Article

 

A new species of Ethelurgus Foerster from Mexico (Hymenoptera: Ichneunonidae)

 

Dmitri R. Kasparyan^1,2 and Enrique Ruíz-Cancino¹

 

¹UAM Agronomía y Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Cd. Victoria, Tam. C.P. 87149, MEXICO.

² Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg 199034, RUSSIA.

 

Recibido: 15 de enero 1999
Aceptado: 10 de junio 1999

 

Resumen

Se describe una nueva especie de ichneumónido gelino, Ethelurgus annulicornis sp. nov. de la Reserva "El Cielo", Tamaulipas, México. Esta especie puede ser distinguida fácilmente de otras del mismo género por su color, es la única especie con anillo blanco en la antena, cuerpo arnarillo parduzco pálido, y cabeza y dorso del mesosoma negros. Se registra a E. syrphicola syrphicola (Ashmead) para México.

Palabras clave: Ichneumonidae, Ethelurgus. México, parasitoide.

 

Abstract

A new species of geline ichneumonid, Ethelurgus annulicornis sp. nov. is described from Reserve "El Cielo", Tamaulipas, México. This species can be easily distinguished from the other species in the genus by its colour, it is the only species with a white ring on the antenna and a pale fulvous body dth the head and dorsum of the mesosoma black. E. syrphicola syrphicola (Ashmead) is recorded from Mexico.

Key Words: Ichneumonidae, Ethelurgus. México, parasitoid.

 

Introduction

Ethelurgus is a moderately large genus, distributed in the Holarctic, Oriental and Neotropical regions; the species parasitize puparia of aphidophagous Syrphidae (Townes 1970, 1983; Yu and Horstmann, 1997). The genus was revised by Townes (1983) (11 species) excluding E. curticauda (Hellen) from Finland. Since then, Kusigemati (1983) has described two new species from Japan. In this paper, the genus is recorded from México for the first time. A new species, E. annulicornis sp. nov. is described from Reserve "El Cielo", where it was collected in forest at 1400 m. The new species can be placed in the syrphicola species group because of the almost hairless, impunctate second tergite.

Ethelurgus annulicornis Kasparyan et Ruíz-Cancino, sp. nov.

(Figs. 1 - 3)

Female (holotype). Front wing 5.6 mm. Antenna with 25 flagellomeres; under side of flagellar segments 8 to 22 with flat areas of very short sensorial hairs; second flagellar segment 4 times as long as wide; first segment about as long as second; both these segments together 1.28 times as long as maximal eye diameter. Three apical segments of maxillar palpus about as long as maximal eye diameter. Face margins conspicuously divergent ventrad. Face clothed in dense silvery pubescence. Face and frons mat; frons with weak polished concavities just above antennal sockets. Temples weakly polished, coriaceous, with rather close setiferous punctures. Malar space 0.85 times as long as basal width of mandible. Mesonotum strongly mat granulated, with small setiferous punctures. Lateral pronotal lobes centrally and mesopleurum, except on highly polished speculum, coarsely longitudinally striate. Sternaulus reaching past center of mesopleurum. Mesosternum smooth and mat. Metapleurum weakly and irregularly punctato-striate. Upper face of propodeum 0.37 times as long as hind face. Propodeum before basal transverse carina and on areola smooth, weakly polished, otherwise strongly rugulose; wrinkles on second and third lateral areas about longitudinal, on pleural areas and on hind 0.6 apical area (area petiolaris) wrinkles transverse; apical area in basal 0.4 irregularly rugose-reticulate. Areolation of propodeum and wing venation as figured (Figs. 1, 3). First and second tergites closely longitudinally striate; petiole on basal 0.6 smooth, postpetiole apically polished; second tergite in apical 0.25 highly polished dorsally, weakly finely granulate laterally, almost hairless, with hairs only in very sparse subapical transverse row. First tergite with median dorsal carina, partially obscured by striation, dorsolateral carinae distinct to spiracles. Tergites 3 to 8 of metasoma smooth and polished. Ovipositor projecting beyond apex of abdomen by about 0.5 times the length of hind tibia; ovipositor almost straight with tip slightly decurved and compressed, its upper valva apically with strong nodus (ovipositor sheath lost).

Head black, mandibles yellow, except for their apices; palpi yellow. Antenna with scape and pedicel pale yellow, pedicel brownish above; flagellum black with flagellomeres 5 to 9 white. Prothorax entirely pale yellow. Mesothorax and metathorax black dorsally with scutellum dorsally and postscutellum apically yellow. Mesopleurum and mesosternum yellow except for prepectus, spots under subtegular ridge and on sternaulus, blackish. Metapleurum yellowish-red, propodeum fulvous. Fore and middle coxae, trochanters and fore femora pale yellow; otherwise legs fulvous. Metasoma fulvous with sternites yellowish.

E. annulicornis may be easily distinguished from the other species in the genus because it is the only species with white ring on antenna and pale fulvous body with head and dorsum of mesosoma black.

Male: Unknown.

Etimology. The species name is from Latin anellus (ring) and cornis (horn), refering to the white ring on the antenna.

Type locality: México.

Type depository: Insect Museum, Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, in Cd. Victoria, Tam. México.

Material examined. Holotype, female, México, Tamaulipas, Gómez Farías, Reserve El Cielo, Canindo, 1400 m, "YPT Forest 1, 20 - 21 - VII - 1994, 94052, J.B. Woolley". (YPT = Yellow Pan Traps). Paratype, female, México, Tamaulipas, Gómez Farías, Los Cedros Station, Malaise Trap No. 4, 23 - 30 - I - 1999, S. Hernández A., C. Covarrubias D.

Ethelurgus syrphicola syrphicola (Ashmead, 1890)

This subspecies is widely distributed in North America (Townes, 1983), but in México is recorded for the first time.

Material examined (all from México). 3 Females: Nuevo León, Sn. P. Garza García, Chipinque, trampa luz negra, 10-IV-86, O. Cardoso; Tamaulipas, Cd. Victoria, U.A.T., 4-XII-1998, D. R. Kasparyan; Tamaulipas, Gómez Farías, Reserve El Cielo, Sn. José, trampa luz, 6-XI-1995, J. Ma. Coronado Blanco. 2 Males: Morelos, Jojutla, caña de azúcar, 15-IV-87, G. Peña Ch.; México, D.F., 3ª. Secc. Bosque de Chapultepec, 19-XI-1992, R. Lomelí F.

 

Acknowledgement

To CONACYT and UAT for the economical support to the first author.

 

Literature cited

Kusigemati, K. 1983. Two new species of Ethelurgus Foerster from Japan (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). Mem. Fac. Agric., Kagoshima Univ. 19(28): 109-114.         [ Links ]

Townes, H.K. 1970. (1969) The genera of Ichneumonidae, Part 2. Mem. Amer. Ent. lnst. No. 12, 537 pp.         [ Links ]

––––––––––. 1983. Revisions of twenty genera of Gelini (Ichneumonidae). Mem. Amer. Ent. Inst. No. 35. 281 pp.         [ Links ]

Yu, D. & K. Horstmann. 1997. A catalogue of world Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera). Part I: Acaenitinae to Ophioninae. Mem. Amer. Ent. Inst. Vol. 58. 763 pp.         [ Links ]