Cheiloneurus scolopax, 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 : 276-278

Cheiloneurus scolopax sp.nov.

( Figs 685-690; Hab. E 103)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.1-1.4mm): body mostly orange, generally with a weak metallic sheen; posterior part of mesoscutum ( Fig. 690) dark brown with a metallic sheen, mesopleuron white with a partial, median, brown band, gaster brown mixed pale orange-brown, darker areas with a stronger metallic sheen; antenna ( Fig. 687) with scape pale orange, ventral margin brown; pedicel white with a dark brown streak; funicle off-white, mixed brown on side; clava dark brown; mesoscutum in posterior half with dense, silvery setae; coxae white; legs mostly white to pale orange but with mid and hind tibia with some brown areas; fore wing ( Fig. 685) mostly infuscate with basal cell almost completely hyaline, a small hyaline area at apex of venation narrowly connected to a small hyaline area on opposite margin via a narrow hyaline area along wing margin; head ( Fig. 686) about 9.5X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view slightly broader than long, subrectangular, genae slightly curved but weakly converging, more strongly curved inwards near mouth; frontovertex with two setae medially immediately above scrobes; eye separated from scrobe by slightly less than 2X diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with deep, distinct sculpture, scrobes quite deep with carinate margins; interantennal prominence with about 60 conspicuous pale setae and dorsally rounded; mandible with two teeth and a truncation, virtually tridentate; antenna ( Fig. 687) with scape about 3.2X as long as broad; all funicle segments transverse; linear sensilla on F4-F6; clava 3-segmented, slightly longer than pedicel and funicle combined, apex with a strong oblique truncation, sensory area extending about 0.7X along ventral surface of clava; head width clearly greater than length of funicle; mesoscutum ( Fig. 690) in anterior half or so with fine striate to striate reticulate sculpture, posterior part with uniform, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing ( Fig. 685) about 2.6-2.7X as long as broad; parastigma clearly downcurved; costal cell dorsally with one or two apical setae, ventrally with a line of setae that is broadly interrupted above parastigma; area below proximal part of parastigma with a group of about 15 paler setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked, hyaline line that extends a little way into disc; seta at apex of postmarginal vein about 0.6X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur slightly longer than basitarsus; propodeum ( Fig. 690) with about 50 setae adjacent to spiracle that extend down side; syntergum about 0.8X as long as mid tibia; ovipositor ( Fig. 689) about 3.6X gonostylus or about 1.2X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 0.9X as long as mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.31mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.27mm (CPD).

Head with occiput pale orange, a dark brown, triangular mark above foramen; frontovertex orange, ocellar area dark brown with metallic blue and purple reflections, other parts of frontovertex with much weaker green, brassy and purple reflections; area between eye and scrobe with a fairly strong blue-green and purple reflections, temple similar but a little less shiny; gena with weaker pale blue, brassy, coppery and purple reflections; scrobal area with weak brassy, pale blue and purple reflections; frontovertex clothed with fairly conspicuous, translucent, pale brown setae along inner eye margins, a line of similar setae below eye; gena and interantennal prominence with similar, but shorter and more dense setae, especially on interantennal prominence; maxillary palpus white; antenna ( Fig. 687) with radicle pale orange, extreme apex with a narrow brown ring; scape pale orange, apex white, externally with ventral margin narrowly brown proximally and a pale brown subapical band, internally with ventral margin broadly brown proximally almost to dorsal margin and narrowly margined brown subapically; pedicel more or less white with a dark brown streak internally along its length; funicle off-white, brown along sides; clava dark brown; pronotum orange with weak brassy and purple reflections, neck dark brown; prosternum pale orange; mesoscutum orange in anterior half clothed with relatively sparse, brown setae, posterior half dark metallic blue with some purple reflections and clothed with relatively dense, silvery setae, posterior margin purple-brown with a weak purple sheen; tegula orange with apex orange-brown; axilla and scutellum orange, clothed with brown setae, subapical tuft black; metanotum pale orange-brown; mesopleuron white with a weak brassy sheen and an incomplete, vertical median brown stripe; mesosternum very pale orange; fore coxa white; fore femur white, tibia and tarsus pale orange; mid coxa white; mid femur white, apex dusky, very pale orange, tibia pale orange with an incomplete, subbasal brown band, tibial spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa white; hind femur white, pale orange at apex, tibia pale orange, externally marked with pale brown in proximal half, tarsus pale orange; fore wing ( Fig. 685) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base, along anterior margin distad of venation and at apex; submarginal vein partially pale yellow, venation otherwise brown; propodeum pale orange with an extensive group of very dense, translucent, silvery setae surrounding spiracle and extending nearly to posterior margin; gaster largely pale orange with weak purple, green and brassy reflections, basal tergites and apex of syntergum brown with a stronger purple and coppery sheen, Gt1 largely metallic green laterally; gonostylus very pale orange.

