Cheiloneurus gyges, 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 : 427-429

Cheiloneurus gyges sp.nov.

(Figs 1090-1094; Hab. E 158)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.4-1.6mm): body mostly orange with some brown areas with a weak to moderate metallic sheen on head, mesoscutum and gaster; lower face with a curved brown line between mouth and toruli; temple and gena with a diagonal, brown streak; antenna (Fig. 1092) with scape mostly pale orange with ventral margin brown; pedicel pale orange with a dark brown longitudinal streak; funicle mainly orange-brown, F6 brown; clava dark brown; posterior three-fifths of mesoscutum with dense silvery setae; coxae white; legs mostly white to pale orange with brown areas; fore wing (Fig. 1093) 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 with a subtriangular hyaline area; head (Figs 1091, 1094) about 6-7X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view slightly broader than long, subcircular with genae converging and fairly uniformly curved, but slightly more curved inwards near mouth margin; frontovertex with one or two setae medially above scrobes; eye separated from scrobe by slightly less than diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe completely smooth, scrobal margin sharp, carinate below eye; interantennal prominence with about 13-22 inconspicuous setae and with a dorsal median ridge; mandible with two teeth and a truncation; antenna (Fig. 1092) with scape about 2.5X as long as broad; funicle segments subquadrate to transverse; head width hardly shorter than flagellum length; linear sensilla on F4-F6; clava 3-segmented, about as long as F2-F6 combined; sensory area enlarged and forming an oblique truncation, extending about 0.5X along ventral margin; mesoscutum anteriorly with coarse, longitudinally elongate lineolate-reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 1093) about 2.4-2.6X as long as broad; parastigma slightly downcurved; costal cell dorsally with up to two setae at apex, with a complete line of setae ventrally; area below proximal part of parastigma with a line of about 8-10 pale setae that curves along cubital vein track towards wing base, one or two setae outside this; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that curves a little way into disc (Fig. 1090); apical bristle of postmarginal vein about 0.5-0.7X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur about as long basitarsus; propodeum with three to eight setae adjacent to spiracle, side naked; syntergum about 0.8-0.9X mid tibia; ovipositor about 3.8-4.0X gonostylus or about 1.3-1.4X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 1.1-1.2X as long as mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.7X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.46mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.40mm (CPD).

Head mostly pale orange; frontovertex with a weak blue, green and purple sheen, stronger in ocellar area; temple and upper gena with a weak brassy and purple sheen, lower gena with a very weak brassy, coppery and purple sheen, area between eye and scrobe with a slightly stronger green, coppery and purple sheen; scrobal area with a weak brassy and purple sheen; lower face with a median, curved, brown line between toruli and mouth margin that connects laterally with a stronger, oblique brown streak from temple behind eye; frontovertex clothed with inconspicuous, pale brown setae, a line of translucent setae between eye and scrobe; maxillary palpus white; antenna (Fig. 1092) with radicle pale orange, apex narrowly ringed orange-brown; scape pale orange, distinctly margined brown ventrally, more widely so internally near base; pedicel mostly pale orange with a dark brown streak internally along its length; funicle with F1-F5 largely pale orange, dark brown ventrally, more widely so on proximal segments, F6 dark orange-brown, clava dark brown; pronotum mostly orange, neck and side above coxa brown; mesoscutum orange, posterior two-fifths with a purple and blue sheen, behind this orange-brown with a weak purple sheen, anterior half of mesoscutum clothed in relatively sparse golden brown to 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 slightly dusky pale orange; mesopleuron pale orange, mixed brown in posterior one-third, anteriorly with a weak brassy and purple sheen, posteriorly with a weak purple sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur concolourous with coxa basally, apex pale orange, tibia and tarsus pale orange; mid coxa white; mid leg otherwise coloured similarly to fore leg, except that mid tibia has a brown streak dorsally for much of its length and the remnants of a narrow, brown, subbasal ring; hind coxa white, femur concolourous at base, but mostly pale orange, knee brown, tibia and tarsus pale orange, tibia with a very weak, longitudinal brown streak; fore wing (Fig. 1093) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base and at apex; venation yellow-brown; propodeum pale orange, dusky on side with a weak blue and brassy sheen, 5 or 6 white setae near spiracle; gaster mostly pale orange, Gt1 brown dorsally with a slight blue sheen, rest of gaster with a weak purple, green, coppery and brassy sheen, Gt2-Gt6 brown laterally, apex of syntergum and apex of outer plate of ovipositor pale brown; gonostylus very pale orange, almost white.

Head (similar to Fig. 1091) about 6.1X 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 50°; frontovertex quite shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh conspicuously smaller than diameter of eye facet; area between eye and scrobe about as wide as diameter of anterior ocellus, smooth; scrobes quite deep, broadly ∩-shaped and sharply margined, distinctly carinate below eye; interantennal prominence with similar sculpture to frontovertex, dorsally narrowly rounded, with a distinct median ridge, not separating scrobes; temple virtually smooth with very shallow, irregular, elongate sculpture, gena with slightly deeper, irregular, reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1092; scape broadened and flattened, about 2.5X as long as broad; funicle with segments broader and larger distad, proximal segments subquadrate, distal segments transverse; clava broadened, slightly longer than F2-F6 combined, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about half-way along clava, giving it an obliquely truncate appearance; eye reaching occipital margin, naked; inner eye margins slightly converging anteriorly, diverging a little way above scrobes; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave medially; mandible with 2 teeth and a truncation, more or less tridentate; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, hardly longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 70, HH 66, FV 11.5, POL 6, OOL 0, OCL 6.5, AOL 7.5, EL 48, EW 37, MS 30, SL 33, SW 13.

Thorax with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is a little deeper than that on frontovertex; mesoscutum in posterior two-fifths with fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is conspicuously deeper and coarser than that on frontovertex, anterior three-fifths with sculpture coarser and longitudinally lineolate-reticulate; axilla and scutellum mostly with fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is conspicuously deeper and coarser than that on frontovertex, but more elongate laterally on scutellum; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.8X as broad as long; scutellum about as long as broad with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly a little less than half as long as scutellum; hind femur about 4.6X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1090, 1093; costal cell dorsally naked at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak (Fig. 1090); propodeum with side completely smooth, medially about 0.15X as long as scutellum and with very shallow, irregular sculpture, virtually smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 60, FWW 22.5; HWL 50, HWW 11.5.

Gaster with hypopygium not quite reaching half-way to apex; syntergum nearly as long as mid tibia, with apex weakly angular; ovipositor slightly exserted, the exserted part about two-thirds as long as mid tibial spur or about one-fifth mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present only on F4-6; gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5. Relative measurements: OL 50.5, GL 12 [MT 36].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.42-1.55mm, the head may be about 7X as wide as the frontovertex, otherwise very little in material examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Heredia, Est. Biol. La Selva , 10°25’N 84°01’W, iv.1994 (INBio-OET) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 2E, Heredia, OTS-La Selva, 10°26’N 84°01’W, xi.1993 ( ALAS); 1E, Heredia, OTS La Selva, 10°26’N 84°01’W, 75m, 23.ii.2006 (J.S. Noyes); 1E, Heredia, Estacion Biológica La Selva , 10°26’N 84°01’W, 1-2.iii.2007 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. See comments under aesernia (p. 427) and lexovus (p. 431).