Lymeon caudator Kasparyan 2021, sp.n.
Creators: name: Kasparyan, D. R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Ichneumonidae
Lymeon
Lymeon caudator

description: Lymeon caudator Kasparyan, sp.n.
Figs 1–3.
MATERIAL EXAMINED. Holotype: ♀, Mexico, Veracruz, Xalapa, USBI, Malaise trap, May 2017 (M. López-Ortega) (UNAM).
COMPARISON. Lymeon caudator sp.n. differs from its congeners by its unusually long ovipositor (ovipositor sheath 1.33 times as long as hind tibia) with weak nodus and a long postnodal part of the upper valve (in the latter feature it converges with the genus Debilos Townes, 1966 see Comparative notes below). In its colouration (Figs 1–2) the new species differs from all North American species of Lymeon with red propodeum and black with white markings metasoma by its entirely black mesoscutum. In colour pattern, L. caudator sp.n. is very similar to L. rufotibialis Kasparyan et Ruíz-Cancino, 2004; the latter species also has a rather long ovipositor, i.e. ovipositor sheath as long as hind tibia (vs 0.5– 0.8 times in most other congeners), weak nodus, a long postnodal part of the upper valve of ovipositor, and reduced brachiella; but in L. rufotibialis the ovipositor is shorter, mesoscutum with two whitish stripes, hind tibia uniformly reddish and tergite 8 white-marked.
DESCRIPTION. Female (holotype). Fore wing length 7.6 mm.
Antenna with 24 flagellomeres; flagellomeres 1 and 2 subequal in length, their combined length about 1.65 times as long as maximum diameter of eye; flagellomeres 4–9 distinctly compressed and widened, 1.4–1.6 times as wide as flagellomeres 1 and 2 at apex; flagellomere 8 on inner side near its apical margin with a bunch of 6–8 short setae. Flagellomeres 10–21 subcylindrical, 1.4–1.8 times as long as wide; the apical one about 2.1 times as long as wide at base. Face mat, laterally evenly finely granulate with fine punctures, and medially scabrous with fine rugosity, covered with rather dense and moderately long setae. Clypeus polished, strongly convex in profile, with scarce large punctures, setae thin and long; clypeus with transverse ridge which is highest in lower 0.35 of clypeus; lower margin of clypeus sharp, truncate, slightly impressed and darkened. Frons mat, finely granulate laterally, with coarse rugosity centrally, and with thin median longitudinal carina, the setae are rather short and moderately dense.
Vertex and temples very finely and shallowly granulate, with fine and moderately sparse punctures. Head very strongly narrowed behind eyes. Temple broadened to mandible, in profile its maximum length about 2.5 times more than its minimum length at level of upper 0.25 of eye. Occipital carina weakly sinuate before its connection with hypostomal carina; oral carina slightly higher than occipital carina and about 0.6 times as long as basal mandibular width. Malar space half as long as basal mandibular width. Mandible rather narrow at apex, its upper tooth hardly longer than the lower tooth.
Epomia strong. Notauli sharp in anterior 0.3 of mesoscutum. Mesoscutum mat, very finely granulose and covered with dense fine punctures and short setae; central 0.4 of mesoscutum in posterior 0.6 with coarse and dense longitudinal rugae. Prescutellar groove with about 8 short and strong transverse rugae. Scutellum polished with irregular rather dense punctures. Mesopleuron with dense and strong longitudinal rugae. Speculum convex, smooth, with moderately large dense punctures. Mesosternum densely and finely granulose-punctate, with setae moderately short and dense. Metapleuron with very coarse and dense irregular rugae, juxtacoxal carinae absent; upper division of metapleuron (beyond the upper half of epimeron) almost smooth and covered with dense and moderately large punctures and dense, fine and long setae. Postscutellum in basal half with lateral carinae and with a pair of basal deep pits. Groove between propodeum and metanotum just behind postscutellum moderately wide and deep; its anterior slope on hind edge of metanotum without small tooth laterad of postscutellum. Propodeum with coarse irregular rugosity; basal transverse carina complete; apical transverse carina absent and represented by a pair of apophyses (Figs 1–2); apophyses conical, 1.2 as long as their basal diameter.
Fore wing with areolet pentagonal, almost rectangular, moderately large, 1.1 times as long as second recurrent vein above bulla (Fig. 1). Nervulus slightly antefurcal; postnervulus intercepted at anterior 0.3. Nervellus intercepted at posterior 0.35; brachiella very short, 0.15 times as long as distance to wing margin. Hind femur 6.3 times as long as wide. Proportions of length of hind tarsomeres 1–5: 7.5: 2.8: 1.6: 0.7: 2.0.
