Scelio ipomeae Risbec

Yoder, Matthew J., Valerio, Alejandro A., Polaszek, Andrew, Noort, Simon van, Masner, Lubomir & Johnson, Norman F., 2014, Monograph of the Afrotropical species of Scelio Latreille (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae), egg parasitoids of acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera, Acrididae), ZooKeys 380, pp. 1-188 : 114-117

Scelio ipomeae Risbec Figures 6, 9, 263-268; Morphbank 59

Scelio ipomeae Risbec, 1950: 589 (original description); Risbec 1954: 1038 (junior synonym of Scelio mauritanicus Risbec).

Description.

Female body length: 3.34-3.48 mm (n=2). Male body length: 2.77-4.50 mm (n=19). Color of scape in female: yellow. Surface of dorsal head in female: covered throughout with very fine sculpture. Occipital carina in female: percurrent. Profile of posterior margin of head in lateral view: evenly arcuate, head appearing lenticular. Width of genal setae: thick. Shape of medial anteclypeus in female: narrow, trapezoidal, not strongly projected medially, apically slightly truncate to very weakly bilobed. Surface of mandible base in female: smooth. Form of mesosoma in female: typically formed, with propodeal shelf moderately elongate and clearly visible in dorsal view. Surface of pronotal nucha in female: sculptured throughout. Transverse pronotal carina in female: developed laterally, absent medially, not percurrent. Shape of mesoscutellum: semicircular to weakly transverse, evenly rounded posteriorly. Surface of propodeal nucha in female: sculptured throughout. Surface of propodeal shelf in female: sculptured throughout. Color of metasoma in female: orange, T6 and/or T5 infuscate brown. Sculpture of T6: finely longitudinally striae.

Diagnosis.

This species is most similar to Scelio aurantium and Scelio impostor which share the medially interrupted transverse pronotal carina. Scelio ipomeae differs from Scelio aurantium by the complete occipital carina (vs. broadly obliterated) and the brown infuscation of T5 and T6 (vs. orange metasoma throughout). It differs from Scelio impostor by the dense patch of thicker white setae on the gena (vs. sparse thinner setae), wedge-shaped head in lateral view (vs. more rounded), and orange metasoma (vs. brown).

Link to distribution map.

http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=9739

Associations.

Solitary egg parasitoid of Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus) [ Orthoptera : Acrididae ].

Material examined.

