Cheiloneurus finator, 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 : 415-417

Cheiloneurus finator sp.nov.

(Figs 1061-1066; Hab. E 155)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.6-1.8mm): body mostly dark brown with a weak to moderate metallic sheen, orange areas on head, mesoscutum, scutellum and mesopleuron; antenna (Fig. 1062) with scape white to very pale orange margined dark brown; pedicel and flagellum dark brown; posterior half of mesoscutum with silvery setae; coxae white; legs mainly pale orange, knees dark brown; fore wing (Fig. 1063) mostly infuscate with basal cell hyaline except a small area proximally, a small hyaline area at apex of venation and opposite on posterior wing margin, apex with a hyaline triangular area; head (Fig. 1066) about 12-15X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view about as wide as long, subrectangular, genae hardly converging, more strongly curved inwards towards mouth margin; frontovertex naked medially; eye separated from scrobe by about 1.2-1.5X diameter of ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with deep, lineolate-reticulate sculpture, scrobal margin sharp; interantennal prominence dorsally rounded with about 50 conspicuous, silvery setae; mandible with two lower, acute teeth and an upper, rounded truncation; antenna (Fig. 1062) with scape about 3.6-3.7X as long as broad; funicle with F1-F3, sometimes only F1, slightly longer than broad, remaining segments transverse; head width about 0.8X length of flagellum; linear sensilla on F4-F6; clava 3-segmented, nearly as long as funicle; sensory area large and forming an oblique truncation, extending about 0.6X along ventral margin; mesoscutum (Fig. 1064) mostly with fine, longitudinally elongate polygonally reticulate sculpture, anteriorly and on sides more strigose, posterior half medially polygonally reticulate; scutellum with a distinct apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 1063) about 2.5-2.6X as long as broad; parastigma distinctly curved downwards; costal cell dorsally naked or with 1 or 2 setae at apex and ventrally with a complete line of setae; area below proximal part of parastigma with a group of about 25 pale setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that extends a little way into disc (Fig. 1061); apical bristle of postmarginal vein slightly less than 0.3X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur slightly shorter than basitarsus; propodeum with about 20 setae around each spiracle, these extending posteriorly towards hind coxa; syntergum about as long as mid tibia; ovipositor (Fig. 1065) about 3.1X gonostylus or 1.4X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 1.5X as long as mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about half as long as mid tibial spur to about as long. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.77mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.68mm (CPD).

Head mostly orange-brown, largely with metallic areas; occiput largely pale orange, upper part and area between occipital margin and posterior ocelli metallic green with come coppery reflections; more anterior part of frontovertex more weakly metallic green and purple; area above scrobes mixed metallic purple, green, coppery and brassy, margined laterally and above by a narrow, metallic purple line; outside this, area immediately below eye strongly shining metallic blue and brassy-green, slightly coppery along eye margin; temple and upper gena shining metallic green and coppery, lower gena with a much less shiny brassy and purple sheen and pale orange immediately above mandibular bases; scrobal area with a weak brassy, green and coppery sheen, interantennal prominence with a weak purple and blue sheen; lower face with an irregular dark brown band between toruli and mouth margin, this with a slight metallic green sheen; frontovertex clothed with inconspicuous, translucent, pale brown setae, a line of fine, translucent setae between eye and scrobe; maxillary palpus white; antenna (Fig. 1062) with radicle orange, apex narrowly ringed dark brown; scape with extreme apex white, otherwise pale orange, distinctly margined brown ventrally, widely so towards base internally so that basal quarter or so is completely brown; pedicel dark brown dorsally, pale orange ventrally; flagellum entirely dark brown; pronotum orange-brown to dark brown, prosternum mostly concolourous; mesoscutum orange in anterior one-third, posterior two-thirds dark brown with very weak metallic blue and purple reflections posterior margin purple-brown, anterior half of mesoscutum clothed in relatively sparse golden brown setae, posterior half clothed in translucent, silvery setae that are slightly more dense, especially laterally and mixed with a few dark brown setae; tegula orange with apex orange-brown; axilla and scutellum orange clothed with golden brown setae, subapical tuft black with anterior setae translucent and pale; metanotum dark brown; mesopleuron slightly dusky orange, posteriorly orange-brown to brown, anterior part with a very weak brassy sheen, posterior part with a weak brassy, coppery and purple sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur white with apical one-third brown, extreme apex pale orange, tibia largely pale orange with a weak subbasal brown band, tarsus pale orange; mid coxa white; mid femur white with an incomplete, narrow, subapical brown band, tibia narrowly white proximally, mostly pale orange but with an incomplete subbasal brown band and with dorsal margin brown for about half its length, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa white, femur white proximally with apical third pale orange-brown margined brown, tibia brown in proximal two-fifths, otherwise pale orange, tarsus pale orange; fore wing (Fig. 1063) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base and weakly so at apex; submarginal vein pale orange, venation otherwise dark brown; propodeum dark brown, side metallic green mixed slightly coppery, spiracular area with dense silvery setae that extend almost to posterior margin; gaster entirely dark brown with a green, coppery, brassy and purple reflections, Gt1 quite strongly metallic green, distally purple, laterally coppery, outer plate of ovipositor similar to rest of gaster, but with some weak blue reflections; gonostylus very pale orange almost white.