First metasomal segment slender, 3.2 times as long as wide at posterior margin and 8.6 times as long as minimum width of petiole; first tergite evenly covered with dense fine granulation except for extreme apex and basal half of petiole which are almost polished, its dorsolateral and ventrolateral carinae absent. Second tergite 1.3 times as long as wide at posterior margin, and wider posteriorly than anteriorly; its surface mat, very evenly and finely granulate with very scarce short setae; sculpture of following tergites similar to that of tergite 2 but finer and shallower on each subsequent tergite, with punctures becoming larger and pubescence longer. Ovipositor sheath 1.35 times as long as hind tibia (Fig. 1). Tip of dorsal valve of ovipositor with nodus weakly designated, behind nodus rather slender and very long (Fig. 3), 1.4 times as long as hind tarsomere 2 and 8.0 times as long as height of ovipositor at level of nodus.
Antenna black with flagellomeres 4–9 white, black ventrally. Head, prothorax, mesonotum and metasoma, hind tibia and tarsus marked with whitish and black; remaining mesosoma, first segment of metasoma and legs reddish with a few whitish markings (Figs 1–2). Head whitish with central wide black band extending from clypeal suture to occipital carina; eye orbits completely whitish, not interrupted by black; temples narrowly black along occipital carina; clypeus on lower margin and laterally, mandibles (except for large white spot on right mandible), small spot on malar space and entire occiput all black; palpi whitish.
Prothorax black with white markings on anterior and posterior edges of propleuron, front and dorsolateral margins of pronotum completely white. Mesoscutum completely black with obscure whitish marking on its lateral carina behind axillary tongue, prescutellar carinae black; spiracular sclerite before tegula blackish, tegula whitish anteriorly and posteriorly with large median black spot, subalar prominence below tegula blackish; scutellum whitish dorsally, black laterally and at apex; metanotum blackish brown with postscutellum blackish (Figs 1–2). Mesopleuron, mesosternum, metapleuron and propodeum reddish brown with yellowish, whitish and brownish markings, and apophyses of propodeum white (see Fig. 1). Fore wing hyaline with apical 0.15 weakly infuscate; distal part of brachial cell slightly infuscate (Fig. 1). Fore and mid coxae reddish with brown marks, white dorsally; trochanters white with brown dorsal stripe; trochantelli, femora and tibiae yellowish brown; tarsi dark brown. Hind coxa, femur and trochanters reddish except for blackish posterior 0.12 of femur and brown and whitish markings on trochanters; hind tibia black with subbasal 0.15 white (Fig. 1); hind tarsus predominantly white, basal 0.25 of basitarsus and entire tarsomere 5 black.
Metasomal tergite 1 reddish, tergites 2–8 black; tergites 1–7 with wide posterior white bands (Fig. 1), these bands on tergites 3, 5 and 6 dorsally interrupted; sternites 2–5 yellowish with large blackish lateral spot; sternite 6 light brown with strong basal desclerotization.
Male. Unknown.
COMPARATIVE NOTES. Lymeon caudator sp.n. belongs to the subtribe Lymeonina, but in the habitus and characteristic shape of the ovipositor it resembles the Neotropical genus Debilos of the subtribe Goryphina (especially D. prionilix Scherrer, 2012). In the revision of Debilos [Scherrer, Aguiar, 2012], authors noted that the similarity of the Debilos in “the body size and general shape, combined with T[ergite]1 without lateral triangular tooth or flange at base” can make the species of this genus resemble the species of Lymeon. They proposed following characters that separated Lymeon from Debilos. The Lymeon has mandible more stout, lower tooth 0.6–0.8 times as long as upper tooth (vs ventral tooth about half length of dorsal tooth in Debilos); nervulus antefurcal; and ventral valve of ovipositor with a long series of teeth (vs nervulus interstitial or postfurcal in Debilos and teeth of lower valve inconspicuous and restricted to its extreme tip). Lymeon caudator sp. n. shares all these features of Lymeon. The new species also differs from Debilos in its predominantly whitish colouration of head, whereas in all 30 known species of Debilos the head is completely black, except for occasionally white clypeus or mandibles.
ETYMOLOGY. The species name is a noun from the Latin “caudatus ” (caudate, tailed) referring to the long ovipositor.
description: Published as part of Kasparyan, D. R., 2021, Three new ichneumonid species of the genus Lymeon Förster, 1869 (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Cryptinae) from Mexico, pp. 84-92 in Russian Entomological Journal 30 (1) on pages 85-86, DOI: 10.15298/rusentj.30.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/10978441