Lectotype (present designation), female: SENEGAL: Diourbel Rég., sweet potato leaves, Bambey, 16.XI.1946, OSUC 254718 (deposited in MNHN). Paralectotype: SENEGAL: 1 female, OSUC 254719 (MNHN). Other material: (450 females, 215 males, 3 unknowns) BENIN: 2 females, 1 male, OSUC 211363-211364 (CNCI); OSUC 142669 (OSUC). BOTSWANA: 187 females, 117 males, OSUC 202824-202825 (AEIC); OSUC 211266, 213195 (CNCI); OSUC 160041-160042, 160045 -160050, 160052 (EMEC); OSUC 254551 (MZLU); OSUC 164131, 164133, 164135-164136, 164138-164139, 164141-164144, 164146-164150, 164152-164164, 164167-164170, 164172-164175, 164177-164188, 164190-164192, 164194-164198, 164201-164204, 164206-164214, 164216-164232, 166262-166270, 166303-166322, 166324-166341, 166345-166346, 166350-166351, 166353, 166355-166356, 166358, 166361-166363, 166366-166367, 166370, 166372-166375, 166377-166378, 166381-166392, 211626, 211683, 212041-212061, 212064-212078, 212080-212084, 212089, 212093, 212096, 254728 (OSUC); OSUC 171009, 171116, 171119-171120, 171124-171127, 171142-171148, 171150-171157, 171160-171164, 171339, 171342, 171344-171345, 171347-171348, 171352, 171355, 171359-171361, 171364-171368, 207549, 207552-207553, 207555-207557, 207559-207574, 211805-211811, 211813, 211815, 211818, 211821, 244076 (USNM). BURKINA FASO: 4 females, 2 males, OSUC 213084-213085, 213090, 213092, 214092 (CNCI); OSUC 213387 (SANC). ERITREA: 1 female, OSUC 210359 (MCSN). KENYA: 6 females, 12 males, CASENT 2042603-2042610 (CASC); OSUC 212341, 212355, 214106-214107, 214111, 214118, 234633, 234642 (CNCI); OSUC 244094-244095 (USNM). MALAWI: 1 male, OSUC 212926 (CNCI). MOZAMBIQUE: 1 female, OSUC 213103 (CNCI). NIGER: 1 female, OSUC 251071 (TAMU). NIGERIA: 17 females, 2 males, OSUC 212196, 212730-212732, 213147, 213177, 250793, 250947-250949, 250969, 250989-250990, 250994, 251003-251007 (CNCI). SENEGAL: 1 female, OSUC 254720 (MNHN). SOUTH AFRICA: 215 females, 79 males, 3 unknowns, OSUC 202813 (AEIC); OSUC 211280, 211285, 211304, 211307, 211311, 211313, 211320-211321, 211324-211325, 211328, 211330, 211332-211337, 211339-211345, 211391-211392, 211396-211397, 211924-211927, 211929, 211931, 211933, 211936-211937, 211939-211940, 212221, 212223, 212240-212241, 212243-212245, 212249, 212254, 212263-212268, 212275-212281, 212283, 212285-212287, 212289, 212291-212293, 212297-212298, 212301-212305, 212307, 212314-212318, 212321-212322, 212324-212326, 212329-212336, 212368, 212383, 212385, 212387, 212389-212391, 212418, 212428, 212430-212431, 212437-212439, 212447, 212601, 212652, 212656, 212660-212664, 212666-212668, 212671, 212673, 212675-212682, 212745-212746, 212748, 212750-212752, 212754, 212759, 212765-212766, 212769-212770, 212772-212774, 212856-212857, 212863, 212865-212867, 212869, 212875, 212878-212881, 212883-212885, 212888-212889, 212913-212915, 212917-212918, 212922, 212927, 212978-212979, 212981-212982, 212984, 212986-212991, 212994-212999, 213114, 213129, 234667, 234669, 234674-234675, 250729 (CNCI); OSUC 250712 (MZLU); OSUC 142596, 142598, 142603-142604, 142607-142615, 171686-171687, 176244-176248, 211672-211673, 211685, 212388, 213609, 213623-213633, 222121-222127, 222131, 222135, 222303-222309, 234719, 234721-234723, 234725, 234728-234730, 244041-244045, 244202, 250735-250736, 250976, 250978, 250981 (OSUC); OSUC 213535, 213661 (SAMC); OSUC 213330, 213334, 213343, 213347, 213356, 213363, 213379, 213382, 213384, 213397, 213402-213403, 213415, 213435-213436, 213441, 213448, 213456- 213459, 213471-213472, 213478, 213484, 213490, 214381 (SANC). TANZANIA: 1 female, 1 male, OSUC 212972, 250952 (CNCI). YEMEN: 2 females, OSUC 212492, 212948 (CNCI). ZIMBABWE: 12 females, OSUC 212102-212103, 212105, 212112, 212214, 212220, 212229, 212402, 212414, 213040, 213214, 213217 (CNCI).

Comments.

Scelio ipomeae is a widespread species and one of the most abundant in collections. The species exhibits relatively large variation in size, but large and small individuals are easily diagnosable. The S3 felt field is generally somewhat narrower than in other species. The coloration throughout (yellow scape, brown head and mesosoma, orange metasoma with brown T5-T6) is remarkably constant for all but the short series of atypical specimens discussed below. The sculpture of the dorsal head is often somewhat obliterated.

We include several atypical specimens in Scelio ipomeae . Three specimens from Yemen (OSUC 212948, 212341, 212492) have the metasoma yellow throughout but otherwise match well. They are all smaller than individuals of Scelio aurantium , which has a similarly colored metasoma, and have the occipital carina complete (vs. broadly obliterated). Two individuals from Kenya (OSUC 224094, 214118) have dark coloration as in Scelio impostor (brown metasoma), but the genal pilosity and head shape matches well with the core series. A third individual from Kenya (OSUC 244095) has a pictate fore wing, with a white band just past the apical extent of the stigmal vein. A smaller individual from Mozambique (OSUC 213103) has a more ovoid head and slightly sparser setae than typical.