Protyndarichoides euanthos, 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 : 543-544

Protyndarichoides euanthos sp.nov.

(Figs 1371-1378; Hab. E 199)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.0- 1.2mm): flagellum orange-brown; thorax dark brown to black with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; coxae orange; gaster dark brown; gonostylus dark brown; head slightly broader than high; antenna (Fig. 1372) with F1 smaller than F3; linear sensilla on F3-F6; clava 2-segmented; mesoscutum (Fig. 1374) with striate-reticulate to striate sculpture that is much deeper than sculpture on scutellum; scutellum with very shallow polygonally reticulate sculpture in basal half between axillae, remainder completely smooth; propodeum with up to 7 brown setae outside spiracle. Male (length about 1.2mm): body brown, mesopleuron and propodeum dark brown; phallobase (Fig. 1378) about 3.5X as long as broad; cuspis set absent; aedeagus about 7X as long as broad and about half as long as mid tibia, apex slender and acute.

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

Head mainly black; frontovertex generally with a moderate, metallic dark green and dark blue sheen with some coppery purple reflections; temple, gena and scrobal area metallic coppery purple; frontovertex, gena and interantennal prominence with moderately conspicuous, long brown setae; radicle and scape slightly dusky, pale orange, dorsal margin of scape more conspicuously dusky; pedicel and flagellum orange-brown, pedicel ventrally orange; maxillary palpus slightly dusky, pale orange; pronotum black with a weak brassy and purple sheen; propleuron and prosternum dark brown; mesoscutum dark brown to black with a weak brassy sheen; tegula dark brown with a slight brassy sheen; axilla black with a weak brassy and purple sheen; scutellum black with a distinct dark blue sheen mixed coppery purple anteriorly and dark green posteriorly; dorsum of thorax clothed with dark brown setae; metanotum dark brown; mesopleuron and mesosternum dark orange-brown; fore leg, including coxae, pale orange-brown; mid coxa dark brown; mid femur proximally very pale dusky orange, distally brown, tibia pale orange, brown at extreme base and with a narrow, brown, subbasal ring, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa dark brown; hind femur slightly dusky pale orange becoming brown towards apex, tibia dark orange brown, base narrowly white, tarsus dark brown; wings virtually hyaline, but weakly infuscate below marginal vein (Fig. 1376); propodeum dark brown with a very weak brassy and purple sheen, 3 inconspicuous pale setae outside spiracle; gaster dark brown; gonostylus dark brown.

Head about 2.1X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.4X as high as deep, anteriorly evenly curved from occipital margin to top of scrobes then more strongly curved level with top of scrobes and fairly straight towards mouth margin, with interantennal prominence slightly protuberant; occipital not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 100°; frontovertex shiny, with fairly conspicuous, shallow, fine, irregular, transversely elongate, imbricate-reticulate sculpture; frontovertex with piliferous punctures shallow, indistinct, 3 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 about as shiny as frontovertex, with shallow, longitudinally elongate, strigose to striate-reticulate sculpture; eye not quite reaching occipital margin, separated by less than half diameter of facet, with inconspicuous pale setae, each a little longer than diameter of facet; eye separated from scrobal margin by about diameter of ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with shallow, transversely elongate, imbricate-reticulate sculpture; scrobes meeting dorsally with shallow sculpture, poorly delimited and weakly margined dorsally and laterally; interantennal prominence distinct and dorsally rounded, sculpture polygonally reticulate but much shallower that on frontovertex; antenna as in Fig. 1372; scape hardly broadened, about 5.8X as long as broad; funicle with F1 a little longer than broad, slightly smaller than F2, both clearly smaller than any of the remaining segments which are all longer than broad, subequal in length but becoming broader distad so that F6 is hardly longer than broad, linear sensilla present only on F3-F6; clava 2-segmented, slightly broadened, about 1.4X as wide as F6, slightly longer than F4-F6 combined, sutures not oblique, sensory area slightly enlarged, extending ventrally about 0.3X length of clava, apex conspicuously obliquely truncate; clypeal margin weakly concave. Relative measurements: HW 58, HH 50, FV 28, POL 11.5, OOL 4, OCL 1.5, AOL 7.5, EL 31.5, EW 26.5, MS 22, SL 29, SW 5.

Thorax (Fig. 1374) with imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is slightly deeper than that on frontovertex; mesoscutum almost entirely with longitudinally elongate, striate-reticulate to strigose sculpture that is conspicuously deeper than that on pronotum, and with a small area of polygonally reticulate sculpture anteriorly in middle; axilla with shallow polygonally reticulate to imbricate-reticulate sculpture that is similar to that on pronotum; scutellum only slightly convex, virtually entirely smooth, but with some shallow, irregular sculpture between axillae; mesopleuron with relatively rough sculpture of large mesh in anterior two-thirds, posterior part smooth; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.7X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.2X as broad as long; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1375, 1376; propodeum (Fig. 1374) medially about 0.27X as long as scutellum, virtually smooth with about 6 or 7 inconspicuous, brown setae outside spiracle. Relative measurements: FWL 64, FWW 26.5; HWL 42, HWW 11.

Gaster hardly longer than thorax, with hypopygium reaching about 0.9X along gaster; syntergum about 0.8X as long as broad and about 0.8X as long as mid tibia, with apex broadly rounded; ovipositor hardly exserted.

Paratype. Hypopygium (Fig. 11371) about 1.2X as broad as long with moderate anterior apodemes and anterior margin very concave; ovipositor Fig, 1373. Relative measurements: OL 30.5, GS 4.5 [MT 57].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.04-1.24mm, the propodeum may have up to 7 setae outside the spiracle, otherwise very little variation in material examined.

Male (length 1.15mm): similar to female apart from antennal structure and genitalia. Head about 1.9X frontovertex width, antenna (Fig. 1377) with scape about 4X as wide as long; all funicle segments clearly longer than broad and clothed with long setae, the longest of which is about 6X as long as diameter of segments, ventral setae shorter; phallobase (Fig. 1378) about 3.5X as long as broad; digitus about 3X as long as broad with a single apical tooth, cuspis set absent; aedeagus about 7X as long as broad and about half as long as mid tibia, apex slender and acute.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Cacao (ACG), 1100 m, MT/YPT, 26.i-24. ii.1996 (J.S. Noyes) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, Arenales, w. side Volcan Cacao , 1988- 1989; 3 E, 1G, same data as holotype; 2E , Heredia, Santo Domingo, INBio Parque , LN 217300 526200, 1100m, v.2001 and 27.v-27.vi.2001 (R. Zuñiga) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. This species is very similar in general habitus and colouration to elathes . Apart from the characters given in the key (p. 537), euanthos can be separated from elathes by having the syntergum about 0.8X as long as the mid tibia and the hypopygium slightly broader than long with the anterior apodemes less than one-third the length of the hypopygium. In elathes the syntergum is about 0.9X as long as the mid tibia and the hypopygium is longer than broad with the anterior apodemes half as long as the hypopygium.