Sectiliclava rojasorum, 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 : 565-567

Sectiliclava rojasorum sp.nov.

(Figs 1460-1467; Hab. E 213, G 214)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.2-1.3mm): antenna mostly brown; setae arising from piliferous punctures sparse, silvery and inconspicuous; thorax dark brown with a moderate to strong metallic sheen; scutellum mostly coppery; mid and hind tibiae pale orange; head with piliferous punctures on frontovertex very distinct, completely smooth and shiny; funicle (Fig. 1460) with all segments clearly longer than broad, F6 broadest; mesoscutum with piliferous punctures shallow and inconspicuous. Male (length about 1.1mm): thorax and gaster mostly dark brown; frontovertex with distinct piliferous punctures; antenna (Fig. 1463) with pedicel about as broad as long; funicle segments clothed with short setae, the longest of which are about 0.5X as long a width of broadest segment; proximal funicle segments symmetrical; clava with apex more or less pointed.

Female (holotype): length 1.29mm (CPD).

Head with occiput generally dull, dark purple; frontovertex coppery with piliferous punctures contrasting shining metallic green; interantennal prominence mostly metallic dark green; mouth margin coppery; temple and gena relatively dull metallic dark blue mixed with purple; setae arising from piliferous punctures translucent, silvery, but mostly inconspicuous; antenna with radicle pale orange, a little dusky dorsally; scape pale orange; pedicel pale orange, brown dorsally; flagellum brown; maxillary palpus pale brown; thorax mostly dark brown to black with a metallic sheen dorsally; pronotum with a moderate coppery purple sheen mixed with dark blue reflections; mesoscutum metallic dark blue, posterior margin narrowly coppery purple; tegula dark brown with weak coppery purple sheen; axilla with a weak coppery purple sheen; scutellum mostly coppery, apical 0.25X metallic dark green, mixed coppery and brassy; setae on mesoscutum and scutellum dark brown; metanotum with a very weak brassy sheen; mesopleuron generally with a weak purple and brassy sheen; all coxae dark brown; all femora dark brown, pale orange at apex; tibiae pale orange, fore tibia with a small, pale brown subbasal area; fore and mid tarsi pale orange, pretarsi brown, hind tarsus proximally white, distally pale orange, pretarsus brown; wings hyaline; propodeum dark brown, with a slight brassy sheen, side with moderately dense silvery setae outside spiracle and a group descending along anterior margin to hind coxa; gaster dark brown, Gt1 and syntergum with a distinct metallic green and blue-green sheen, Gt2-Gt6 mostly coppery, sides and venter with mixed blue, green, coppery purple and brassy reflections; gonostylus dark brown.

Head about 2.5X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 2.1X as high as deep, menisciform, more or less evenly convex from occipital margin to mouth margin, with interantennal prominence moderately protuberant; occipital margin sharp, carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 100°; frontovertex shiny, generally with moderately deep, regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size slightly larger than eye facet, piliferous punctures very distinct, completely smooth and shiny and of very slightly smaller diameter than ocellus; temple and posterior part of gena with much shallower, longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture; anterior part of gena with similar sculpture to frontovertex; eye very nearly reaching occipital margin, with conspicuous, pale setae that are at least as long as diameter of facet; scrobes virtually absent, very shallow with similar sculpture and piliferous punctures to frontovertex; interantennal prominence indistinguishable, below toruli with shallow, regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1460; scape subcylindrical, about 6.2X as long as broad; all funicle segments clearly longer than broad, segments becoming slightly broader distally; clava hardly broadened, about 1.1X as wide as F6, slightly shorter than F4-F6 combined, sutures not oblique, sensory area hardly enlarged so that apex appears rounded; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin concave, but straight medially. Relative measurements: HW 91, HH 86, FV 37, POL 26, OOL 2.5, OCL 6.5, AOL 15, EL 56, EW 41, MS 30, SL 40, SW 6.5.

Thorax in dorsal view with pronotum short, partially hidden by head, with posterior margin weakly concave; pronotum with polygonally reticulate to imbricate reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as sculpture on frontovertex, but generally of much larger mesh; mesoscutum with finer, shallower sculpture than on frontovertex and with piliferous punctures shallow, small and inconspicuous; axilla with very fine, shallow polygonally reticulate sculpture that is much shallower than that on pronotum; scutellum with sculpture that is a little deeper than that on frontovertex, generally longitudinally elongate striate-reticulate sculpture, extreme sides and apex completely smooth and shiny; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.7X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.2X as broad as long; fore leg with apical tarsomere (Fig. 1466) about as long as four basal tarsomeres; hind leg with apical tarsomere slightly shorter than two basal tarsomeres; fore wing with postmarginal vein not reaching wing margin; propodeum medially about 0.11X as long as scutellum and with shallow, fine, irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 83, FWW 36; HWL 54 HWW 17.

Gaster with last tergite about 0.7X as long as mid tibia; hypopygium Fig. 1465. Relative measurements: OL 45, [MT 97].

Paratype. Linear sensilla present only on F3-F6 or absent from F3; mandible with apex broadly and slightly obliquely truncate with minute vestiges of 4 teeth.

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.16-1.29mm, otherwise very little variation noted.

Male: length 1.05-1.15mm (CPD).

Very similar to female but for the structure of the antenna and genitalia. Antenna (Fig. 1463) with scape about 4.4X as long as broad and very slightly longer than malar space, all funicle segments longer than broad; all segments clothed with short setae, the longest of which are about 0.5X as long a width of broadest segment; clava solid and about as long as F5-F6 combined; forewing structure and distribution of setae as in Figs 1461, 1464; phallobase (Fig. 1467) about 3X as long as broad; cuspis seta present; paramere nearly as long as digitus with an apical seta, each digitus with a pair of apical teeth; aedeagus very slender, about 12X as long as broad and weakly angular apically, about one-third as long as mid tibia. Relative measurements: AL 13, MT 40, MTS 12.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, Res. Priv. Karen Mogensen, 9°52’N 85°03’W, 305m, 23-24.ii.2007 (J.S. Noyes) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 2E, 2G, Puntarenas, Res. Priv. Karen Mogensen, 9°52’N 85°03’W, 305m, 19-20.ii.2016 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK..

COMMENTS. Of the Costa Rica species of the genus, rojasorum is probably most similar to fusui but, apart from lacking conspicuous piliferous punctures on the mesoscutum it can be separated by having a unicolorous brown antenna, pale orange hind tibia; mandible with upper teeth virtually absent, sculpture on scutellum elongate and reticulate (cellular), especially towards apex, and the anterior margin of the hypopygium distinctly emarginate. In fusui the funicle is pale orange contrasting with the brown clava, the hind tibia is dark brown, the mandible has two short, but distinct upper teeth, the scutellum has finely striate-reticulate sculpture and the anterior margin of the hypopygium is more or less straight.

This species is named in honour of Fabio and Carlos Rojas, the two wonderful brothers who run the farm at the main entrance to RP Karen Mogensen.