Apsilocera Bouček

Mitroiu, Mircea-Dan & Achterberg, Cornelis Van, 2013, Revision of the Oriental species of Apsilocera Bouček (Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae), with description of twelve new species, Zootaxa 3717 (4), pp. 448-468 : 449-450

Apsilocera Bouček

Apsilocera Bouček, 1956: 319 –321. Type species: A. verticillata Bouček, 1956 , by monotypy.

Buloloa Bouček, 1988: 425 –426. Type species: B. bidens Bouček, 1988 , by monotypy, syn. n.

Kratinka Bouček, 1988: 428 –429. Type species: K. brevis Bouček, 1988 , by monotypy, syn. n.

Bulolosa Bouček, 1990: 87. Replacement name for Buloloa Bouček, 1988 (not Hardy, 1986), syn. n.

Diagnosis. Body size generally under 2 mm, body colour dark, mostly black. Reticulation on head and mesosoma shallow, hence body generally shiny ( Figs 1–15 , 19–32 ).

Head ( Figs 19–30 ) more or less transverse in anterior view (rarely almost as high as wide), with ( Figs 19–22 , 25, 26, 28, 30 ) or without ( Figs 23, 24 , 27, 29 ) ornamentation, i.e. teeth or crests; gena usually moderately ( Figs 19, 20 , 25, 28 ) to strongly ( Figs 23 , 27, 29, 30 ) receding towards mouth; scrobes absent; occiput without carina, straight or slightly emarginate in dorsal view ( Fig. 31 ); clypeal margin either with small to medium protuberance that is emarginate ( Figs 21, 22 , 29 ) or not ( Figs 20 , 25, 26, 28 ), or with one ( Fig. 27 ) or two teeth ( Figs 23 , 30 ); temple from short ( Fig. 31 ) to virtually absent in dorsal view ( Fig. 34 ); antennae in both sexes 11263 ( Figs 1–15 ), inserted anywhere from centre of face ( Figs 27, 29 ) to almost on vertex ( Figs 25, 30 , 32 ), but usually well above center of face, thus scape distinctly exceeding vertex ( Figs 19–30 ); both anelli transverse; funicular segments in female longer than broad or rarely quadrate, with one or two rows of sensilla; clava symmetric, not conspicuously wider than funicular segments ( Figs 19, 21, 24 , 27–29 ); funicular segments in male more elongate than in females, each with one or two verticils of long setae ( Figs 13–18 ); mandible formula 3:4 or 4:4, mandibles sometimes enlarged ( Figs 20 , 25, 26, 29 ); distal tooth sharp ( Figs 23 , 27, 29 ), rounded ( Figs 19, 22 ), or distinctly blunt, and then its margin slightly emarginate ( Figs 20 , 25, 26 ).

Mesosoma ( Figs 1–15 , 34 ) usually short, moderately arched ( Figs 1–3, 6 , 7 ) to more or less flattened dorsally ( Figs 4 , 12 ); pronotum short and narrower than mesoscutum, dorsally reduced but carinate; notauli incomplete; frenal line absent, but frenal area indicated by finer reticulation; propodeum slightly to moderately sloping, with very shallow reticulation or smooth; nucha absent or short; median carina present; plicae usually well defined ( Fig. 34 ); upper half of mesepimeron smooth ( Figs 1–11 ); fore wing with basal cell bare and basal vein usually pilose, occasionally almost bare or with additional hairs next to it; veins not thickened; disc hyaline ( Figs 1–6 , 8–15 ), rarely with a broad infumation below marginal vein ( Figs 7 , 33 ); fore coxae always dark, at least dorsally, mid and hind coxae usually mostly pale ( Figs 1–11 ); hind tibia with one spur.

Metasoma short ovate to acuminate, subsessile; exerted part of ovipositor sheaths usually very short ( Figs 1– 12 ); tergites not enlarged except sometimes the first; first tergite usually with small depression at base ( Fig. 34 ).

Distribution. Palaearctic (2 described species), Nearctic (1 described species), Oriental (1 described species, 12 new), Australasian (3 described species).

