Cheiloneurus amethes, 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 : 448-450

Cheiloneurus amethes sp.nov.

(Figs 1139-1145)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.5mm): body mostly orange with some brown areas with a weak to moderate metallic sheen on head, mesoscutum and gaster; mouth margin narrowly dark brown; temple with a distinct diagonal, brown streak to gena; antenna (Fig. 1142) with scape mostly pale orange with ventral margin brown; pedicel pale orange with a dark brown longitudinal streak; funicle mainly brown, F4-F5 mixed with some orange; clava dark brown; posterior part of mesoscutum with dense silvery setae; fore and hind coxae white, mid coxa orange; legs mostly white to pale orange with some dusky areas; fore wing (Fig. 1139) mostly infuscate with basal cell almost completely hyaline, a small hyaline area at apex of venation and an opposite hyaline area on posterior wing margin, apex hyaline; head (Fig. 1144) about 4.6X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view very slightly broader than long, subcircular with genae converging and weakly curved, more strongly curved inwards near mouth margin; frontovertex with four setae medially above scrobes; eye separated from scrobe by about 1.2X diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe completely smooth, scrobal margin sharp; interantennal prominence with about 20 inconspicuous setae and with a weak, dorsal, median ridge; mandible with one tooth and a broad, slightly concave truncation; antenna (Fig. 1142) with scape about 2.9X as long as broad; funicle with segments subquadrate; head width about equal to flagellum length; linear sensilla on F3-F6; clava 3-segmented, very slightly longer than F3-F6 combined; sensory area enlarged and forming an oblique truncation, extending about 0.3X along ventral margin; mesoscutum (Fig. 1145) anteriorly with fine, longitudinally elongate, striate to striate-reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 1139) about 2.5X as long as broad; parastigma slightly downcurved; costal cell dorsally with two or three apical setae and a line of setae ventrally that is broadly interrupted above parastigma; area below proximal part of parastigma with a line of about four to six pale setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that curves a little way into disc (Fig. 1143); apical bristle of postmarginal vein about 0.6X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur very slightly longer than basitarsus; propodeum (Fig. 1145) with about four setae adjacent to spiracle, side naked; syntergum about as long as mid tibia; ovipositor (Fig. 1141) about 3.7X gonostylus or about 1.7X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 1.4X as long as mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.5X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.45mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.38mm ( CPD) .

Head mostly pale orange; frontovertex slightly dusky with a blue and purple sheen, strongest between posterior ocelli; temple and upper gena with a weak brassy sheen mixed purple, lower gena much less shiny with a very weak brassy and purple sheen, area between eye and scrobe with a slightly stronger purple sheen; scrobal area with a weak brassy and purple sheen; scrobes delimited dorsally by a curved, pale brown line; lower face with a brown spot below each torulus that are connected by a very faint, curved, brown line; temple with a diagonal brown streak from temple behind eye towards torulus; frontovertex clothed with inconspicuous, pale brown setae, a line of fine, translucent setae between eye and scrobe; maxillary palpus white; antenna (Fig. 1142) with radicle pale orange, apex narrowly ringed orange-brown; scape pale orange, white at extreme apex, distinctly margined brown ventrally, more widely so internally towards base; pedicel mostly pale orange with a dark brown streak internally along its length; F1-F3 brown, F4-F5 orange, brown ventrally, F6 brown; clava dark brown; pronotum mostly orange, neck with a dark brown spot; prosternum dark brown outside coxa; mesoscutum anteriorly orange, posterior half with a metallic blue and purple band, behind this narrowly orange, posterior margin mostly brown with a weak purple sheen, anterior half of mesoscutum clothed in relatively sparse dark brown setae, posterior half clothed in relatively dense, translucent, silvery setae mixed with a few dark brown setae; tegula orange with apex orange-brown; axilla and scutellum orange, axilla clothed with brown setae, scutellum clothed anteriorly with golden brown setae, otherwise setae dark brown, subapical tuft black; metanotum orange; mesopleuron pale orange, orange-brown posteriorly, anterior part with a very weak brassy sheen, posterior part with a weak brassy, coppery and purple sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur concolourous with coxa basally, apex pale orange, a little dusky along margins distally, tibia and tarsus pale orange; mid coxa pale orange; mid leg otherwise similarly coloured to fore leg, except that tibia is faintly infuscate subbasally; hind coxa white, femur concolourous proximally and pale orange apically, knee brown, tibia and tarsus pale orange; fore wing (Fig. 1139) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base and at apex; submarginal vein pale orange, venation otherwise pale brown; propodeum orange, brown with a blue and purple sheen laterally, side orange, 4 white setae near spiracle; gaster largely pale orange to orange-brown, apex of syntergum brown, outer plate of ovipositor and apex of hypopygium brown, Gt1-Gt4 brown, darker proximally, gaster with a mixed coppery, purple, green, blue and brassy sheen that is weakest on paler areas, sides of Gt1-Gt4 with a much stronger metallic green lustre; gonostylus very pale orange.

