Protodacnusa dimorphus Mao, He & Chen, 2015, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Mao, Juan
name: He, Jun-Hua
name: Chen, Xue-Xin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Protodacnusa
Protodacnusa dimorphus

description: Protodacnusa dimorphus sp. nov.
(Fig. 2)
Holotype. ♀, China, Inner Mongolia, Helan mountain, 25.VII.2010, Zeng Jie, No. 201006501 (ZJUH). Paratypes. 2♀♀, same data as holotype, Nos. 201006478, 201006502 (ZJUH). ♀, China, Inner Mongolia, Helan mountain, 27.VII.2010, Hongfei Chai, No. 201007415 (ZJUH). 2♀♀, China, Inner Mongolia, Helan mountain, 28.VII.2010, Zeng Jie, Nos.201006513, 201006526 (ZJUH). ♀, China, Inner Mongolia, Helan mountain, 5.VIII.2010, Zeng Jie, No. 201006853 (ZJUH). ♂, China, Inner Mongolia, Helan mountain, 28.VII.2010, Zeng Jie, No. 2010065242 (ZJUH). 2♂♂, China, Inner Mongolia, Helan mountain, 28.VII.2010, Zeng Jie, Nos. 201006871, 201006889 (ZJUH). China, Inner Mongolia, Helan mountain, 4.VIII.2010, Chai Hongfei, No.201006428(ZJUH).
Description. Female. Body length 1.7 mm; fore wing length 1.6 mm.
Head. Antenna shorter than body, 19-segmented. First flagellar segment 3.5 × as long as its apical width, 1.1 × as long as second segment. Penultimate segment 1.7 × as long as wide. Head width 1.7 × its median length, 1.5 × as broad as mesoscutum between tegulae. Vertex smooth, with sparse setae. Frons weakly concave, smooth. Temple smooth, with sparse setae, swollen behind eyes in dorsal view (Fig. 2 B). Transverse diameter of eye 0.6 × as long as temple in lateral view. Ocelli small, in triangle with base equal to its sides. POL: OD: OOL=2.0: 1.0: 1.7. Eye glabrous, 1.9 × as high as broad. Malar space short, 0.3 × basal width of mandible. Face smooth, longitudinal carina weak (Fig. 2 C). Occipital carina complete absent. Mandible expanded with four distinctly developed teeth, apical width 1.5 × its basal width, upper tooth extremely strong and long, second tooth pointed, third and fourth teeth rather small but distinct (Fig. 2 E). Palpi shorter than height of head.
Mesosoma. Length 1.4 × as long as its height in lateral view. Pronope small. Sides of pronotum mostly smooth, sparsely punctate. Mesoscutum mostly smooth, with sparse punctures and setae. Notauli weak, only developed anteriorly (Fig. 2 I). Prescutellar depression deep, with 6 longitudinal carinae. Scutellum mostly smooth. Mesopleuron smooth. Precoxal sulcus narrow and crenulate (Fig. 2 F). Metanotum without median tooth. Metapleuron with dense setae. Propodeum evenly rugose (Fig. 2 H), median carina absent, lateral tubercles present.
Wings. Fore wing 2.3 × as long as its maximum width. Pterostigma cuneiform, 7.0 × as long as wide. Vein r arising from base of pterostigma, its length shorter than width of pterostigma. First discal cell of fore wing narrow, not wider than high. Vein 1-R1 very short, 0.3 × as long as pterostigma, ending far before tip of wing. Vein SR1+3- SR distally bisinuate, bent as in Fig. 2 D. Vein m-cu antefurcal. Subdiscal cell distally open, vein CU1b missing (Fig. 2 D).
Legs. Hind coxa smooth. Hind femur 5.0 × as long as its maximum width. Hind tibia as long as its tarsus in length. Hind basitarsus as long as tarsomeres 2–3 combined.
Metasoma. First tergite subtriangular, longitudinally rugulose and convex, dorsope absent, its length 1.4 × as long as its apical width (Fig. 2 H). Second and third tergites fused, smooth, with one row of setae along its hind margin. Further tergites polished, with one row of setae along their hind margin, respectively. Hypopygium acute apically. Ovipositor sheath short, concealed dorsally, visible laterally (Fig. 2 A).
Colour. Head and mesosoma black. Scape and pedicel dark brown, flagellum black. Mandible reddish yellow, but the apically dark brown, palpi yellow. Tegula and parategula dark brown. Metasoma reddish yellow except the black first tergite. Legs dark yellow, hind coxa dark brown, hind tarsus brown. Wings hyaline, pterostigma and veins opaque light brown.
Male. Same as the female, except the first tergite evenly rugulose and convex (Fig. 2 G).
Host. Unknown.
Variation. Body length 1.6–1.9 mm; antenna with 18–22 antennomeres, first flagellar segment 3–4 × as long as broad; notauli developed only anteriorly, at most extending to anterior half of mesoscutum; pterostigma 6–7 × as long as wide.
Diagnosis. This new species is similar to P. helanensis sp. nov., but differs in first tergite 1.4 × broad behind, longitudinally rugulose (♀) or evenly rugulose (♂); precoxal suture narrow and crenulate; mesosoma 1.4 × as long as high in lateral view; and propodeum evenly rugose.
Distribution. China (Inner Mongolia).
Etymology. Latin “ dimorphus ” meaning sexually dimorphic, the first tergite longitudinally rugulose in female while evenly rugulose in male.
description: Published as part of Mao, Juan, He, Jun-Hua & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2015, The discovery of the genus Protodacnusa Griffiths, 1964 (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Alysiinae) in China, with descriptions of six new species, pp. 355-368 in Zootaxa 3990 (3) on pages 359-361, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3990.3.2, http://zenodo.org/record/237697