Spinaria indica Gupta & van Achterberg 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Gupta, Ankita
name: Achterberg, Cornelis Van
name: Reddy, P. Maheshwara
name: Sushil, S. N.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Spinaria
Spinaria indica

description: Spinaria indica Gupta & van Achterberg, sp. nov.
(Figs 1–4)
Type material. Holotype. Female on card (antennae partially broken and hind legs missing); India: Nagaland: Medziphema; handpicked from fruit of Litchi chinensis Sonn.; 12.vi.2023; coll. P. Maheshwara Reddy; code— NIM/ NBAIR / Hym / Brac / Spin /120623-H (NIM). Partaype- one male on card; same data as holotype; code—NIM/ NBAIR /Hym/Brac/Spin/80723-P1 (NIM). Female (holotype). Body length of body 12.8 mm, of fore wing 12.4 mm, ovipositor 0.7 mm.
Head.—Length of scapus 1.4 × as long as its maximum width (Fig. 2A), 1.9 × as long as third antennomere; third and fourth antennomeres almost subequal in length; diameter of lateral ocellus (OD) 1.1 × as long as POL and about 0.7 × as long as OOL; diameter of antennal sockets about twice distance between them and 1.9 × as long as distance from socket to eye margin; distance between tentorial pits 1.6 × as long as distance from pit to eye margin; malar space 0.4 × as long as height of eye and about equal to basal width of mandible; width of face 1.2 × as long as height of eye and 1.3 × as long as height of face and clypeus combined.
Mesosoma.—Spine on pronotum robust and strongly curved (Fig. 2F); notaulus deep anteriorly, wide and shallow posteriorly; scutellar sulcus about 0.74 × as long as length of scutellum; mesopleuron polished and smooth; propodeum with median carina in majority, baso-lateral areas of propodeum smooth and its apical half rugose (Fig. 2E).
Wings.—Fore wing: vein 2-SR 2.5 × as long as vein r, 0.7 × as long as 3-SR and about 0.4 × as long as SR1; vein r-m almost straight (Fig. 2D); vein cu-a about 1.9 × as long as 1-CU1. Hind wing with vein 2-SC+ R as long as wide; vein M+CU subequal to vein 1-M.
Metasoma.—Dorsal face of first tergite 0.6 × as long as its apical width and 1.2 × as long as second tergite (Fig. 2G); first tergite with a median carina dorsally; first–third tergites with dense rugosity and coarse granulation; length of ovipositor sheath 0.7 mm in length.
Colour.—Yellow; antenna blackish brown, but scape and pedicel yellowish brown; ocelli with brownish black margins; fore and middle telotarsus dark brown; hind leg of male entirely black except for light brown trochantellus; parastigma, and veins 1-SR and 1-SR+M basally, black; apical third of wing membrane dark brown (marginal cell, second and third submarginal cells fully infuscated or nearly so); propodeum with lateral and apical margin brown; large round median patch on first and second tergites dark brown, dark patch on second tergite narrowed posteriorly, first and second tergite whitish yellow laterally; third and fourth tergites black; fifth tergite white (Fig. 2C).
Male (paratype (Figs 3, 4). Body length of body 14.4 mm, of fore wing 11.2 mm.
Head.—Length of scapus 1.2 × as long as its maximum width, 1.2 × as long as third antennomere; third and fourth antennomeres almost subequal in length; diameter of lateral ocellus (OD) 3.5 × as long as POL, lateral ocelli touching the eye margins; diameter of antennal sockets about 1.4 × as long as distance between them and 5.7 × as long as distance from socket to non-indented eye margin and 1.9 × as long as distance from socket to indented eye margin; distance between tentorial pits 2.1 × as long as distance from pit to eye margin; malar space 0.2 × as long as height of eye and 1.5 × as long to basal width of mandible; width of face (at indented eye margin) 0.8 × as long as height of eye and 0.7 × as long as height of face and clypeus combined.
Mesosoma.—Spine on pronotum robust and gently curved apically; notaulus deep; mesopleuron polished and smooth; propodeum with median carina in basal one-third, large median areola in posterior two third and irregular coarse rugosity.
Wings.—Fore wing: vein 2-SR 2.0 × as long as vein r, 0.7 × as long as 3-SR and about 0.5 × as long as SR1; vein r-m almost slightly bent. Hind wing with vein M+CU 0.9 × as long as 1-M.
Metasoma.—Dorsal face of first tergite 0.6 × as long as its apical width and 1.2 × as long as second tergite; first tergite with a median carina dorsally; first–fourth tergites with coarse longitudinal striations.
Hind legs.—Hind femur 5.0 × as long as its maximum width (Fig. 3); hind tibia 1.1 × as long as hind femur and as long as hind tarsus; hind basitarsus 0.4 × as long as hind tarsus; second hind tarsal segment 0.47 × as long as basitarsus; fourth tarsal segment 0.5 × as long as hind telotarsus.
Colour.—Eyes large and bulbous, brownish black. Antenna blackish brown, but scape and pedicel yellowish brown. Lateral ocelli almost touching eye margins (in dorsal view); ocelli yellowish brown, inter-ocellar region blackish brown; mesosoma yellowish brown, propodeum with dark brown tubercles and lateral dark brown patch; wings colouration similar to female; first and second tergite dark brownish black (darker region wider when compared to that of female) with thin whitish yellow lateral margin; third and fourth tergites black; fifth tergite white.
Comments. Spinaria indica differs from S. vietnamica in having diameter of antennal sockets about twice as long as distance between them (vs 1.4 × in S. vietnamica); malar space nearly as long as basal width of mandible (vs 0.4 × in S. vietnamica), vein cu-a of fore wing about 1.9 × 1-CU1 (vs 2.3–2.5 × in S. vietnamica); ovipositor sheath 0.7 mm (vs 1.2 mm in S. vietnamica); marginal cell, second and third submarginal cells fully infuscated (vs basal half of marginal cell and second submarginal cell yellowish in S. vietnamica).
description: Published as part of Gupta, Ankita, Achterberg, Cornelis Van, Reddy, P. Maheshwara & Sushil, S. N., 2024, Review of the subtribe Spinariina van Achterberg (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) from India with description of one new species, pp. 347-364 in Zootaxa 5399 (4) on pages 349-355, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5399.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/10517038