Head (Fig. 1144) about 4.6X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.6X as high as deep, anteriorly quite straight below top of scrobes, interantennal prominence hardly protuberant level with torulus; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 70°; frontovertex quite shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh conspicuously smaller than diameter of eye facet; area between eye and scrobe hardly wider than diameter of anterior ocellus, smooth; scrobes shallow, broadly ∩-shaped, sharply margined above, margin below eyes carinate; interantennal prominence with similar sculpture to frontovertex, dorsally rounded with a weak, median ridge that does not extend past scrobal depression; temple virtually smooth with very shallow, irregular, elongate sculpture, gena with slightly deeper, irregular, reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1142; scape broadened and flattened, about 2.9X as long as broad; funicle with segments broader and larger distad, proximal segments subquadrate, distal segments transverse, F1-F3 subequal, F5-F6 subequal; linear sensilla present only on F3-F6; clava slightly broadened about as long as F2-F6 combined, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally a little more than 0.4X along clava, giving it an obliquely truncate appearance; eye reaching occipital margin, clothed with very inconspicuous short setae, each much shorter than diameter of facet; inner eye margins converging very slightly anteriorly, diverging a little way above scrobes; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave medially; mandible with 1 tooth and a broad, slightly concave truncation; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, hardly longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 62, HH 59, FV 13.5, POL 6.5, OOL 0, OCL 4.5, AOL 6.5, EL 40, EW 32, MS 29, SL 30.5, SW 10.5.

Thorax (Fig. 1145) with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is of similar depth to that on frontovertex; mesoscutum with polygonally reticulate sculpture in posterior two-fifths that is a little deeper than that on frontovertex, anterior three-fifths with fine, longitudinally elongate, striate to striate-reticulate sculpture; axilla mostly with fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is conspicuously deeper and coarser than that on frontovertex, scutellum with longitudinally striate-reticulate sculpture that is much coarser than that on anterior part of mesoscutum; visible part of mesoscutum about 2.1X as broad as long; scutellum hardly broader than long with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly about half as long as scutellum; mid tibia with a distinct, subbasal, external carina for about half its length; hind femur about 3.8X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1139, 1143; costal cell dorsally with 1 or 2 at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak (Fig. 1143); propodeum (Fig. 1145) with side completely smooth, medially about 0.12X as long as scutellum and virtually smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 65.5, FWW 26; HWL 54, HWW 13.

Gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; hypopygium (Fig. 1140) reaching about half-way to apex; syntergum about long as mid tibia, with apex angular; ovipositor (Fig. 1141) slightly exserted, the exserted part about half as long as mid tibial spur or not quite one-fifth mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 57.5, GL 15.5 [MT 34].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

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) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Cheiloneurus amethes is somewhat similar to omorus . Apart from having the scrobes sharply margined below the eye, amethes has linear sensilla on F3 and the dark area on the mesoscutum is medially about 0.7X as long as the side of an axilla laterally. In omorus the scrobal margin is rounded below the eye, linear sensilla are absent from F3 and the dark area of the mesoscutum is medially slightly longer than the side of an axilla.

See also comments under cero (p. 415), finator (p. 417) and alopes (p. 443).