Apanteles transtergum Liu & Chen, sp. n.
Creators: name: Liu, Zhen
name: He, Jun-Hua
name: Chen, Xue-Xin
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Braconidae
Apanteles
Apanteles transtergum

description: Apanteles transtergum Liu & Chen, sp. n.
Figure 10
Description. Female. Body length ca. 2.5 mm, fore wing length ca. 2.5 mm.
Head. A little rounded in dorsal view, 1.8× as wide as long and 1.2× as wide as mesoscutum. Eye in dorsal view 1.2× as long as temple. Temple shiny and distinctly thickly punctate, not constricted. Face about 0.8× as high as wide, relatively shiny, slightly convex with a narrow indistinct sulcus medially, shallowly punctate, less pubescent, inner margin of eyes subparallel. Apical margin of clypeus almost straight. Posterior almost tangent to the anterior ocellus touching the posterior pair, POL:OD:OOL=4.0:2.0:4.5. A sulcus extended from anterior ocellus to hind polished zone of vertex. Antenna about 0.8× as long as body length, penultimate antennomere cubic.
Mesosoma. Length to breadth and height 37.8:23.0:28.8. Disc of mesonotum relatively dull, densely heavily punctate, interspaces smaller than diameter of punctures. Scutellar sulcus slightly straight, narrow with carinae in between. Scutellum polished with relative shallow punctures all over. Propodeum dull, weakly rugose all over except big punctures anteriorly. Mesopleuron highly polished, its anterior half with shallow hair punctuation of even size.
Legs. Spines on outer side of hind tibia numerous but relatively dispersed. Spurs of hind tibia of equal size, almost 1/2 of basitarsus. Basitarsus of hind leg slightly shorter than tarsal segments 2–4.
Wings. Pterostigma 2.8× as long as its widest part. Vein 1-R1 (metacarp) 2/5 shorter than pterostigma, it is 2× as long as its distance from the apex of the marginal cell. Vein r arising from middle of pterostigma, shorter than width of pterostigma, vein r as long as vein 2-SR, indistinctly angled at their meeting, vein 2-M 5/6 length of vein 2-SR. 1st discal cell 1/3 wider than high. First submarginal cell of hind wing 2× wider than high. Vein cu-a straight and perpendicular to vein 1-1A. Vein 1-1A relatively long, 1/3 of fold of vannal lobe.
Metasoma. 1.3× as long as thorax (48.0:37.8). T1 narrowed to apex, basal width 1.5× hind width, and short, only 1.1× longer than basal width. Slightly concave at basal two-fifth, turned-over part shiny with close, numerous punctures, and weakly strigose except the convex polished zone apically. T2 subtriangular to transverse, curved into T3 medially, 3.5× wider than long in the middle. T3 2.1× as long as T2 (17.0:8.0). T2 shallowly punctate medially, and strigose laterally. Tergites after T2 relatively shiny, smooth, almost pubescent through. Hypopygium slightly longer than apex of abdomen. Ovipositor sheath 0.8× as long as hind tibia (20.0:26.0), relatively thick (as wide as tarsus segment 4).
Colour. Body black, except tergites posterior to T2 brownish. Palpi (except basal segment, anterior half of segment 2 of maxillary palpi and labial palpi brown) and spurs pale yellow. Tegulae, flagellum and ovipositor sheath evenly dark brown. Labrum, mandible reddish yellow. Legs bright reddish brown, except fore tibia, basal 1/ 3 of mid tibia and most of hind tibia reddish yellow. Wing membrane hyaline, vein 1-R1, C+SC+R and pterostigma brownish, r, 2-SR, 2-M and other veins light brown.
Variation. Body length 2.5–2.8 mm. T3–T4 with white hind, vein r and 2-SR distinctly angled at their meeting in paratype.
Male. Unknown.
Host. Unknown.
Material examined. Holotype: ♀, Mt. Xiaowutai, 1200m, Hebei, 2005. VIII.22, Zhang Hongying, No. 200608401. Paratype: 1♀, Mt. Xiaowutai, 1200m, Hebei, 2005. VIII.22, Zhang Hongying, No. 200608405.
Distribution. China (Hebei) (Fig. 12).
Etymology. The specific name “ transtergum ” derives from the Latin noun “tergum” and prefix “trans”, referring to the transverse median field of T2+T3.
Remarks. This species is similar to A. olivierellae Wilkinson, 1936, but can be separated from the latter in having vein 1-CU1 of fore wing 3/4 of vein 2-CU1 (the latter 1/2 or less); mesoscutum on the whole relatively dull, not highly polished as in A. olivierellae; and vein 1-1A of hind wing about 1/3 of fold of vannal lobe (the latter half).
description: Published as part of Liu, Zhen, He, Jun-Hua & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2014, The grandiculus- and metacarpalis - group of the genus Apanteles Foerster, 1862 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae) from China, with descriptions of eight new species, pp. 435-457 in Zootaxa 3765 (5) on pages 452-456, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3765.5.3, http://zenodo.org/record/249861