Ammonoencyrtus prosymnos, 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 : 522-524

Ammonoencyrtus prosymnos sp.nov.

(Figs 1308-1312)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 2.1-2.3mm): area above mouth margin orange; mesoscutum and scutellum orange with a weak metallic sheen; fore and mid coxae white, hind coxa pale orange; legs otherwise orange; hind basitarsus orange; head about 6.5-7.7X as wide as frontovertex; pedicel with dorsal margin produced in lateral view; sensory part of clava about 2.5X as long as straight part of ventral margin of clava; frontovertex with more than 20 setae, excluding those along eye margin; scutellum mostly with uniform conspicuous, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is clearly deeper than shallower imbricate-reticulate sculpture of mesoscutum, only extreme side and apex smooth and shiny; exserted part of ovipositor about as long as mid tibial spur to about 2X as long. Male: Unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 2.08mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.89mm (CPD).

Head generally orange with a very weak brassy sheen; a narrow area above transfacial carina with a purple sheen mixed blue and violet; setae on frontovertex, temple and upper gena dark brown, those across face above transfacial carina conspicuous and silvery, those on interantennal prominence and on lower gena pale brown, translucent, and slightly silvery; antenna (Fig. 1312) with radicle orange, apex dark brown; scape slightly dusky orange, ventral margin translucent, proximally brown on internal surface, dorsal margin dark brown with a strong metallic green and blue-green sheen, very widely so towards apex; pedicel dark orange-brown, dark brown dorsally with a strong metallic green and blue-green sheen; funicle dark orange-brown, clava dark brown, flagellum with a brassy sheen; thorax generally orange with prosternum dark brown; pronotum with neck partially dark orange-brown; mesoscutum with a weak brassy and purple sheen; axilla and scutellum more or less matt, but with weak coppery and brassy reflections; mesopleuron with a weak brassy and purple sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur proximally white, remainder of fore leg mainly orange, but apical tarsomere dark brown; mid coxa white; mid femur proximally white, remainder of fore leg mainly orange, but apical tarsomere partly brown; hind coxa pale orange; remainder of hind leg mostly orange, but apical tarsomere dark brown; fore wing (Fig. 1311) mostly infuscate but hyaline towards base and at apex, venation pale orange, proximal part of parastigma and marginal vein brownish, apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by an elongate, slightly curved hyaline streak; hind wing hyaline; propodeum pale orange with a weak brassy lustre, side dusky with a metallic blue and purple sheen, setae outside spiracle brown and inconspicuous; gaster largely orange with Gt1-Gt6 dorsally dark brown with a mixed purple, coppery and brassy sheen, side of Gt2-Gt5 with a metallic green and purple sheen, sternites brown, apex of outer plate of ovipositor and apex of syntergum pale brown; gonostylus pale orange, apex very pale orange.

Head about 6.5X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.5X as long as deep, evenly convex from occiput to top of scrobes then virtually straight to mouth margin with interantennal prominence only slightly protuberant; vertex with a distinct, oval, shiny bottomed depression adjacent to eye margin between posterior ocellus and occipital margin; ocelli forming an angle of about 45°; frontovertex about 4.3X as long as broad, slightly shiny with fine, polygonally-reticulate sculpture of cell diameter about 0.5X diameter of eye facet, completely smooth above transfacial carina; temple and gena with longitudinally elongate, imbricate-reticulate sculpture of similar depth to that on frontovertex; eye reaching occipital margin, clothed with inconspicuous, very short translucent setae that are each much shorter than diameter of facet; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; narrowest point between eye and transfacial carina about 3.5X diameter of facet; width of interantennal prominence where it meets frontovertex about equal to minimum width of frontovertex; area immediately above transfacial carina with about 25 setae; narrowest point of frontovertex slightly in front of anterior ocellus; antenna as in Fig. 1312; scape subtrapezoidal with proximal part of dorsal margin 0.7X length of distal part and with the proximal part of the ventral margin about 1.25X as long as the distal part; distal part of dorsal margin of scape and dorsal margin of pedicel virtually flat but slightly concave and completely smooth and shiny; pedicel distinctly expanded dorsally, about 0.4X as wide as F1, setae uniform; F1 about 2X as long as F2 and subequal in width, remaining segments progressively narrower so that clava is about 0.7X as wide as F1; funicle with linear sensilla on F4-F6; clava dorsally a little shorter than F4-F6, apex strongly obliquely truncate, sutures oblique, sensory area about 2.4X as long as ventral margin; mandible with three teeth, upper tooth short appearing truncate. Relative measurements: HW 90, HH 77, FVL 57, FV 14, POL 7.5, OOL 0, OCL 7.5, AOL 11, EL 55, EW 49, MS 33, SL (dorsal margin) 58, SL (lamina) 62, SW 42.

Thorax with polygonally reticulate to imbricate-reticulate sculpture on pronotum and mesoscutum that is of similar depth and mesh size to sculpture on frontovertex; axilla with slightly deeper, slightly transversely elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scutellum with similar sculpture to axilla, but conspicuously deeper and more rounded; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.5X as broad as long; scutellum about as broad as long; mid tibia without an external carina; hind femur about 4.1X as long as broad; fore wing venation and setation as in Figs 1310, 1311; area proximad of anal angle clearly hyaline; costal cell with 6 or 7 setae dorsally at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked, hyaline streak; propodeum medially about 0.13X as long as scutellum, virtually smooth, 4 setae anterior to and outside spiracle. Relative measurements: FWL 95, FWW 41; HWL 72, HWW 19.5.

Gaster with hypopygium (Fig. 1309) reaching about 0.6X to apex, with a short, posterior, median projection (mucro); last tergite about as long as mid tibia, with apex strongly acute; ovipositor (Fig. 1308) strongly exserted, the exserted part about as long as mid tibial spur or 0.3X length mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 96.5, GL 34 [MT 49.5].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 2.09-2.25mm, the head is about 6.5-7.7X as wide as the frontovertex with the frontovertex about 4.3-5.0X as long as wide, the occipital margin may be weakly carinate, linear sensilla may also be present on F3 and the ovipositor varies from about 1.9-2.2X as long as the mid tibia so that the exserted part varies from about as long as the mid tibial spur to about 2X as long or 0.3-0.7X as long as mid tibia.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Heredia, 16km SSE La Virgen , 10°16’N 85°05’W, 1050- 1150m, 11/M/TN, 10.ii-21.iv.2001 ( INBio / OET-ALAS) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, PN Volcán Tenorio, Est. El Pilón, LN 298212 427913, 700m, #69218, 15-22.v.2002 (G. Carballo) . Holotype and paratype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Ammonoencyrtus prosymnos is generally very similar to carolinensis and bonariensis (Brèthes) but can be separated from these species by the relatively more strongly exserted ovipositor (see key).