TAXONOMY OF APENESIA (HYMENOPTERA, BETHYLIDAE) FROM ESTAÇÃO BIOLÓGICA DE SANTA LÚCIA, ESPÍRITO SANTO, BRAZIL

Apenesia aurita sp. nov., from southeastern Brazil, is described and illustrated. Apenesia angusticeps Evans, 1963, A. tenebrosa Evans, 1963, A. pallidicornis Evans, 1963, A. quadrimera Leal & Azevedo, 2001 and A. crenulata Kieffer, 1910 are recorded for the first time to the State of Espírito Santo.


INTRODUCTION
The genus Apenesia Westwood, 1874 belongs to subfamily Pristocerinae.Biological data suggest it is parasitoid of myrmecophagous larvae of beetles (EVANS, 1963).The structure of female suggests that they spend most of their time in the soil or in wood looking for bugs (EVANS, 1963).The genus has about 141 species, and it is more abundant in Neotropical region, with 88 species.In Brazil, 34 species are recorded, which range along the states of Amazonas, Pará, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul.Apenesia was recorded to Espírito Santo by CORRÊA & AZEVEDO (2001), which mentioned six species to Reserva Biológica de Duas Bocas.LEAL & AZEVEDO (2001) mentioned nine species to Paraná.AZEVEDO & BATISTA (2002) studied this genus in an area of Amazon rain forest in Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor, State of Acre, when ten species were described.
The material studied was collected through sweeping of vegetation, in a trail of primary Atlantic rain forest in Estação Biológica de Santa Lúcia, Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, and is deposited in Entomological Collection of Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES).Eight species were recognized, five of them recorded for the first time to Espírito Santo and one described as new.
The nomenclature of integument sculpture follows HARRIS (1979) and the general terminology EVANS (1963).Main measurements and indices used are: DAO, diameter of anterior ocellus; distance from posterior ocellus to vertex crest; HE, height of eye; LFW, length of fore wing; LH, length of head; OOL, ocello-ocular line; VOL, vertex-ocular line; distance from the eye top to vertex crest; WF, width of frons; WH, width of head; WOT, width of the ocellar triangle.Distribution.Bolivia; it is recorded for the first time to Espírito Santo, Brazil.
Variation.This species is characterized by having ventral ramus of the digitus short.In comparison to the type, head can be wider or longer, median clypeus straight or arched and lower or higher in profile.segment III 4.40x longer than wide; segment XI 4.50x longer than wide; flagellar pubescence straight, as long as diameter of antennal segments.Eyes with some short hairs.Frons polished, weakly punctuated.WH 0.88x LH; WF 0.57x WH; WF 0.95x HE; OOL 1.22x WOT; frontal angle of ocellar triangle acute; posterior ocellus distant from the crest vertex 0.88x DAO.Vertex broadly rounded.VOL 0.39x HE.Mesosoma (fig.1): thorax polished, without anterior transverse carina; notauli incomplete anteriorly.Propodeal disc 1.20x longer than wide, with median carina incomplete, without posterior transverse carina; basal triangle ill-marked off, with strong transverse striae behind; lateral of propodeum striate; declivity striate, without median carina.Metasoma: petiolate.Hypopygium with posterior margin straight.
Genitalia (fig.3): paramere with base not so narrow, slightly less than 0.5x length of paramere, apex with rounded corners, apical margin concave, upper inner corner inclined, ventral apical area with hairs; volsella with ventral ramus of digitus small, less than a third of the length of paramere, rounded and hairy apex, basivolsella with ventral margin rounded; aedeagus evenly thick, apex rounded, slightly shorter than apex of paramere, with a pair of median lobes sharpened and a pair of lateral lobes laminar, somewhat subtriangular, wide, projecting beyond lateral margin of aedeagus.Remarks.Apenesia aurita belongs to laevigata group, and is similar to A. crenulata, which differs by having a pair of apical lobes of the aedeagus wide which projects beyond lateral margin of the aedeagus and head wider and punctuated.
Etymology.The specific name refers to apical lobes of aedeagus.