Dalek orthia, Noyes, 2023

Noyes, John Stuart, 2023, ENCYRTIDAE OF COSTA RICA (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA), 4 Subfamily Encyrtinae: tribes Arrhenophagini, Habrolepidini, Cerapterocerini, Cheiloneurini, Trechnitini, Cercobelini, Polaszekiini, Protyndarichoidini, Gahaniellini and Syrphophagini (part), mainly primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of Coccoidea and Psylloidea (Hemiptera), Taxonomic Monographs on Neotropical Hymenoptera (Oxford, England) 2 (11), pp. 1-921 : 644-646

Dalek orthia sp.nov.

(Figs 1762-1767; Hab. E 261)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.3-1.7mm): scape (Fig. 1767) mostly dark brown, apex orange; mesoscutum dull metallic dark blue; all coxae dark brown; clypeal margin (Fig. 1765) virtually straight medially; OOL considerably less than OCL; antenna (Fig. 1767) with scape about 4.3X as long as broad; funicle segments with all segments slightly longer than broad; linear sensilla only on F2-F6; mesoscutum with sculpture shallower than on scutellum (Fig. 1766); scutellum with side and apical one-fifth completely smooth and shiny; mid tibial spur longer than basitarsus; fore wing (Fig. 1764) about 2.6X as long as broad; propodeum with about 20 setae around spiracle, side virtually smooth; apex of syntergum rounded; ovipositor (Fig. 1762) longer than mid tibia, exserted part about 0.7X as long as mid tibial spur; gonostylus hardly longer than mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.70mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.56mm (CPD). Head mainly black; frontovertex shiny with a metallic dark blue sheen mixed coppery along occipital margin and weak coppery purple along inner eye margins and immediately above scrobes; scrobal area and dorsal part of interantennal prominence with a weak coppery purple sheen; lower part of interantennal prominence and below and outside torulus with a metallic, dark blue sheen; area between eye and scrobe with a slight brassy and coppery sheen and area immediately below lowest part of eye with a strong metallic purple, green, brassy and coppery sheen; temple, gena, scrobes, interantennal prominence and mouth margin shining coppery purple, temple coppery along eye margin, then narrowly very shiny, metallic blue-green and brassy and posteriorly coppery; gena largely coppery, but metallic green towards torulus; frontovertex, gena and interantennal prominence with fairly inconspicuous translucent, pale brown setae; antenna (Fig. 1767) with radicle orange-brown, apex dark brown; scape dark brown with apical 0.25X pale orange; pedicel mostly pale orange, dorsally and laterally proximally dark brown, flagellum brown with linear sensilla conspicuous and white; maxillary palpus white to very pale orange; pronotum black generally with a coppery purple sheen, mixed green, dark blue and brassy; propleuron and prosternum black; mesoscutum overall dull, metallic, dark blue with some purple reflections; tegula dark brown with a slight brassy and purple sheen; axilla black with a very weak brassy sheen; scutellum dorsally about as shiny as mesoscutum, with a metallic, dark blue sheen and some weak purple reflections anteriorly, apical 0.2X of scutellum strongly shining purple, side strongly shining metallic green and blue-green; mesoscutum, axilla and scutellum clothed with fairly conspicuous, translucent pale brown setae; metanotum dark brown with a weak brassy sheen; mesopleuron dark brown, mainly with a weak brassy and coppery sheen, but anterior part with a weak metallic, dark blue sheen; mesosternum dark brown; fore coxa dark brown; fore femur proximally dark brown, apical half pale orange, tibia pale orange, tarsus pale orange; mid coxa dark brown; mid femur with a broad, median dark brown band, otherwise white to very pale orange, tibia pale orange with a narrow, brown subbasal ring extending to about 0.4X, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa dark brown; hind femur mostly dark brown with apices pale orange, tibia with extreme base pale orange, a broad, dark brown subbasal ring, apical half or so dusky pale orange with an inconspicuous, brownish subapical ring, tarsus dusky pale orange; wings mainly hyaline but fore wing (Fig. 1764) with a small infuscate patch below the marginal vein, submarginal vein slightly dusky pale orange, venation otherwise brown; propodeum dark brown with a weak brassy sheen, laterally with a weak blue-green and coppery sheen, side dorsally with a weak green sheen, about 20 conspicuous, long, silvery setae behind and outside spiracle extending about half way to posterior margin; gaster dark brown, with a distinct coppery purple sheen, dorsal part of Gt1 with a strong metallic dark blue, blue-green and purple sheen, side of gaster anteriorly coppery, otherwise with a mixed metallic green, brassy and coppery sheen; gonostylus dark brown, extreme apex dusky orange.

