Scelio poecilopterus Priesner, 1951

Yoder, Matthew, Polaszek, Andrew, Masner, Lubomir, Johnson, Norman & Valerio, Alejandro, 2009, Revision of Scelio pulchripennis - group species (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea, Platygastridae), ZooKeys 20 (20), pp. 53-118 : 100-103

Scelio poecilopterus Priesner

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Figs 91–96; Morphbank 25

Scelio poecilopterus Priesner, 1951: 147 (original description, keyed); Kononova & Kozlov, 2008: 138, 143 (description, keyed, synonymy).

Scelio princeps Nixon, 1958 new synonymy: 305 (original description, keyed); Nixon: Masner, 1965a: 94 (type information). urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:76903862–699C-438B-9339–07D88C0F5F4B ; urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:5309

Description. Female body length: 3.22–4.17 mm (n=14). Male body length: 2.99– 3.42 mm (n=2). Color of antenna in female: A1 brown to dark brown, A2–A3 yellowbrown, remaining brown to dark brown. Color of head in female: black. Color of mesosoma in female: orange brown with medial dark brown patch on posteromedial mesoscutum, very rarely dark patch more or less absent. Color of coxae in female: orange-brown to dark brown. Color of leg past coxa in female: orange-brown to dark brown. Color of metasoma in female: amber-orange to orange at base (typically T1– T3) to brown to dark brown at apex.

Sculpture of lower frons in female: predominantly transverse to slightly arcuate striae. Sculpture of ventrolateral frons in female: smooth, with only setigerous punctures. Form of malar sulcus in female: not percurrent, with some sections variously obliterated. Sculpture of upper frons of female: smooth, with only setigerous punctures, or fine rugulae to slightly transverse sculpture, above ocellus very smooth, with only setigerous punctures. Sculpture of dorsal head between and posterior to lateral ocelli in female: smooth, with only setigerous punctures. Mandible of female: upper tooth slightly elongate, elongate-triangular, lower tooth absent to almost imperceptible, a slight extension of the inner-ventral margin.

Transverse pronotal carina in female: absent mesad, transition from dorsal shoul- der to anterior pronotum not sharply delimited but rather slightly curved, if appearing slightly present then either obliterated medially or composed of adjacent subpolygonal sculpture. Sculpture of medial mesoscutum in female: predominantly smooth with scattered setigerous punctures, posterior margin adjacent mesoscutellum with short parallel grooves of varying length, rarely partially obliterated grooves present further towards anterior. Sculpture of notaular course in female: more or less undifferentiated to slightly more robust and coarse relative to medial sculpture. Sculpture of lateral mesoscutum in female: absent, or with obliterated patch that covers at least 1/2 of area. Sculpture of mesoscutellum in female: predominantly smooth, with only scattered setigerous punctures, anterior margin adjacent mesoscutum with short parallel grooves of varying length. Sculpture of lateral pronotum in female (excluding interstitial sculpture): with or without slight smooth patch below lateral epomial carina, otherwise loosely longitudinally carinate, with very few to no reticulate elements. Pronotal verricule in female: base more or less unmodified, with tightly clumped clump of short to moderately elongate setae. Pronotal setal patch posteroventral to end of lateral epomial carina in female: dense (around 5 to many) small patch of appressed to slightly semi-decumbent setae, or sparse (around 2–5) scattered, shorter semidecumbent to erect setae. Sculpture of mesopleural depression in female: anterior 1/3 to 1/2 smooth, posterior longitudinally striate, with few to no reticulations. Pilosity of anteroventral metapleuron in female: glabrous, or sparsely setose. Dorsal surface of hind tibia in female: typical distribution and moderate length, setae appressed to loosely appressed, more or less straight. Shape of hind femur in female: narrow, dorsal and ventral sur-

Figures 9Ι–96 .64 Scelio poecilopterus Priesner (OSUC 235088). 9Ι Habitus, dorsal view 92 Habitus, lateral view 93 Mesosoma, dorsal view 94 Mesosoma, lateral view 95 Head, anterior view 96 Mesonotum, dorsal view. Scale bars in millimeters.

faces relatively symmetrical. Basal pigmented spot of fore wing in female: percurrent from submarginal vein to posterior margin, striplike (a band), divided only by hyaline course of M+Cu. Basal fascia of fore wing in female: subrectangular, striplike, percurrent from anterior to posterior margin. Apical fascia of fore wing in female: broad, hyaline, percurrent from anterior to posterior fore wing margin, apex of fore wing past fascia only slightly darker.

