Sectiliclava fusui, 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 : 561-563

Sectiliclava fusui sp.nov.

(Figs 1437-1444)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.2mm): antenna mostly pale orange, clava brown; setae arising from piliferous punctures sparse, translucent, silvery and fairly conspicuous; thorax dark brown with a moderate to strong metallic sheen; scutellum metallic green with a coppery band; mid tibia very pale orange, hind tibia brown with apices pale orange; head (Fig. 1443) with conspicuous, completely shiny, piliferous punctures on frontovertex; funicle (Fig. 1437) with F1- F5 all slightly longer than broad, F6 quadrate; mesoscutum (Fig. 1444) with piliferous punctures conspicuous, similar to those on frontovertex.. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length 1.23mm ( CPD) .

Head with occiput generally dark purple; frontovertex, area between eye and scrobe and upper scrobal area with very shiny, metallic dark green or blue-green piliferous punctures, area between punctures relatively dull, contrasting, purple; lower face, temple and posterior gena metallic green mixed purple; setae arising from piliferous punctures translucent, silvery and fairly conspicuous; antenna (Fig. 1437) with radicle orange, mixed brown laterally; scape pale orange; pedicel pale orange, brown dorsally in proximal half; funicle pale orange; clava brown; maxillary palpus dusky white; thorax mostly dark brown to black with a metallic sheen dorsally; pronotum with a moderate metallic green and purple sheen; mesoscutum with a metallic blue-green sheen mixed with some purple, posterior margin narrowly coppery purple; tegula dark brown with weak coppery purple sheen; axilla with a weak coppery purple sheen; scutellum largely metallic green with a broad, transverse, coppery band across middle for about half its length, apex mixed coppery; setae on mesoscutum, translucent and silvery and fairly conspicuous, setae on scutellum dark brown and less conspicuous; metanotum with a weak brassy and coppery purple sheen; mesopleuron generally with a weak purple and brassy sheen, a weak pale blue sheen posteriorly; all coxae dark brown; all femora dark brown, fore and mid femora pale orange at apex; fore and mid tibiae, mid tibial spur and tarsi very pale orange, each pretarsus brown; hind tibia brown with apices pale orange, tarsus white with apical tarsomere orange-brown, pretarsus brown; wings hyaline (Fig. 1440); propodeum dark brown, with a slight sheen, side with dense silvery setae outside spiracle and a group descending part way to hind coxa; gaster dark brown, generally with a fairly strong coppery and purple sheen, with green and blue reflections, Gt1 and syntergum with a distinct metallic green and blue-green sheen; gonostylus dark brown.

Head (Fig. 1443) about 2.3X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 2.3X as high as deep, menisciform, more or less evenly convex from occipital margin to top of scrobes, then less strongly curved to mouth margin, with interantennal prominence hardly 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 subequal to or clearly larger than eye facet, piliferous punctures distinct, completely smooth and shiny and about diameter of an ocellus, sometimes slightly larger; temple and posterior part of gena with shallower, longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture; anterior part of gena with similar sculpture to frontovertex; eye very nearly reaching occipital margin, with inconspicuous, pale setae that are each much shorter than 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. 1437; scape subcylindrical, about 5.9X as long as broad; F1-F5 slightly longer than broad, F6 quadrate, segments becoming slightly broader distally, linear sensilla present only on F3-F6; clava hardly broadened, about 1.1X as wide as F6, slightly longer than F4-F6 combined, sutures slightly oblique, sensory area enlarged so that apex has a distinct oblique truncation that extends very nearly half way along ventral surface; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin concave; mandible with apex virtually obliquely truncate but with two very short, upper teeth and a minutely crenulate, lower, truncate margin. Relative measurements: HW 97, HH 91, FV 43, POL 31, OOL 3, OCL 6, AOL 18, EL 55, EW 40, MS 37, SL 41, SW 7.

Thorax (Fig. 1444) in dorsal view with pronotum short, largely hidden by head, with posterior margin shallowly concave, but slightly more strongly concave medially; pronotum with polygonally reticulate to imbricate reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as sculpture on frontovertex; mesoscutum with very similar sculpture and piliferous punctures to those on frontovertex, but punctures not as shiny; axilla with similar sculpture to pronotum; scutellum with sculpture that is clearly deeper than that on mesoscutum, medially with longitudinally elongate striate-reticulate sculpture that contrasts with polygonally reticulate sculpture at base and apex; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.9X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.1X as broad as long; fore leg with apical tarsomere (Fig. 1438) about as long as four basal tarsomeres; hind leg with apical tarsomere slightly shorter than two basal tarsomeres; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1440, 1441, postmarginal vein not quite reaching wing margin; propodeum (Fig. 1444) medially about 0.11X as long as scutellum and with shallow, irregular, reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 94, FWW 41; HWL 55.5, HWW 21.

Gaster with last tergite about 0.6X as long as mid tibia, with apex emarginate; hypopygium (Fig. 1439) with mucro about 0.9X as long as wide; ovipositor Fig. 1442. Relative measurements: OL 44.5 [MT 93].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, 24km W Chacarita , 8°77’N 83°40’W, 200m, Malaise trap, 18-21.ii.2009 (B. Brown, W. Porras) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Sectiliclava fusui is most similar to arion , both species having distinct, deep, piliferous punctures on the frontovertex and mesoscutum, lack conspicuous dense silvery setae on the face and have the tegula completely dark brown. Apart from characters given in key fusui has linear sensilla absent on F1-F2, the sensory part of the clava extends nearly half way along its ventral surface, the mesoscutum is metallic blue-green, the scutellum is metallic green with a broad, transverse, coppery band and apex largely coppery and the ovipositor is about half as long as the mid tibia with the posterior margin of the semicircular sheet, at the base of the second valvifer, distinctly curved. In arion linear sensilla are present on all funicle segments, the sensory part of the clava extends only about one-third along its ventral surface, the mesoscutum has purple interpuncture areas contrasting with shiny metallic green punctures, the scutellum is mostly purple and blue with the apex blue and green and the ovipositor is hardly more than one-third as long as the mid tibia with the posterior margin of the semicircular sheet, of the second valvifer, straight.

The species is named after Lucian Fusu who first drew my attention to this new species.