to length of four segment. Second segment of labial palpus 2.0 × longer than its medial width.
Antenna (Fig. 1A) thickened, with 11 antennomeres, weakly widened towards apex, in dense and short setae, setae distinctly shorter than antennomere width. F1 and F2 subequal length. F1 cylindrical, perhaps without rhinaria (multiparous plate sensillae), 3.0 × longer than its median width. F2 weakly widened towards apex, with single rhinaria on its visible side, 2.3 × longer than its medial width. F3, F4 and F5 almost same length and each weakly widened towards apex; both F3 and F4 with single rhinaria on visible side. F5–F8 weakly shorter and wider than previous antennomeres, all with pair of rhinaria on visible side, their length 1.6, 1.4, 1.4 and 1.13 × larger than width respectively.
Mesosoma. Mesoscutum (Fig. 1 В) entirely covered by short and dense setae. Notauli and precoxal sulcus absent. Propodeum smooth, with areola delineated by weak carinae, covered by dense and short setae.
Wings. Fore wing (Fig. 2 А, В) with complete venation, with seven cells closed by veins. All veins sclerotised and pigmented. Pterostigma triangle, 3.3 × longer than its maximum width. Radial vein (r) arising before middle of pterostigma. Third abscissa of radial vein (SR1) 4.0 × longer than first radiomedial vein (2-SR) and 2.0 × longer than second abscissa of radial vein (3-SR); second abscissa of radial vein (3-SR) 1.4 × longer than second radiomedial vein (r-m) and 2.0 × longer than first radiomedial vein (2-SR). Distal margin of fore wing with long setae, which is longer than setae on membrane of wing. Hind wing with closed medial (basal) cell.
Legs. Legs covered by dense, long and semi-erect setae. Femora and tibiae of fore and middle legs almost similar length. Hind femur 5.0 × longer than its maximum width; hind tibia 9.0 × longer than its maximum width; hind tibia 1.5 × longer than hind femur.
Metasoma (Figs 1B, С). Metasoma elongate, lanceolate. Petiole short and wide, distinctly convex medially, approximately 1.2 × longer than its width at level of spiracular tubercles, smooth basally and with sparse longitudinal striation in apical half. All metasomal tergites clearly visible in amber. Last tergite, cerci and hypopygium clearly visible (Figs 2 С, D). Ovipositor sheath narrowed towards apex, covered by dense setae, 2.4 × longer than its maximum width (Figs 2 С, D).
Pubescence. Head, antenna, legs as well as entire body covered by rather dense setae.
Colour. Body mainly monochrome dark brown, with yellowish medium spot on third and fourth metasomal tergites.
Male. Unknown.
Comparative diagnosis. This new fossil species belongs to the subgenus Ephedrus of the genus Ephedrus Haliday, 1833 and to the species group E. (E.) plagiator (Nees, 1811) on the basis of several distinct features: namely, antenna with 11 antennomeres (except only the female of E. (E.) antennalis Tomanović, 2020 with 12 antennomeres), venation of fore wing complete with presence of the first (2-SR) and second (r-m) radiomedial veins and seven complete cells (radial (marginal), first and second radiomedial (submarginal), discoidal (discal), brachial (subdiscal), medial (basal), and submedial (subbasal) ones); second abscissa of radial vein (3-SR) longer than first radiomedial vein (2-SR). Ovipositor sheaths in the members of this species group more or less distinctly elongate, straight or weakly upcurved and usually with sparse setae, although the sheaths are densely pubescent in E. (E.) validus (Haliday, 1833), E. (E.) carinatus Tomanović, 2020 and E. (E.) rasnitsyni Davidian & Kaliuzhna, 2021 (Davidian et al. 2021a).
description: Published as part of Davidian, Elena M., Manukyan, Andranik R. & Belokobylskij, Sergey A., 2023, A new and the second fossil species of the genus Ephedrus Haliday, 1833 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) from Baltic amber, pp. 587-593 in Zootaxa 5297 (4) on pages 588-591, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5297.4.8, http://zenodo.org/record/8009259