Comments. The monotypic genus Bulolosa Bouček, 1990, is synonymized here under Apsilocera Bouček, 1956 , syn. n. The former genus was created for the distinctive species A. bidens (Bouček, 1988) , comb. n., known only from females from Papua New Guinea. Females have a conspicuous projection near each eye in the upper part of the head (Bouček 1988, fig. 745). However, almost all other characters, such as the antennae, shape of the mesosoma and metasoma, wings, etc., are shared with species of Apsilocera . The only additional character which could separate Bulolosa from Apsilocera is head shape in anterior view—slightly transverse in the former and distinctly transverse in the latter, at least in the previously known species. However, A. tuberculata sp. n. has both ornamentations on the vertex and a very transverse head ( Figs 30 , 32 ). Moreover, the male of A. cornuta sp. n. ( Fig. 14 ), whose female ( Figs 3 , 21 , 31 ) is very similar to that of A. bidens , has the characteristic antennae of Apsilocera , i.e. the flagellar segments bearing long setae ( Fig. 17 ). Thus, no distinctive characters support the validity of Bulolosa.

The monotypic genus Kratinka Bouček, 1988 , is also synonymized here under Apsilocera , syn. n. The former genus was also created for a distinctive species, A. brevis (Bouček, 1988) , comb. n., also known only from females, from Papua New Guinea. Females have a conspicuous elevation on the vertex and the distal tooth of the large mandible is blunt and slightly emarginate (Bouček 1988, figs 756–759). However, as above, all other characters are shared with species of Apsilocera . The antennae are inserted only slightly above the middle of the face in A. brevis , but in the few Oriental species described here, which are in many respects similar to A. brevis , the antennae are inserted very high, in one case almost on the vertex ( Figs 20 , 25, 26, 28 ). Moreover, the discovery of some species with both conspicuous elevations on the vertex and “normal” mandibles ( Figs 19 , 28 ) blurs the separation between the two described genera. Finally, the male of A. bicristata sp. n. ( Fig. 13 ), whose female ( Figs 2 , 20 ) is similar in many respects to the female of A. brevis , also has the characteristic antennae of Apsilocera ( Fig. 16 ), which further supports the proposed generic synonymy.

In conclusion, Bulolosa and Kratinka seem to be derived Apsilocera , with modified heads and mandibles, and therefore retaining these genera as valid would render Apsilocera paraphyletic. Thus, Apsilocera appears to be an unexpectedly diverse genus, with many species displaying curious head features, but otherwise being rather uniform regarding other characters. This is not uncommon in Pteromalidae . For example, most species of Psilocera Walker have an unmodified scutellum, but several species from the Oriental region have a moderate to very large scutellar spine (Sureshan 2001). Zebe cornutus LaSalle has a long mesoscutal horn projecting way over the head, but in two other species this feature is only slightly indicated or completely absent (Mitroiu 2011).

In Apsilocera sexual dimorphism is restricted to the shape of antennae and metasoma. The various ornamentations on the vertex and the mandibles show no variation between the sexes, at least concerning the few species where males are known. The function of these structures is unknown.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Apsilocera spp., female, holotype, lateral view. 1 A. acuticristata; 2 A. bicristata; 3 A. cornuta; 4 A. dentata; 5 A. dupla; 6 A. elongata.

FIGURES 7 – 12. Apsilocera spp., female, holotype, lateral view. 7 A. fulvipennis; 8 A. longicornis; 9 A. maculata; 10 A. obtusicristata; 11 A. palliclava; 12 A. tuberculata.

FIGURES 13 – 18. Apsilocera spp., male, paratype, lateral view (13 – 15) and antennae (16 – 18). 13 A. bicristata; 14 A. cornuta; 15 A. maculata; 16 A. bicristata; 17 A. cornuta; 18 A. maculata.

FIGURES 19 – 24. Apsilocera spp., female, holotype, head in anterior view. 19 A. acuticristata; 20 A. bicristata; 21 A. cornuta; 22 A. dentata; 23 A. dupla; 24 A. elongata.

FIGURES 25 – 30. Apsilocera spp., female, holotype, head in anterior view. 25 A. fulvipennis; 26 A. longicornis; 27 A. maculata; 28 A. obtusicristata; 29 A. palliclava; 30 A. tuberculata.

FIGURES 31 – 34. Apsilocera spp., female, holotype. 31 A. cornuta, head, dorsal view; 32 A. tuberculata, head, antero-ventral view; 33 A. fulvipennis, fore wing, dorsal side; 34 A. tuberculata, body, dorsal view.