Dalek jigas, 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 : 648-650

Dalek jigas sp.nov.

(Figs 1775-1779; Hab. E 264)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (overall length about 1.6-1.8mm): scape (Fig. 1778) dark brown with apical half orange; mesoscutum metallic blue-green; all coxae dark brown; clypeal margin medially straight; OOL very slightly greater than OCL; antenna (Fig. 1778) with scape about 5.2X as long as broad; funicle with F1-F5 slightly longer than broad, F6 quadrate; linear sensilla on all segments; mesoscutum with sculpture shallower than on scutellum (Fig. 1775); scutellum completely smooth and shiny on side and apex; mid tibial spur shorter than basitarsus; fore wing (Fig. 1779) about 2.4-2.5X as long as broad; propodeum with about 10 setae around spiracle; apex of syntergum acute; ovipositor (Fig. 1776) longer than mid tibia, exserted part longer than mid tibial spur; gonostylus longer than mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.63mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.44mm. (CPD)

Head generally black with a strong blue-green sheen in ocellar area, dark green between anterior ocellus and top of scrobes, a little coppery along occipital margin and inner eye margin and near posterior ocellus; temple, gena and scrobal area metallic coppery purple; frontovertex, gena and interantennal prominence with inconspicuous, brown setae; antenna (Fig. 1778) with radicle dark brown; scape largely dark brown, apical half or so pale orange, but dorsal margin brown along its length; pedicel ventrally and apically pale orange, remainder dark brown; flagellum dark brown; maxillary palpus off-white; thorax generally dark brown to black; pronotum mostly metallic coppery purple; mesoscutum mostly metallic blue-green with some purple reflections, posterior margin narrowly coppery purple; tegula dark brown with a weak coppery purple sheen; axilla dark brown with a coppery purple sheen; scutellum proximally with a weak, metallic, dark green sheen, apical half with a very strong coppery sheen this extending anteriorly part way along mid line, vertical side with a strong, metallic, dark green sheen; mesoscutum and scutellum with dark brown setae; metanotum dark purple-brown; mesopleuron very dark brown, with a brassy sheen; mesosternum dark brown; all coxae dark brown; fore femur dark brown, extreme apices pale orange, fore tibia pale orange with a broad, brown, subbasal band, tarsus pale orange, apical tarsomere pale brown; mid femur dark brown, extreme base pale orange, tibia dark brown, apical half pale orange, spur and tarsus pale orange, tarsus slightly dusky, apical tarsomere brown; hind femur, tibia and tarsus dark brown; wings hyaline, fore wing (Figs 1777, 1779) with a very small, weakly infuscate area immediately below marginal and stigmal veins; propodeum dark brown, with a weak brassy sheen, side with a metallic green, and coppery purple sheen with about 10 conspicuous, translucent, silvery setae outside spiracle, extending towards posterior margin but not towards hind coxa; gaster dark brown, with a distinct coppery purple sheen, dorsal anterior part of Gt1 with a distinct, dark blue sheen, side of gaster with some metallic green and dark blue reflections; gonostylus dark brown.

Head about 2.5X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.7X as high as deep; occipital margin sharp, carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 95°; frontovertex with irregular, shallow, polygonal sculpture, in ocellar area of mesh size slightly larger than eye facet, slightly transversely elongate and partly imbricate-reticulate in front of anterior ocellus with relatively large mesh, conspicuously larger than eye facet; frontovertex with piliferous punctures shallow and indistinct, none in front of anterior ocellus, a line of sparse setae along inner eye margin continued along lower eye margin on to gena; interantennal prominence with a few, short, inconspicuous setae; temple and gena completely smooth, without sculpture; eye nearly reaching occipital margin, separated by very slightly less than diameter of facet, virtually naked, but clothed with sparse, very short setae, each much shorter than diameter of facet, separated from scrobal margin by about 0.5X diameter of ocellus, area between eye and scrobe completely smooth; scrobes shallow, more or less ∩-shaped, meeting dorsally, very weakly margined dorsally and laterally; interantennal prominence shallow, dorsally more or less rounded; antenna as in Fig. 1778; scape subcylindrical, about 5.2X as long as broad, dorsal margin straight; F1-F5 slightly longer than broad, F5 subquadrate, F6 quadrate, linear sensilla conspicuous and on all funicle segments; clava hardly enlarged, about 1.1X as wide as F6, about as long as F4-F6 combined, outer suture hardly oblique, sensory area small, giving apex a rounded appearance; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin medially quite straight, without a median lobe; mandible with two acute teeth and a broad, truncate, upper tooth. Relative measurements: HW 112, HH 95.5, FV 45, POL 20.5, OOL 6, OCL 5, AOL 12, EL 62, EW 47, MS 39, SL 49, SW 9.5.

Thorax (Fig. 1775) in dorsal view with pronotum clearly visible behind head, its posterior margin concave, with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is generally similar to that on frontovertex; mesoscutum with fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is similar in depth to pronotum, but of a slightly smaller mesh; axilla with shallow, fine, transversely elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scutellum convex, basal half with sculpture of similar mesh to that on mesoscutum, but much coarser and deeper, side and apical 0.4X completely smooth and shiny, the smooth area conspicuously advanced medially about 0.4X into the coarsely sculptured basal area; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.6X as broad as long; scutellum hardly longer than broad; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1777, 1779; costal cell with a single line of setae dorsally in apical 0.5X or so; mid tibial spur shorter than basitarsus; propodeum (Fig. 1775) medially about 0.22X as long as scutellum, with some irregular, longitudinal carinae and other sculpture medially, side posteriorly carinate above hind coxa, with a shallow, obtuse tooth a little above half way towards spiracle. Relative measurements: FWL 89, FWW 36; HWL 62, HWW 16.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about 0.8X to apex; syntergum about 0.7X as long as mid tibia, with apex acute; ovipositor exserted, the exserted part about 1.7X as long as mid tibial spur or nearly 0.4X as long as mid tibia.

Paratype. Ovipositor Fig. 1776. Relative measurements: OL 68, GL 24.5 [MT 39, MTS 10].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.63-1.79mm and the fore wing varies from about 2.4-2.5X as long as broad.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, San José, Zurqui de Moravia , 1600m, vii.1992 (P. Hanson) . Paratype: COSTA RICA, 1E, Heredia, 9km NE Vara Blanca , 10°14’N 84°06’W, 1450-1550m, 15/ TN/04/012, 20.iii.2005 ( INBio / OET – ALAS) . Holotype and paratype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Dalek jigas is very close to minerva, Apart from the colour of the funicle and forewing and setation on the propodeum (see key), jigas can be separated from minerva by the fore tibia pale orange with a broad, brown, subbasal band, the mid tibia dark brown with the apical half pale orange, the frontovertex without any median setae between the anterior ocellus and antennal scrobes, the scape about 5X as long as broad and the sculpture on the mesoscutum shallower than that on the scutellum. In minerva the fore tibia is dark brown with extreme base and apical 0.25X pale orange, the mid tibia generally dark brown with apices dark orange-brown, the frontovertex has about 6 or 7 median setae between the anterior ocellus and antennal scrobes, the scape is less than 4.5X as long as broad and the sculpture of the mesoscutum is about as deep as that on scutellum.

Dalek jigas may also be close to saurax and arax , but can be separated from these species by having the scape largely dark brown and the clypeal margin straight whereas in the other species the scape is completely yellow or pale orange and the clypeal margin has a short, broad, convex median lobe. Also, in saurax the fore and hind coxa are yellow whereas in jigas all coxae are dark brown.