Sericobracon zunigai Zaldivar-Riveron & Shaw 2025, new species
Creators: name: Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro
name: Castañeda-Osorio, Rubén
name: Shaw, Scott R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Sericobracon
Sericobracon zunigai

description: Sericobracon zunigai Zaldívar-Riverón & Shaw, new species
(Figs 6 A-F)
Diagnosis. Sericobracon zunigai sp. nov. can be distinguished from the remaining described species of Sericobracon by having: 1) propleuron, pronotum and most part of mesopleuron whitish yellow to honey yellow (Figs 6A, D) (mostly dark brown or black in the remaining species Figs 2A, D, 3A, B, 4A, D, 5A, D); 3) notauli obscuring before the end of mesoscutum in a longitudinally striate- mostly smooth area (Fig. 6C) (slightly rugose in the remaining species except S. paulmarshi; Figs 3C, 4B, 5C); and 4) mesopleuron mostly coriaceous (Fig.6D) (similar in S. arimaensis and S. evansi (Figs 2D, 3A, B; mostly smooth in S. paulmarshi and S. puravida; Figs 4D, 5D).
Description. Holotype female. Body size 4.4 mm, fore wing 3.2 mm. Colour: vertex, scapus, pedicel and flaggellomeres, mesoscutum, scutellum, propodeum, first, basal and apical median edges of second, and median areas of third to sixth metasimal tergites, and tarsi dark brown to black; frons, area surrounding eyes and temple, propleuron and pronotum, hind and middle coxae, femora and tibiae, most of second, lateral areas of third to sixth, and last three metasomal tergites, and coxae, femora, and tibiae whitish yellow; median and posterior part of mesopleuron whitish to honey yellow; wings hyaline, pterostigma and veins brown; ovipositor and sheaths honey yellow; ovipositor strongly sclerotised at apex.
Head: transverse in dorsal view, 1.7 × wider than its median length. Eye 1.3 × longer than wide; eye width 2.4 × longer than temple in dorsal view. Malar space 0.3 × eye height and 0.8 × as long as width of hypoclypeal depression; mandibles bidentate. Occipital carina complete and reaching hypostomal carina before the base of mandible; inner margins of posterior ocelli (POL) 1.6 longer than ocellar diameter (OD), 0.6 × shorter than distance between outer margin of posterior ocellus and eye (OOL). Vertex striate, frons slightly excavated and glabrous, face transversally striate, with small, sparse setae. One antenna (left) with 32 flagellomeres, second antennae broken (right); first flagellomere about 2.6 × longer than wide, 1.2 × longer than second flagellomere.
Mesosoma: 1.4 × longer than high and 1.8 × longer than wide. Pronotal collar distinct, visible in dorsal view, acinose to slightly coriaceous, sparsely setose; pronotal furrow wide, deep and scrobiculate. Median length of mesoscutum as long as its width (dorsal view); mesoscutal lobes coriaceous, with median mesoscutal lobe slightly projected upwards from lateral lobes; notauli wide, deep, scrobiculate, not joining, obscuring before the endo of mesoscutum in a longitudinally striate-mostly smooth area. Scutellar disc smooth to slightly acinose, prescutellar furrow with six transverse carinae. Mesopleuron mostly coriaceous; precoxal sulcus wide, deep, scrobiculate and slightly coriaceous, about 0.6 × as long as mesopleuron; subalar sulcus wide, deep and scrobiculate. Metapleuron mostly coriaceous, slightly rugose anteriorly. Propodeum mostly coriaceous, rugose apically, with a median longitudinal carina running along basal third, areola distinct and complete.
Wings: fore wing 4.2 × longer than wide. Pterostigma 2.0 × longer than wide and 0.6 × as long as R. Vein r as long as 3RSa, 0.2 × as long as 3RSb, and 1.1 × longer than vein r-m. Vein m-cu antefurcal to 2RS, vein RS+Mb present. First subdiscal cell open. Hind wing vein M+CU 0.6 × as long as 1M, m-cu slightly curved towards wing apex.
Legs: fore tibia without row of spines along anterior margin. Legs mostly smooth to slightly coriaceous. Hind coxa slightly coriaceous ventrally.
Metasoma: first tergite short, 0.8 × as long as apical width, longitudinally costate. Second tergite longitudinally costate; suture between second and third tergites straight, distinct; remaining tergites mostly smooth and polished, slightly acinose in some areas. Ovipositor length 0.9 × as long as metasoma.
Male. Unknown.
Etymology. The name of this species is an honorary patronym for the collector of the holotype, C. Zuniga.
Biology. Unknown.
Material examined. Holotype (CNIN IBUNAM). Female. Costa Rica: Guanacaste, Est. Biol. Maritza, 600 m, xi, 1996, C. Zuniga, Malaise. L. N. 326900-373000.
description: Published as part of Zaldívar-Riverón, Alejandro, Castañeda-Osorio, Rubén & Shaw, Scott R., 2025, Three new species and phylogenetic affinity of the neotropical genus Sericobracon Shaw (Braconidae: Doryctinae), pp. 171-185 in Zootaxa 5613 (1) on pages 180-181, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5613.1.9, http://zenodo.org/record/15216355