Psyllaephagus epulo Noyes & Hanson, 1996

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 : 592-593

Psyllaephagus epulo Noyes & Hanson

(Figs 1559-1563; Hab. E 231)

Psyllaephagus epulo Noyes & Hanson, 1996 :127,134-135. Holotype E, Costa Rica, NHMUK, examined.

Female (length about 1.3-1.4mm): head dull coppery, green and blue; mesoscutum and scutellum metallic green with some coppery reflections, especially on scutellum, scutellum sometimes slightly bluish; scape and flagellum dark brown; tegula brown; femora dark brown; tibiae brown, yellowish towards apices; head about 2X as wide as frontovertex and about 2.2X as wide as mouth opening; frontovertex with very indistinct, shallow piliferous punctures, hardly larger than eye facet and somewhat obscured by the relatively deep, polygonally reticulate sculpture; ocelli forming an angle of about 130°, posterior ocellus a little closer to eye than to occipital margin; scrobes shallow, separated from anterior ocellus by slightly more than length of torulus; antenna (Fig. 1563) with scape about 4X as long as broad and about 0.75X as long as minimum width of frontovertex; pedicel longer than F1, F1-F4 a little longer than broad, F5 subquadrate, F6 transverse, linear sensilla on F2-F6; clava with sensory area hardly extended ventrally, apex appearing rounded; clypeal margin slightly convex and protuberant; mandible with two teeth and a truncation; mesoscutum with shallower sculpture than that on scutellum; scutellum convex; fore wing (Fig. 1559) about 2.3X as long as broad, marginal vein (Fig. 1560) about 2X as long as broad; costal cell with only a single line of setae dorsally, linea calva open; Gt3 without a distinct, strongly reticulate area anteromedially; ovipositor hardly exserted, the exserted part about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur. Male (length about 1.5mm): similar to female but head with an abrupt change of colour and sculpture between antennal toruli, above purplish changing to blue-green with relatively finely reticulate sculpture and below green with some brassy and blue reflections with conspicuously smoother, less regular, reticulate sculpture of larger mesh; antenna as in Fig. 1562; genitalia (Fig. 1561) with aedeagus about 0.7X as long as mid tibia.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica ( Noyes & Hanson, 1996).

HOSTS. Reared from galls of Trioza sp. magnoliae group ( Hemiptera : Triozidae ) on the fruit of Cinnamomum hammelianum ( Noyes & Hanson, 1996) .

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. HolotypeE: COSTA RICA, Alajuela, P.N. Volcan Poas, 2500m, psyllid gall on Magnoliaceae , 25.x.1990 (P. Hanson). Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 2E, 1G, Alajuela, Volcan Poas, 2400m, ex triozid galls on fruit of Phoebe cinnamomifolia , i/ ii.1995 (P. Hanson). Holotype in NHMUK, paratypes in NHMUK and INBio.

COMMENTS. In some ways Psyllaephagus epulo is superficially similar to tyche , both having a protuberant clypeal margin and convex scutellum. The two species can be separated on a number of characters, most notably the relative width of the frontovertex, width of the mouth and relative length of the gaster. In epulo the head is about 2X the width of the frontovertex and hardly more than 2X as wide as the mouth, and the gaster is only about half as long as the thorax, whereas in tyche the head is about 3X as wide as the frontovertex and more than 2.5X as wide as the mouth, and the gaster is nearly as long as the thorax. Further to this in epulo the ocelli form a strongly obtuse angle, the mesoscutum and scutellum hardly contrast in colour and the tibia are mostly dark brown, whereas in tyche the ocelli form an angle of barely more than 90°, the mesoscutum is much brighter than the scutellum and the tibiae are mostly yellow with a narrow subbasal brown band.