Head ( Fig. 686) about 9.5X as wide as frontovertex, in profile 1.6X as high as deep, anteriorly virtually straight from top of scrobes to mouth margin, interantennal prominence slightly protuberant; occipital margin sharp, weakly carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 40°; frontovertex slightly shiny, with distinct, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size mostly slightly smaller than diameter of eye facet; sculpture immediately above scrobes distinctly transversely elongate; narrowest area between eye and scrobe a little less than 2X as wide as diameter of anterior ocellus and with distinct, transversely elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture which, when viewed from above, appears similar to a fingerprint; temple and gena with irregular, elongate, reticulate sculpture, that on temple of larger mesh than that on frontovertex; scrobes quite deep, ∩-shaped, meeting and sharply margined dorsally and below eye; interantennal prominence dorsally rounded and with similar sculpture to frontovertex; antenna as in Fig. 687; scape broadened and flattened, about 3.2X as long as broad; all funicle segments transverse, F1 subquadrate, distal segments broadest; clava strongly broadened, slightly longer than pedicel and funicle combined, sutures strongly oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally nearly three-quarters along clava, apex strongly obliquely truncate; eye reaching occipital margin, clothed in fairly conspicuous, short setae, each a little shorter than diameter of facet; inner eye margins converging anteriorly; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave medially; mandible with two acute teeth and a truncation, virtually tridentate; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, hardly longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 62, HH 59, FV 6.5, POL 4, OOL 0, OCL 4.5, AOL 9, EL 43, EW 31, MS 30, SL 32, SW 10.

Thorax ( Fig. 690) with pronotum not strongly exposed behind head, about 0.7X as long as mesoscutum, pronotum with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is a little shallower than that in ocellar area; mesoscutum in anterior half with fine striate to striate-reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as sculpture in ocellar area, posterior half with slightly shallower polygonally reticulate sculpture; axilla and scutellum with similar sculpture to pronotum, but slightly coarser and deeper, slightly elongate on side of scutellum; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.7X as broad as long; scutellum nearly 1.2X as broad as long, with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly about 0.4X as long as scutellum; mid tibia without a distinct external carina; hind femur about 4X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 685, 688; costal cell with 1 or 2 setae dorsally at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak ( Fig. 688); propodeum ( Fig. 690) medially about 0.16X as long as scutellum, virtually smooth, but with some extremely shallow, reticulate sculpture; setae on side dense, long and conspicuous. Relative measurements: FWL 56, FWW 21; HWL 49, HWW 12.5.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about half-way to apex; syntergum about 0.75X as long as mid tibia, with apex weakly angular; ovipositor hardly exserted, the exserted part about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur or 0.1X mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present only on F4-F6; gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; ovipositor Fig. 689. Relative measurements: OL 45, GL 12.5 [MT 36.5].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.06-1.42mm, otherwise very little in material available.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, PN Palo Verde, 400m E Puenta, La Espuela , LN 258980 396500, 10m, #60219, no date (I. Jiménez) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, NW Volcan Orosi, Cerro El Hacha, 300m, 1988; 1E, Guanacaste, Santa Rosa NP, Hacienda 1-0, 13.iv-4.v.1986 (Janzen, Gauld) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. The sculpture between the eye and scrobe in this species is very unusual in that it has the appearance of parts of a fingerprint.