Cheiloneurus aesernia, 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 : 425-427

Cheiloneurus aesernia sp.nov.

(Figs 1085-1089)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.4mm): body mostly orange with some brown areas with a weak to moderate metallic sheen on head, and gaster; lower face with a curved brown line between mouth and toruli; temple and gena with a diagonal, brown streak; antenna (Fig. 1088) 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 half of mesoscutum with dense silvery setae; coxae white; legs mostly white to pale orange with brown areas; fore wing (Fig. 1086) 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 about 6.4X 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 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 14 inconspicuous setae and with a dorsal median ridge; mandible with one tooth and a broad, slightly concave truncation; antenna (Fig. 1088) with scape about 2.3X as long as broad; funicle segments subquadrate to transverse; head width slightly less 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 nearly 0.4X along ventral margin; mesoscutum (Fig. 1087) anteriorly with coarse, longitudinally elongate lineolate-reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 1086) about 2.4X as long as broad; parastigma slightly downcurved; costal cell dorsally with 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; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that curves a little way into disc (Fig. 1089); apical bristle of postmarginal vein about 0.5X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur about as long basitarsus; propodeum with three or four setae adjacent to spiracle, side naked; syntergum slightly longer than 0.8X mid tibia; ovipositor (Fig. 1085) about 4.0X gonostylus or about 1.3X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 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, 1.40mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.31mm ( CPD) .

Head mostly pale orange; frontovertex very slightly dusky with a weak blue, purple and brassy sheen, much stronger in ocellar area; temple and upper gena with a weak brassy, lower gena with a very weak brassy and purple sheen, area between eye and scrobe with a slightly stronger blue 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 more or less 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. 1088) 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 segments mainly orange-brown, mixed dark brown on inner surface, F6 brown, clava dark brown; pronotum mostly orange, neck and side above coxa brown; mesoscutum orange, posterior two-fifths with a purple and blue sheen, orange behind this with posterior margin brown, 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 orange; mesopleuron pale orange, 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; hind coxa white, femur concolourous at base, but mostly pale orange, knee brown, tibia and tarsus pale orange, tibia with a very weak, brown subbasal ring; fore wing (Fig. 1086) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base and at apex; venation yellow-brown; propodeum pale orange, side with a weak brassy sheen, 5 or 6 white setae near spiracle; gaster mostly very pale orange with basal tergite brown dorsally with a slight blue sheen, remainder of gaster with a much weaker purple, green and brassy sheen, extreme apex of syntergum and apex of outer plate of ovipositor brown; gonostylus very pale orange, almost white.

Head about 6.4X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.4X 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 40°; frontovertex quite shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh conspicuously smaller than diameter of eye facet; area between eye and scrobe slightly shorter than 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 more or less acute, with a distinct median ridge that continues as a very shallow ridge to meet frontovertex, not separating scrobes; temple with very shallow, irregular, elongate sculpture, gena with slightly deeper, irregular, reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1088; scape broadened and flattened, about 2.3X as long as broad; funicle with segments broader and larger distad, proximal segments subquadrate, distal segments transverse, linear sensilla present only on F4-F6; clava broadened, about as long as F2-F6 combined, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally 0.4X 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 1 tooth and a broad, slightly concave truncation; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, hardly longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 58, HH 55.5, FV 9, POL 4, OOL 0, OCL 5, AOL 7.5, EL 43, EW 31, MS 27, SL 30.5, SW 13.

Thorax (Fig. 1087) with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is a little deeper than that on frontovertex; mesoscutum in posterior one-third with polygonally reticulate sculpture that a little deeper than that on frontovertex, anterior two-thirds with coarser, deeper, longitudinally elongate lineolate-reticulate sculpture; axilla and scutellum mostly with fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is conspicuously deeper and coarser than that on frontovertex, but sculpture on scutellum more elongate, especially laterally; visible part of mesoscutum about 2X 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 4.3X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1086, 1089; costal cell with at most only a single seta at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak; propodeum (Fig. 1087) with side completely smooth, medially about 0.14X as long as scutellum and with very shallow, irregular sculpture, virtually smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 56, FWW 23; HWL 46, HWW 11.

Gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; hypopygium not quite reaching half-way to apex; syntergum slightly more than 0.9X as long as mid tibia, with apex hardly angular; ovipositor (Fig. 1085) slightly exserted, the exserted part about two-thirds as long as mid tibial spur or slightly less than one-fifth mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 96.5, GL 24 [MT 76].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Limón, RB Hitoy Cerere, 9 40’N 83°02’W, 100m, ii.2004 (Noyes) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Cheiloneurus aesernia is similar in general habitus to gyges and the two species could be confused. Apart from the lack of a distinct brown band on the posterior half of the mesoscutum (present in gyges ), aesernia can be separated from gyges by having a slightly more slender clava, which is hardly more than 2X as wide as the pedicel, and a smaller apical sensory area that is only reaches about one-third along the ventral margin of clava. In gyges the clava is relatively larger and very nearly 3X as wide as the pedicel and the sensory area reaches about half-way along the ventral margin of the clava.