Trechnites kale, 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 : 573-575

Trechnites kale sp.nov.

(Figs 1491-1499; Hab. E 219)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.3-1.6mm): head mesoscutum and scutellum black and moderately shiny; hind tibia pale orange, tarsus pale orange; fore wing (Fig. 1496) hyaline; flagellum (Fig. 1497) with sparse long setae, generally not more than 4 or 5 between pairs of longitudinal sensilla on clava with majority at least half length of linear sensilla; mandible (Fig. 1495) with 3 very short, subequal teeth; palp formula 3-3; mesoscutum and scutellum (Fig. 1492) with similar deep, imbricate to polygonally reticulate sculpture; notaular lines indistinct, but reaching slightly more than half way across mesoscutum; fore wing (Fig. 1496) with linea calva more or less closed by a line of setae. Male (length about 1.2mm): pedicel slightly swollen (Fig. 1498); digitus (Fig. 1491) with 2 small apical teeth, aedeagus about 7X as long as broad and about 0.5X as long as mid tibia with apex broadly rounded.

Female (holotype): length 1.60mm (CPD). Head black and moderately shiny, lower part of interantennal prominence and gena with a weak coppery purple sheen; antenna (Fig. 1497) with radicle brown; scape pale orange; pedicel pale brown, pale orange ventrally and narrowly at apex; flagellum pale brown, orange-brown internally; maxillary palpus pale orange; thorax dorsally black and moderately shiny, side and venter dark brown and shiny; pronotum mainly brassy with a hint of coppery purple; mesoscutum brassy; tegula and axilla with a weak coppery purple sheen; scutellum brassy with a hint of coppery purple; mesopleuron generally with a brassy and weak purple sheen; coxae dark brown; all femora dark brown; fore tibia and tarsus pale orange; mid tibia pale orange with a diffuse, brown, subbasal band, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind tibia pale orange with an indistinct, diffuse, pale brown subbasal band, tarsus pale orange; wings (Fig. 1496) hyaline; propodeum dark brown, with a slight brassy and coppery purple sheen; gaster dark brown, generally with a dull coppery purple sheen mixed with some brassy, green, blue and purple reflections; gonostylus dark brown.

Head (Fig. 1495) about 2.8X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 2.0X as high as deep, submenisciform, in profile clearly more or less evenly curved from occipital margin to mouth margin, although less distinctly curved below top of scrobes, interantennal prominence hardly protuberant; occipital margin sharp, weakly carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 85°; inner eye margins subparallel; frontovertex (Fig. 1495) shiny, generally with touching, deep, piliferous punctures interspersed with regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture, giving it the appearance of the surface of a thimble or gold ball, each puncture clearly smaller than diameter of ocellus; frontovertex with about 10 pairs of setae in front of anterior ocellus, a line of sparse setae along inner eye margin continued along lower eye margin; temple and gena quite shiny, with shallow, longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture; eye reaching occipital margin, with conspicuous, dense, pale setae that are each about as long as diameter of facet; scrobes moderately deep, weakly margined dorsally and laterally, narrowly ∩-shaped, meeting, generally with sculpture of similar depth to that on frontovertex but distinctly transversely elongate; interantennal prominence weak, dorsally rounded, with shallow, fine, regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1497; scape subcylindrical, about 4.6X as long as broad; F1 clearly smallest, quadrate, F2-F4 slightly longer than broad, F5 quadrate, segments larger and broader distad; clava hardly broadened, less than 1.1X as wide as F5, about as long as F3-F5 combined, sutures hardly oblique, apex more or less rounded; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin concave, although slightly protuberant medially. Relative measurements: HW 108, HH 97, FV 38, POL 22, OOL 2, OCL 5, AOL 14.5, EL 73.5, EW 47.5, MS 27, SL 39, SW 8.5.

Thorax (Fig. 1492) in dorsal view with pronotum short, largely hidden by head, with posterior margin broadly and shallowly concave; pronotum dorsally with similar sculpture to that in ocellar area between piliferous punctures; mesoscutum and axilla with similar sculpture to that on pronotum but very slightly shallower, with piliferous punctures distinct but clearly much shallower and smaller than those on frontovertex; scutellum with similar sculpture to that on mesoscutum but very slightly coarser and deeper and less regular, extreme apex and side of scutellum with slightly shallower sculpture and more shiny; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.7X as broad as long, notaular lines present, very indistinct, visible externally only at extreme anterolateral corners; scutellum about as broad as long; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1496, 1499; propodeum (Fig. 1492) medially about 0.08X as long as scutellum and with irregular, distinct, fine, polygonally reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 99, FWW 40.5; HWL 58, HWW 17.

Gaster with syntergum about 0.6X as long as mid tibia, with apex broadly rounded.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present only on F2-F5; flagellum (Fig. 1497) with sparse long setae, generally not more than 4 or 5 between pairs of longitudinal sensilla on clava with majority at least half length of linear sensilla; mandible (Fig. 1495) with 3 very short, subequal teeth; palp formula 3-3; apex of syntergum with a pair of large subapical membranous invaginations. Relative measurements: OL 66, GL 17.5 [MT 114].

Variation. The overall length of the female varies from 1.33-1.60mm, otherwise little variation noted in material available.

Male: length 1.19mm. Extremely similar to female but for structure of clava and genitalia. Tibiae generally darker than in female with hind tibia almost completely dark brown; funicle (Fig. 1498) segments quadrate or transverse with F1 slightly longer than F2; clava solid with sensory area enlarged forming a distinct, oblique apical truncation, genitalia (Fig. 1491) with 2 small apical teeth on digitus and aedeagus about 0.5X as long as mid tibia, slender with apex narrowly rounded. Relative measurements: AL 40, MT 84.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Volcán Cacao, Cerro Pedregal, 1000 m, ii-iv.1999 (I.D. Gauld) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 2E, Guanacaste, PN Guanacaste, San Cristobal, 17.iv- 17.v.1996 and 17.viii-17.ix.1996 (F.A. Quezada); 1E, Heredia, OTS-La Selva , 75m, 10°26’N 84°01’W, xii.1993 ( ALAS); 1G, Puntarenas, San Vito, Las Cruces, Wilson Bot. Gdns, 1500m, 18-22.iii.1990 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in MZUCR and NHMUK .