Diolcogaster confusus Gupta & Sushil 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Gupta, Ankita
name: Sushil, S. N.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Diolcogaster
Diolcogaster confusus

description: Diolcogaster confusus Gupta sp. nov.
Key characters. Antenna/ body length ratio 1.06; OOL: POL: OD- 0.14: 0.18: 0.08; areolet shape triangular, large, r-m interstitial; ratio of hind wing veins (1-M/ M+CU) 1.15; T1, T2 and T3 not forming carapace; median longitudinal groove in T1, median field in T2 weak; ratio of T2/ T3 median length 2.89; hind coxal length/ T1 median length ratio 2.3.
Description. Female body length 3.45 (Fig. 2A). Colour (Figs. 2A). Body black except first two metasomal tergites; labial and maxillary palps off-white; eyes grey; ocelli grey; clypeus yellow; mandibles yellow with apical dark margins. Antenna with scape and pedicel yellowish brown with dark brown patches dorsally, flagellomeres dark brown; tegula yellowish-brown. Fore and mid leg light yellow brown; hind leg with coxa black, trochanter and trochantellus yellow testaceous; hind femur reddish brown except yellow basal tip, hind tibia bicolored, apical half dark brown and basal tip with a dark brown faint infuscation dorsally; hind tibial spurs yellow testaceous; fore wing uniformly infuscated without distinct patch, pterostigma dark brown; first metasomal tergite yellow testaceous, second metasomal tergite yellow except for dark brown spots adjacent to the centre at posterior margin of second tergite adjoining third tergite, remaining tergites dark brown; first three lateral sternites pale yellow to testaceous.
Head (Fig. 2B). Head 1.27 × as wide as long, coarsely rugose punctate, with median longitudinal carina in the centre; eyes densely setose; face with sparse pilosity; setae much denser around torular region and clypeal region; antenna 1.1 × as long as body in profile view. Ocellar region smooth, shiny, without prominent setae (Fig. 2C). OOL: POL: OD- 0.14: 0.18: 0.08; compound eye (height in frontal view) 0.5.
Mesosoma (Fig. 2E). Mesosoma coarsely punctate and setose; scutellar sulcus with 10 costulae; scutellum coarsely punctate; mesopleuron rugose punctate. Propodeum with strong medial longitudinal carina; coarsely punctate. Measurements: mesosoma in dorsal view 1.14 as long as wide; hind femur 1.02: 0.28; hind tibia 1.13: 1.14. Wings (Fig. 2D). Fore wing: dusky, 2.53 × as long as wide; areolet small, triangular; pterostigma (length: height) 0.68: 0.26. Fore wing vein length measurements: r 0.2; 1-R1 0.69; 2-SR 0.16; 3-SR 0.07, 2M 0.11, r-m 0.06; M+CU1 0.99; 1-CU1: 2-CU1 0.16: 0.23; 1-SR-M 0.41; 2-SR-M 0.17; m-cu 0.16. Hind wing vein length measurements: 1-M 0.40; M+CU 0.35. Metasoma (Fig. 2G). Hind coxa length 0.79, 2.3 as long as T1, distinctly punctate with pilosity. Inner hind tibial spur length: hind basitarsus (0.50: 0.62). Hind coxa reaching a little beyond T2.
Metasoma. T1 1.85 × as long as its apical width, widest preapically (Fig. 2F), with median longitudinal groove not reaching apical margin; T2 median length 1.58 × as long as T1, with sub median oblique lateral sulci limited to the basal one third, median field in T2 weak; ovipositor sheaths dark brown, 0.26 in length. T3 0.35 × times as long as T2.
Comments. This new species comes close to D. punctata (Rao & Chalikwar, 1976) in having weak median field however differs from the latter in having POL: OOL = 1.28; T1 1.35 × as long as its maximum width (vs POL: OOL = 1.1; T1 2.5 × as long as its maximum width in D. punctata). The new species differs from D. malabarensis Narendran & Sheeba, 2003 in the following set of characters: POL/OOL 1.28; T1 1.85 × as long as its apical width and T3 0.35 × as long as T2 (vs ratio of POL/OOL 1.5; T1 1.2 × as long as its apical width and T3 subequal to T 2 in length in D. malabarensis); also differs from D. aurangabadensis in fore and mid coxa yellow in colour (vs black in D. aurangabadensis).
Holotype. India: Himachal Pradesh: Chamba District: Khajjiar; 32.555795° N, 76.0655834° E; 24 Sept. 2014; Ankita Gupta leg; (NIM), code— NBAIR / Brac / Micg / Diol /24914C (NIM).
Paratype. India. one female, same data as holotype, code— NBAIR /Brac/Micg/Diol/24914D (NIM).
Etymology. The species epithet “confusus ” is derived from the confusing appearance of this species with other species where T1, T2 and T3 are not forming the carapace.
description: Published as part of Gupta, Ankita & Sushil, S. N., 2025, Two new species of the genus Diolcogaster Ashmead 1900 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) from Western Himalayas, India, pp. 194-200 in Zootaxa 5594 (1) on pages 196-198, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5594.1.11, http://zenodo.org/record/14953973