Head (Fig. 1765) about 2.7X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.6X as high as deep; occipital margin sharp, strongly carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 110°; frontovertex shiny, with irregular, moderately deep, rounded polygonally reticulate to imbricate-reticulate sculpture of mesh size generally slightly smaller, to slightly larger, than eye facet; frontovertex with piliferous punctures very shallow, 3 pairs of setae in front of anterior ocellus, a line of sparse setae along inner eye margin continued along lower eye margin; interantennal prominence with two submedian lines of short, conspicuous setae; temple and gena much more shiny than frontovertex, anterior part of temple and upper part of gena completely smooth, posterior part of temple and lower and posterior part of gena with very shallow longitudinally elongate, strigose to striate-reticulate sculpture; eye not quite reaching occipital margin, separated by about diameter of facet, with sparse, fairly inconspicuous setae that are much shorter than diameter of facet, eye separated from scrobal margin by about 0.7X diameter of ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with shallow sculpture; scrobes extremely weakly margined dorsally and laterally, very shallow, narrowly ∩-shaped, meeting, fairly smooth but with shallow, transversely to longitudinally elongate, imbricate-reticulate sculpture; interantennal prominence weak, dorsally rounded, with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1767; scape slightly broadened, about 4.3X as long as broad; all funicle segments clearly longer than broad, subequal in length, segments slightly broader distad; clava hardly broader than F6, very nearly as long as F4-F6 combined, sutures not oblique, sensory area slightly enlarged, at apex only giving it a rounded appearance; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin virtually straight medially; mandible with two acute teeth and a rounded, upper tooth. Relative measurements: HW 107.5, HH 94, FV 40, POL 20, OOL 3.5, OCL 9, AOL 12.5, EL 63, EW 47, MS 32.5, SL 45, SW 10.5.

Thorax (Fig. 1766) in dorsal view with pronotum short, mostly hidden by head; pronotum dorsally, mesoscutum and axilla with similar imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as that on frontovertex above scrobes; dorsal part of scutellum with similar sculpture to mesoscutum, but conspicuously deeper and coarser, apical 0.2X and side completely smooth and shiny; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.9X as broad as long; scutellum convex, about as broad as long, apex very fairly thin, but not flange-like, slightly overhanging scutellum medially; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1763, 1764; costal cell with a single line of setae dorsally in apical two-fifths or so; mid tibial spur slightly longer than basitarsus; propodeum (Fig. 1766) medially about 0.18X as long as scutellum and with shallow, irregular sculpture, almost smooth, side virtually smooth; side of propodeum weakly rounded posteriorly above hind coxa, but with a truncate, short, triangular tooth about half way to spiracle. Relative measurements: FWL 104, FWW 40.5; HWL 69, HWW 17.5.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about 0.8X to apex; syntergum about 0.7X as long as mid tibia, with apex more or less rounded; ovipositor clearly exserted, the exserted part about 0.7X as long as mid tibial spur or about 0.25X a long as mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present and conspicuous, present only on F2-F6; ovipositor Fig. 1762. Relative measurements: OL 103, GL 31.5 [MT 73, MTS 28.5].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.33-1.70mm, otherwise very little variation noted in material examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown, but the type series was reared from an unknown gall on Vernonia ( Asterales : Asteraceae ).

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Heredia, Parrasati , 2000m, ex gall in Vernonia , iii.1997 (P. Hanson) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Heredia, same data as holotype . Holotype and paratype in NHMUK .