Dirrhope indica Ranjith 2021, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ranjith, A. P.
name: Samartsev, K. G.
name: Nasser, M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Dirrhope
Dirrhope indica

description: Dirrhope indica Ranjith sp. nov.
Material examined: Holotype, female, “ INDIA: Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, JNTBGRI, 06.i.2020, sweep net, coll. Ranjith, A.P. ” (DZUC). Antenna missing.
Description. Female. Body length 1.42 mm; fore wing length 1.2 mm.
Head. Head 0.7 × as wide as its length in anterior view, almost 1.8 × its median length, 1.7 × maximum length in dorsal view; occiput strongly concave medially (Fig. 1C); head behind eyes distinctly roundly narrowed (Fig. 1C); length of temple 0.56 × transverse diameter of eye; ocelli in an equilateral triangle (Fig. 1C); POL as long as OD, 0.3 × OOL; OD 0.3 × OOL; frons distinctly concave, with distinct median carina (Fig. 1C); eye glabrous, 1.5 × as high as broad; face with distinct vertical carina (Fig. 1B); width of face 0.8 × height of eye and 1.3 × height of face; malar space height 0.12 × height of eye, 0.6 × basal width of mandible; clypeal suture deep and complete (Fig. 1B); clypeus convex, roundly convex on lower margin (Fig. 1B); width of clypeus 1.8 × its height; maxillary palps 0.7 × height of head, third palpomere 3.0 × as long as wide; antenna missing.
Mesosoma. Mesosoma 1.9 × as long as its height; lateral depression of pronotum narrow, deep and crenulate (Fig. 1E); notauli distinct anteriorly, absent posteriorly (Fig. 1D); prescutellar depression shallow and short, with median carina, smooth-crenulate, about 0.25 × as long as scutellum (Fig. 1D); scutellum almost flat, without lateral carinae and without transverse posterior depression (Fig. 1D); prepectal carina distinct (Fig. 1E); precoxal sulcus indistinct (Fig. 1E); mesopleuron with rather long oblique smooth furrow in medioposterior part (Fig. 1E); propodeum angularly narrowed posteriorly (lateral view) (Fig. 1E).
Legs. Hind femur 2.9 × as long as wide; hind tibia strongly widened apically, its length 5.0 × maximum width, 1.25 × length of hind femur; maximum width of hind tibia 0.82 × width of hind femur; inner spur of hind tibia 0.5 × as long as basitarsus; hind tarsus almost as long as hind tibia.
Wings. Length of fore wing 2.3 × its maximum width; pterostigma wide and short, 2.0 × as long as wide, as long as 1-R1; vein r arising almost from middle of pterostigma; sclerotised part of 3-SR 3.2 × as long as r, 1.4 × 2-SR; vein 2-SR sinuate (Fig. 2C); vein r 0.9 × as long as maximum width of pterostigma; vein m-cu 1.6 × as long as 2-SR+M, 0.45 × 2-SR; vein 1-CU1 1.6 × length of cu-a; length of hind wing 4.0 × its width; C+SC+R 0.58 × 1- SC+R; M+CU 1.7 × 1-M; hind wing with marginal cell in basal one-third weakly narrowed, with unsclerotised r.
Metasoma. Metasoma 0.6 × as long as mesosoma; first tergite narrow, with short medial furrow basally, almost parallel-sided in apical half, with distinct spiracular tubercles slightly behind middle of tergite (Fig. 2A); length of first tergite 2.4 × its apical width; second tergite with two shallow weak oblique furrows (Fig. 2A); length of second tergite 0.4 × its basal width, 1.4 × length of third tergite; ovipositor sheath short, setose, rounded apically, about 0.4 × as long as first tergite (Fig. 2B).
Sculpture and pubescence. Vertex with distinct transverse striae, long setose laterally and sublaterally (Fig. 1C); frons with distinct dense semicircular striae (Fig. 1C); face finely and entirely granulate, long setose (Fig. 1B); temple with longitudinal striae (Fig. 1E); middle lobe of mesoscutum rugose anteriorly with long striations posteriorly, lateral lobes of mesoscutum granulate (Fig. 1D); scutellum smooth (Fig. 1D); mesopleuron smooth, faintly granulate anteriorly (Fig. 1E); metapleuron granulate (Fig. 1E); propodeum granulate or coriaceous, with distinct marginate areas (Fig. 1F); areola rather narrow and pentagonal, distinctly narrowing posteriorly (Fig. 1F); median carina 1.6 × as long as fork; first tergite of metasoma mostly rugulose.
Colour. Body yellow except eye, mandible apically, ocellar area, pterostigma, fore wing veins r and 2-SR, ovipositor sheath apically light brown to dark brown, area below pterostigma infuscated.
Male. Unknown.
Biology. Unknown.
Distribution. India (Kerala).
Comparative diagnosis. The new species, Dirrhope indica comes close to D. minor in having propodeum without sublateral cells near areola. We consider this to be a new species given the differences listed in the key and a number of other differences from D. minor; mesosoma 1.9 × as long as high (1.5 × as long as high in D. minor), propodeal areola narrowing apically (parallel-sided in D. minor), mesosoma 1.9 × as long as high (1.5 × as long as high in D. minor), sclerotised part of fore wing vein 3-SR 3.2 × as long as r (sclerotised part of fore wing vein 3-SR 2 × as long as vein r in D. minor), fore wing shorter than body (fore wing longer than body in D. minor), fore wing vein cu-a 0.6 × as long as 1-CU1 (vein cu-a as long as 1-CU 1 in D. minor).
description: Published as part of Ranjith, A. P., Samartsev, K. G. & Nasser, M., 2021, Discovery of the braconid subfamily Dirrhopinae van Achterberg (Hymenoptera Ichneumonoidea) from the Indian subcontinent with the description of a new species from south India, pp. 251-262 in Zootaxa 4908 (2) on pages 254-258, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4908.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/4438394