Neococcidencyrtus hilaria, 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 : 134-135

Neococcidencyrtus hilaria sp.nov.

( Figs 317-322)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 0.9mm): face without a dark brown band above toruli ( Fig. 322); mesoscutum dark brown with a metallic sheen; tegula pale orange, apex pale brown; scutellum orange; fore and hind coxae dark brown, mid coxa mostly pale orange; fore femur and tibia mostly pale orange; mid femur white to pale orange; hind femur dark brown; hind tibia mostly dark brown, without bands; fore wing ( Fig. 319) with an infuscate pattern; hyaline band distad of venation with widest point a little less than 2X as wide as narrowest point; head ( Fig. 322) about 3.9X as wide as frontovertex; funicle with longitudinal sensilla on F4-F6, or absent from F4; clava with outer suture complete, not dorsally oblique; mandible more or less with three teeth; fore wing ( Fig. 319) about 2.4X as long as broad; linea calva entire; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur; gonostylus shorter than mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 0.89mm; excluding ovipositor, 0.85mm ( CPD) .

Head generally orange; occiput slightly dusky; frontovertex brown between posterior ocelli and in this area with metallic dark blue and purple reflections; face ( Fig. 322) below top of scrobes mainly orange with a narrow, irregular, transverse, dark brown band between ventral parts of toruli extending more faintly almost to gena, median area immediately above brown band pale yellow; temple and gena orange; frontovertex with a few, inconspicuous, brown setae; a line of inconspicuous, translucent silvery setae between eye and scrobe to position of malar sulcus; gena with only a few, scattered inconspicuous translucent setae, these becoming more dense and conspicuous on lower gena and on interantennal prominence; maxillary palpus white; radicle orange; scape orange, ventral margin narrowly dark brown; pedicel pale orange, with a faint, complete dark brown stripe internally; F1-F4 pale orange-brown, F5-F6 pale orange, F5 slightly dusky internally; clava dark brown; thorax mixed orange and dark brown with a metallic lustre; pronotum orange, posterior margin completely translucent, neck dusky; mesoscutum dark brown with a strong, metallic, green and dark blue sheen with some coppery purple reflections; tegula orange, apex pale brown with a weak coppery purple sheen; axilla orange with posterior margin dark brown; scutellum orange, dorsally with weak coppery reflections, side and apex with a weak purple and brassy sheen; mesopleuron orange with a weak purple and brassy sheen; fore coxa dark brown, apically orange; fore femur mostly pale orange with dorsal and ventral margins weakly marked pale brown to about 0.7X along its length, tibia mostly pale orange with dorsal margin brown proximally, tarsus dusky pale orange; mid coxa mostly pale orange, but ventrally brown in proximal 0.5X; mid femur proximally white, but mostly pale orange, mid tibial spur and tarsus pale yellow, almost white, pretarsus slightly dusky; hind coxa dark brown; hind femur dark brown with apices narrowly pale orange, tibia pale orange with a pair of broad, dark brown bands, one at base and the other subapically, tarsus white with apical tarsomere orange-brown; fore wing ( Fig. 319) weakly infuscate, hyaline below proximal half of submarginal vein and with a complete, slightly irregular, hyaline band immediately distad of apex of venation, followed by a weakly infuscate area with apex broadly hyaline; hind wing hyaline; propodeum dark brown with a weak purple sheen, side with a weak metallic green, blue-green and purple sheen; gaster dark brown with a coppery purple sheen; gonostylus very pale yellow.

Head ( Fig. 322) about 3.9X as wide as frontovertex, very slightly collapsed, but in profile about 1.9X as high as deep, tangent to frontovertex forming an angle of about 105° with that of face; occipital margin rounded, indistinct; no oval depression adjacent to eye near occipital margin; ocelli forming an angle of about 65°; frontovertex ( Fig. 322) moderately shiny with fairly shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size mostly very slightly smaller than eye facet; temple and gena with relatively shallow, longitudinally elongate, fine polygonally reticulate sculpture; top of scrobes, interantennal prominence and mouth margin with shallow, regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scrobes extremely shallow, indistinct; antenna as in Fig. 317; scape very slightly broadened and flattened, about 4X as long as broad; funicle with F1-F3 smaller, subequal, subquadrate, F4-F6 larger, gradually increasing in size distally, subquadrate, linear sensilla present only on F4-F6, or absent from F4; clava about as long as pedicel and funicle combined, sutures parallel, outer suture complete not dorsally oblique, sensory area small, at apex only giving it a rounded appearance; eye slightly overreaching occipital margin, naked; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave; mandible more or less tridentate, with one acute tooth and an upper, broad, slightly concave truncation. Relative measurements (head slightly collapsed): HW 59, HH 50, FV 15, POL 8, OOL 1, OCL c.3, AOL 7, EL 33, EW 28, MS 25, SL 28, SW 7.

Thorax with visible part of mesoscutum about 1.75X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.5X as broad as long with subapical setae about 0.6X its length; hind femur about 4.2X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 318, 319; propodeum medially about 0.09X as long as scutellum. Relative measurements: FWL 73, FWW 31; HWL 53, HWW 14.

Gaster with hypopygium ( Fig. 321) reaching about 0.8X towards apex; last tergite about 0.7X as long as mid tibia, with apex broadly rounded; ovipositor ( Fig. 320) exserted, the exserted part about 0.3X length of mid tibial spur or about 0.1X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 72, GL 65 [MT 53.5].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Est. Pitilla ( ACG), 10°59’N 85°25’W, 700m, iii.2001 (C. Moraga, P.N. Thomas) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. The head of the holotype when card-mounted was very slightly collapsed and therefore some of the measurements and ratios obtained from the card-mounted specimen are only approximate.

Of the previously described species, this species is most similar to selogis Noyes. It differs in having the face mainly orange, the clava dark brown, the mesoscutum dark brown with a dark green and blue sheen, the scutellum orange, the hind femur completely dark brown, the fore wing relatively strongly infuscate with a conspicuous hyaline band at the apex of the venation and the gaster is completely dark brown. In selogis, the face is mainly deep purple with the area around the toruli and mouth margin metallic green, the clava is dusky yellow with the basal segment dusky, the mesoscutum is brilliant metallic green, the scutellum is purple-brown, the hind femur is infuscate only towards the apex, the fore wing is weakly infuscate except for a stronger patch in the middle of the wing distad of the hyaline fascia and the gaster is ventrally yellow proximally.