Head (Fig. 1066) about 15X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.5X 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 30°; frontovertex quite shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh conspicuously smaller than diameter of eye facet, ocellar area with conspicuously deeper sculpture, area immediately above scrobes with coarser, more irregular sculpture; narrowest area between eye and scrobe slightly wider than diameter of anterior ocellus, between eye and scrobe with deep lineolate reticulate sculpture, but area immediately below lowest part of eye completely smooth and shiny; scrobes deep, broadly ∩-shaped, sharply margined dorsally, margin below eye carinate; interantennal prominence with similar sculpture to frontovertex, clothed in about 50 translucent setae, dorsally rounded, scrobes meeting; temple virtually smooth with very shallow, irregular, elongate sculpture, gena with slightly deeper, irregular, reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1062; scape slightly broadened and flattened, about 3.6X as long as broad, broadest in proximal half; funicle with F1-F3 slightly longer than broad, F4 quadrate, F5-F6 transverse; clava broadened, about as long as F2-F6 combined, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about 0.6X along clava, giving it an obliquely truncate appearance; eye reaching occipital margin, clothed with numerous conspicuous setae, each about as long as diameter of facet; inner eye margins strongly converging anteriorly, diverging a little way above scrobes; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave medially; mandible with 2 acute teeth and a truncation; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, about 1.3X as long as radicle. Relative measurements: HW 69, HH 69, FV 4.5, POL 4, OOL 0, OCL 8, AOL 10, EL 53.5, EW 38, MS 35, SL 41.5, SW 11.5.

Thorax (Fig. 1064) with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is conspicuously deeper than that on most of frontovertex; mesoscutum mostly with fine, longitudinally elongate polygonally reticulate sculpture, anteriorly and on sides more strigose, posterior half medially with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is of similar depth to that behind posterior ocellus, axilla and scutellum with similar sculpture to that on mesoscutum but only elongate on sides of scutellum; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.7X as broad as long; scutellum about as long as broad with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly about one-third as long as scutellum; mid tibia with a distinct, subbasal, external carina for about one-third its length, spur slightly shorter than basitarsus; hind femur about 5.5X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1063; costal cell dorsally naked at apex, ventrally with a complete line of setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak (Fig. 1061); propodeum (Fig. 1064) medially about 0.12X as long as scutellum and virtually smooth, side virtually completely smooth, but with some shallow, reticulate sculpture dorsally. Relative measurements: FWL 72.5, FWW 21; HWL 60, HWW 14.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about half-way to apex; syntergum slightly longer than mid tibia, with apex acute; ovipositor slightly exserted, the exserted part about half as long as mid tibial spur or about 0.15X mid tibia.

Paratype. Antenna with linear sensilla on F4-F6; gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; ovipositor Fig. 1065. Relative measurements: OL 51.5, GL 16.5 [MT 36].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from about 1.6-1.8mm, the head is 12-15X as wide as the frontovertex, the eye is separated from scrobe by about 1.2-1.5X the diameter of the anterior ocellus, the scape is about 3.6-3.7X as long as broad; the funicle has F1 or F1-F3 slightly longer than broad, remaining segments transverse, the fore wing is about 2.5-2.6X as long as broad, the costal cell is dorsally naked or with 1 or 2 apical setae and the exserted part of the ovipositor varies from about half as long as mid tibial spur to about as long.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Heredia, OTS La Selva , 10°26’N 84°01’W, i-iii.1993 (P. Hanson) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Puntarenas, PN Corcovado, Los Patos , 8°33’N 83°30’W, 200m, ii.2000 (J.S. Noyes, J.A. Azofeifa) . Holotype and paratype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Cheiloneurus finator can be distinguished from many similar species ( dirce , amethes , alopes , omorus , etc.) by having about 20-25, conspicuous, silvery setae surrounding each propodeal spiracle, in other similar species there may be fewer than 10, sometimes not more than 5. Cheiloneurus finator also differs from most of these species in having the frontovertex less than 0.1X head width. Similar species with a narrow frontovertex are alopes , dirce , diaces , miranda and orbona . Apart from having relatively few setae surrounding the propodeal spiracle, these species have the head orange with a distinct diagonal brown stripe on temple and gena, whereas finator has the frontovertex and temple largely metallic and lacks the brown genal stripe.