Blacus (Contochorus) planus Lu & Achterberg & Tang & Chen 2023, sp. nov

Blacus (Contochorus) planus sp. nov. (Figs 5–6) Material examined. Holotype: ♀, China, Hunan, Shimen, Huping Mtn, Xiangbizigou, 8.VII.2009, Ma Li, No. 200903023 (ZJUH). Paratype: 1♀, China, Zhejiang, Anji, Longwang Mtn, 21.VII.1995, Wu Hong, No. 971319 (ZJUH). Description. Female. Length of body 2.1 mm, length of fore wing 1.8 mm. Body setosity. Body with long pubescence, pubescence on head, side of pronotum and mesopleuron sparser than on remainder of body. Head. Head longitudinal and flat in dorsal view, width of head in dorsal view 1.1 × its length (Fig. 6A); antennomeres 16 (Fig. 6C); length of first flagellomere 1.2 × length of second flagellomere; length of first, second and penultimate flagellomeres 4.0, 3.3 and 1.4 × their width, respectively; length of maxillary palp 0.7 × height of head; OOL: diameter of posterior ocellus: POL = 16:6:7; eyes with short sparse setae (Fig. 6A); length of eye in dorsal view 0.8 × length of temple; occiput concave (Fig. 6A); face with dense long pubescence; temple smooth; malar suture weakly developed, length of malar space 1.5 × basal width of mandible. Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.5 × its height; pronotal sides coarsely reticulate ventrally, dorsally smooth; area behind prepectal carina less conspicuously crenulate (Fig. 6E); precoxal sulcus narrow, with short crenulae (Fig. 6E); notauli absent posteriorly (Fig. 6D), impressed and crenulate anteriorly (Fig. 6D), without transverse carinae anteriorly; scutellar sulcus with medio-longitudinal carina (Fig. 6D); scutellum smooth, its lateral carina lamelliform, not protruding apically; surface of propodeum smooth between carinae, its medial area almost rectangular (Fig. 6F). Wings. Fore wing: first discal cell widely truncate anteriorly (Fig. 6I); vein r 0.6 × as long as maximum width of pterostigma; 1-CU1:2-CU1 = 1:3. Legs. Hind coxa smooth, but with a distinct carina dorsally (Figs 6G, 6H); length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 5.0, 9.1 and 8.4 × their width, respectively; fore and mid claws with bristles (Figs 6J, 6L). Metasoma. Length of first tergite 2.9 × its apical width, parallel-sided, its surface rugulose, dorsal carinae complete (Fig. 6G); second tergite smooth; length of ovipositor sheath 0.13 × fore wing. Colour. Reddish-brown; palpi, mandible, tegulae, three basal segments of antenna, fore and middle legs, hind coxa and trochanter yellow; remainder of antenna, pterostigma, parastigma, veins, ovipositor, ovipositor sheath and all basitarsi brown; bristles of fore and mid claws blackish; wing membrane slightly infuscate. Variation. Precoxal sulcus with short to medium-sized striae. Male. Unknown. Biology. Unknown. Distribution. China (Hunan, Zhejiang). Etymology. The specific name planus refers to the rather flattened head and is derived from “ planus ” (Latin for flat). Notes. The new species is similar to B. (C). glaber van Achterberg, 1976.In both species the middle lobe of the mesoscutum lacks the strong carinae anteriorly, lateral carina of scutellum not strongly protruding apically, and middle claws with blackish bristles, but the two species differ by having 16 antennomeres of ♀ (17 in B. (C). glaber), notauli incomplete (complete in B. (C). glaber), medial area of propodeum rectangular and somewhat longer than wide (quadrangular, its height subequal to its width in B. (C). glaber), width of head in dorsal view 1.1 × its length (1.4 × in B. (C). glaber), length of eye in dorsal view 0.8 × length of temple (1.1 × in B. (C). glaber) and length of hind femur 5.0 × its width (7.0 × in B. (C). glaber).
Published as part of Lu, Qian-Yu, Achterberg, Cornelis Van, Tang, Pu & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2023, The discovery of the subgenus Contochorus van Achterberg, 1976 (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Brachistinae, Blacini, Blacus) in China, pp. 277-287 in Zootaxa 5306 (2) on pages 281-283, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5306.2.7, http://zenodo.org/record/8058845
{"references":["van Achterberg, C. (1988) Revision of the subfamily Blacinae Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). Zoologische Verhandelingen Leiden, 249, 1 - 324.","van Achterberg, C. (1976) A revision of the tribus Blacini (Hym., Braconidae, Helconinae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 118, 159 - 322."]}