Sculpture of dorsal T 1 in female: longitudinally striate, with few to no transverse divisions or reticulations, interstices smooth or with very slight irregular microsculpture. Sculpture of dorsal T 2 in female: appearing smooth, with extremely slight sculpture (shagreen) visible at oblique angles. Sculpture of anterior T2 through anterior depression in female: interrupted with by a smooth strip, majority of sculpture not contiguous with that of posterior T2. Sculpture of dorsal T 3 in female: more or less smooth, with extremely slight sculpture (shagreen) visible at oblique angles. Medial sculpture of T 4 in female: obliterated to smooth. Medial sculpture of T 5 in female: obliterated to smooth. Sculpture of T2–T5 curved transition from dorsal to lateral terga in female: obliterated to smooth. Profile of female metasoma in lateral view: dorsal and ventral surfaces more or less evenly convex. Sculpture of lateral T2–T 6 in female: predominantly smooth, in some specimens with very small patch of striae to obliterated grooves ventrally. Pilosity of laterotergites in female: present on T1–T4, present on T1–T3.

Diagnosis. Diagnosable from all non-metallic species by the black head and orange-brown mesosoma and base of mesosoma, and the relative lack of sculpture throughout. Differing from the smaller S. variegatus in the absence of fine striae on the medial mesoscutum and mesoscutellum and the smooth upper frons and dorsal head which has dense, very fine minute reticulations in S. variegatus .

Link to distribution map. [http://osuc.biosci.ohio-state.edu/HymOnline/maplarge.html?id=5307]

Associations. Emerged from eggs of Acrotylus longipes (Charpentier) ( Orthoptera : Acrididae , Oedipodinae ); emerged from eggs of Diabolocatantops axillaris (Thunberg) ( Orthoptera : Acrididae , Catantopinae ; cited as Catantops axillaris ); emerged from eggs of Ochrilidia gracilis (Krauss) ( Orthoptera : Acrididae , Gomphocerinae ); emerged from Heteracris littoralis (Rambur) ( Orthoptera : Acrididae , Eyprepocnemidinae ; cited as Thisoicetrus littoralis ).

Material examined. Holotype female of Scelio princeps Nixon : ERITREA: Wekiro (Wakhiro), 8.XI.1956, D.J. Greathead, OSUC 254485 (deposited in BMNH) . Other material (50 females, 3 males): EGYPT: 1 female, OSUC 244167 ( USNM, paratype of Scelio poecilopterus Priesner ) . ERITREA: 12 females, 1 male, OSUC 254486–254497 ( BMNH) ; OSUC 235080 ( CNCI) . INDIA: 1 female, OSUC 235082 ( CNCI) . OMAN: 1 female, OSUC 211571 ( CNCI) . SAUDI ARABIA: 2 females, OSUC 211570 , 235077 ( CNCI) . SPAIN: 3 females, OSUC 254451–254453 ( BMNH) . UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: 29 females, 2 males, OSUC 254454 , 254498–254506 , 254508–254514 ( BMNH) ; OSUC 211535–211539 , 211572–211573 , 235085– 235091 ( CNCI) . YEMEN: 1 female, OSUC 211569 ( CNCI) .

Comments. We observed several smaller individuals (e.g., OSUC 211571) that were less robustly sculptured and more melanic than seen in a majority of specimens. Th e metasoma is remarkable for its relative absence of sculpture both dorsally and ventrally.

We have been unable to locate many of the primary types described by Priesner (1951), including the holotype of S. poecilopterus . Our interpretation of this name is based on a specimen in the USNM (OSUC 244167) that is labelled as a paratype. We can find no evidence that the use of the name by Kononova and Kozlov (2008) is based on anything other than the printed description.