Holotype, ♀ (ZUH), “S. China: Hunan, nr Zhangjiajie, Badagong Mts, Tian Ping Mt., 9–13.VII.2009, 550 m, Xi-Ying Li, RMNH’10”.

Mandible gradually widened basally (Fig. 112); hypoclypeal depression medium-sized; medio-posterior depression of mesoscutum deep and large (Fig. 107); first tergite sculptured and rather matt (Fig. 108); propodeum coarsely reticulate and without smooth areas (Fig. 108); posterior groove of pronotum widely crenulate; propleuron slightly concave.

Holotype, ♀, length of body 2.3 mm, of fore wing 2.3 mm.

Head. Antenna with 26 segments and 1.1 times as long as fore wing; length of third segment 1.2 times fourth segment, length of third, fourth and penultimate segments 3.3, 2.4 and 2.2 times their width, respectively (Fig. 109); length of maxillary palp equal to height of head; labial palp segments moderately elongate; occipital carina moderately close to hypostomal carina and dorsally absent (Fig. 112); median groove behind stemmaticum obsolescent; hypostomal carina narrow; length of eye in dorsal view 2.4 times temple; frons flat and glabrous medially, smooth and laterally convex and setose; face smooth, medially slightly elevated (Fig. 111); width of clypeus twice its maximum height and 0.5 times width of face, clypeus convex, largely smooth and its ventral margin differentiated and slightly curved medially (Fig. 111); hypoclypeal depression medium-sized (Fig. 111); mandible slightly convex gradually widened ventro-basally and with fine ventral carina (Fig. 112).

Mesosoma. Length of mesosoma 1.3 times its height; dorsal pronope absent, but with deep slit-like depression in front of middle lobe of mesoscutum (as in type species); pronotal side smooth, no ventral oblique carina posteriorly and posterior groove widely crenulate (Fig. 105); propleuron slightly concave; epicnemial area smooth dorsally; precoxal sulcus only medially distinctly impressed and moderately crenulate (Fig. 105); rest of mesopleuron smooth; pleural sulcus smooth; mesosternal sulcus medium-sized and coarsely crenulate; notauli absent on disc, except for a pair of short crenulate impressions anteriorly; mesoscutum glabrous; medio-posterior depression of mesoscutum large, deep and elliptical (Fig. 107); scutellar sulcus wide and coarsely crenulate (Fig. 107); scutellum smooth and slightly convex; dorsal surface of propodeum short and with a short medio-longitudinal carina connected to an irregular transverse carina and with a nearly triangular areola, without costulae and remaining far from medio-longitudinal carina (Fig. 108).

Wings. Fore wing (Fig. 106): pterostigma elongate triangular; 1-R1 reaching wing apex and 1.2 times as long as pterostigma; r:3-SR:SR1 = 3:23:42; 2-SR:3-SR:r-m = 14:23:6; r slender; 1-M curved; 2-M and SR1 weakly curved; m-cu moderately far postfurcal and gradually merging into vein 2-CU1; cu-a slightly postfurcal and 1-CU1 widened; first subdiscal cell closed, CU1b comparatively long; apical third of M+CU1 sclerotized. Hind wing (Fig. 106): M+CU:1-M:1r-m = 15:13:8; cu-a straight; m-cu absent.

Legs. Length of femur, tibia and basitarsus of hind leg 4.1, 7.1 and 5.2 times as long as wide, respectively (Fig. 110); setae of hind femur and tibia moderately long; carinula of hind tibia long and distinctly curved (Fig. 113).

Metasoma. Length of first tergite 1.1 times its apical width, its surface evenly convex medially and reticulate rugose, dorsal carinae remain separated from each other and reaching apex of tergite (Fig. 108); second and following tergites smooth; second suture absent; third and following tergites partly desclerotized apically; length of setose part of ovipositor sheath 0.10 times fore wing and 0.35 times hind tibia (Figs 105, 114).

Colour. Black or blackish-brown; antenna dark brown but scapus brownish-yellow; palpi, mandible, tegulae, legs and humeral plate pale yellowish; clypeus and malar space mainly, tegulum, base of second tergite and metasoma baso-ventrally yellowish-brown; propleuron and area below precoxal sulcus dark brown; pterostigma and veins mainly brown; wing membrane subhyaline.

Molecular data. None.

*China (Hunan).

Unknown.

Name derived from “aulon” (Greek for “channel”) and “fero” (Latin for “carrying”), because of the anteriorly shallowly impressed notauli.

The new species runs in the key by Chen and Weng (2005) to Utetes antennbrevis Weng & Chen, 2005. Opiognathus aulaciferus differs by having the length of the pleural sulcus smooth (crenulate in Utetes antennbrevis), the second submarginal cell of the fore wing comparatively narrow (wide), length of the antenna 1.1 times fore wing (about 0.8 times) and head and mesosoma mainly blackish-brown (reddish-brown).