Lakshaphagus, Mahdihassan, 1931

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 : 194-195

Genus LAKSHAPHAGUS Mahdihassan

Lakshaphagus Mahdihassan, 1931:170 . Type species: Microterys hautfeuilli Mahdihassan , by original designation and monotypy.

Female. Overall length about 1.0- 1.5mm.

Body mainly orange, often with some weakly metallic or dusky areas, especially on mesoscutum; scape orange with ventral margin dark brown, funicle yellow to pale brown, clava dark brown; legs mostly yellow, sometimes with brown bands on all tibiae; fore wing infuscate with much of basal cell, a small area at apex of venation and apex of wing hyaline.

Head with occipital margin sharp; head in profile dorsally hardly convex from occipital margin to just above scrobes, bent at right angles at top of scrobes and from there virtually straight to mouth margin; scrobal area defined dorsally by a continuous transfacial carina that extends laterally to well outside toruli, in dorsal view not straight, but broadly concave and weakly notched medially; scape broadened and flattened; funicle subcylindrical, 6-segmented, clava 3-segmented, apex rounded or with a short, oblique truncation; mandible tridentate, with 2 acute lower teeth and a very short rounded, or truncate upper tooth; palp formula 4-3.

Thorax with fairly shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture on mesoscutum, notaular lines absent; scutellum dorsally flat or slightly convex, with apical one-third to one-fifth abruptly angled downwards at about 60-90° and very smooth and shiny, flat part with fine, slightly longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate sculpture, deeper than that on mesoscutum, and with about 6-11 pairs of coarse, dark bristles arranged transversally in middle and usually a stronger scale-like median pair immediately distad of these; mid tibia with a moderate to strong, distinct, subbasal external carina in proximal half or so; fore wing about 2.4-2.6X as long as broad; submarginal vein with parastigma strongly downcurved and with a moderate triangular expansion at proximal end of parastigma; submarginal vein with an apical hyaline break; marginal vein at least about 3X as long as broad; about as long as stigmal vein and about 2-3X as long as postmarginal vein; stigmal vein curved apically towards wing margin so that its apex is separated from wing margin by about length of the swollen uncus or much less; apices of postmarginal vein and stigmal vein connected by a naked, hyaline area ( Fig. 496); linea calva entire; filum spinosum present, represented by about 3 or 4 modified setae; axillae raised above level of scutellum, posteriorly very smooth and shiny; mesopleuron posteriorly expanded and reaching level with, or a little way past, posterior margin of propodeum, touching, or nearly touching, base of gaster.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about two-thirds along gaster; paratergites absent; ovipositor hidden to conspicuously exserted; gonostylus free.

Male. Length about 1.2mm.

Body generally dark brown with a slight metallic sheen; antennae yellow, apex of flagellum dusky; legs yellow, mid and hind tibiae with distinct incomplete, brown rings; fore wing hyaline; antenna with 6 funicle segments, all longer than broad and clothed with long setae; clava slightly shorter than F5 and F6 combined.

DISTRIBUTION. USA (Florida), Costa Rica, Palaearctic, Afrotropics, Oriental (see Noyes, 2019).

HOSTS. Recorded as primary parasitoids of a variety of scale insects including species of Asterolecaniidae , Cerococcidae , Coccidae , Kerridae , Kuwaniidae , Lecanodiaspididae , and Pseudococcidae ( Hemiptera : Coccoidea) (see Noyes, 2019).

COMMENTS. Lakshaphagus arnulfoi , descibed below, may be misplaced in the genus because it differs from all other included species by having a relatively longer, straighter stigmal vein and the infuscate area of the fore wing enclosed subapically by a characteristic curved, more strongly infuscate band as in Anicetus . In all other species currently included in the genus, the stigmal vein is conspicously curved apically towards the anterior wing margin and the hyaline area at the apex of the fore wing is not strongly delimited and is subtriangular. The generic diagnosis above has been adapted to make it possible to include arnulfoi in Lakshaphagus .

Within the Neotropical fauna, Lakshaphagus is very close to Anisophleps , females of both having the flagellar segments subcylindrical and the infuscate area of the fore wing delimited subapically by a darker curved band. Lakshaphagus lacks any scale-like setae on the mesoscutum and the distinctive, fine, whorl-like sculpture on the mesoscutum and scutellum. In Anisophleps there are at least 1 or 2 scale-like setae on the mesoscutum and the sculpture on the mesoscutum and scutellum is very characteristic and distinctly fine and whorl-like.

IDENTIFICATION. Ten world species, including the species described as new below. Trjapitzin, 1999 (generic diagnosis, key to 9 species); Singh & Dobhal, 2014 (generic diagnosis, key to 9 species).