Cremastobaeus mahaviraii Veenakumari, 2017

Kamalanathan, Veenakumari & Mohanraj, Prashanth, 2017, The genus Cremastobaeus Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae: Cremastobaeini) from India, Journal of Natural History 51 (33 - 34), pp. 1989-2056 : 2018-2020

Cremastobaeus mahaviraii Veenakumari sp. nov.

( Figures 13 (a–h) and 14(a,b))

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Holotype: Female. Body length = 1.45 mm; (m = 1.31 (1.22–1.45) mm, SD = 0.06, n = 18)

Colour ( Figure 13 (a))

Entire body black, except T7 which has a tinge of red-brown; legs yellow; A1–A4 yellowbrown, remaining antennomeres brown-black, but darker.

Head ( Figure 13 (b,c,f))

FCI = 1.36; LCI = 1.04; IOS 0.54× width of head; POL>LOL>OOL in ratio of 10.4:6.1:1.0; eye large (L:W = 15.2:14.4), with dense setae; frontal depression anteriorly narrow (0.17× head width) and posteriorly wide (0.27× head width) indistinct sparse transverse striae; frons above frontal depression finely striate; vertex coriaceous reticulate with sparse striae; gena smooth with weak reticulations; length and width of antennomeres A1–A 8 in ratio of 15.2:4.4, 6.3:4.5, 6.2:3.8, 5.8:2.5, 4.0:2.6, 5.3:2.7, 3.2:4.0, respectively; length and width of clava 19.2:8.3; A2–A12 with sparse, long setae; clava with rows of sparse long white setae.

Mesosoma ( Figure 13 (c–e,h))

Mesoscutum (L:W = 20.1:22.8) coriaceous reticulate, with long setae, setae denser postero-medially; lateral pronotal area entirely reticulate except for a smooth medial area; netrion smooth; speculum with four transverse striae; mesepimeral sulcus foveate; mesopleural depression weakly reticulate; ventral mesopleuron reticulate; entire metapleuron smooth except for striations postero-ventrally; paracoxal sulcus foveate in ventral one-third; mesoscutellum (L:W = 9.4:13.7) trapezoid, predominantly coriaceous reticulate, postero-medially smooth, with long setae; posterior mesoscutellar sulcus foveate with a smooth posterior margin; metascutellum rectangular with postero-medial margin extending downwards; metascutellum medially smooth with weak vertical striations laterally; metanotal trough foveate; lateral propodeal area of either side close together medially, rugose-striate; fore wing (L:W = 106.0:33.0) and hind wing (L:W = 85.4:11.6) hyaline with dense microtrichia; length of marginal cilia of fore wing and hind wing 0.16× and 0.56× width of their wings, respectively; length of submarginalis: marginalis: stigmalis: postmarginalis in ratio of 41.5:5.6:7.3:24.9, respectively.

Metasoma ( Figure 13 (g))

(L:W = 73.2:30.4); T1 costate in anterior one-third followed by elongate foveae covering remainder of tergite; T2 with elongate basal foveae followed by a transverse row of short foveae; T3 costate, costae extending beyond 0.7× length of tergite, with smooth patch postero-medially; T4 same as T3 except for costae extending only half the length of tergite, remainder weakly reticulate with a smooth area postero-medially; T5 anteromedially reticulate with short costae sublaterally, remainder weakly reticulate; remaining tergites almost smooth; length and width of tergites T1–T 7 in ratio of 16.3:13.9, 12.6:22.7, 11.3:28.3, 14.1:30.6, 9.9:27.3, 4.7:17.9, 4.7:7.2, respectively; T1 longest of all tergites, followed by T4.

Variation

Some specimens have dark brown metasoma.

Male ( Figure 14 (a,b))

Body length = 1.298 mm. (m = 1.267(1.225 –1.304) mm, SD = 0.02, n = 10)

Similar to female; length and width of antennomeres A1–A12 11.2:3.3, 5.8:3.8, 5.0:3.7, 6.2:3.0, 6.2:3.1, 6.2:3.6, 6.0:3.5, 5.6:3.2, 6.5:3.6, 6.1:4.3, 7.1:4.2, respectively.

Material examined

Holotype: Female ( ICAR / NBAIR / P1015 ), INDIA: Andaman Islands : Little Andaman, Harminder Bay, 10.59°N, 92.54°E, 7 m, SN, 29.I.2013, KV . Paratypes: 7 females ( ICAR / NBAIR / P1016 , P1017 , P1018 , P1019 , P1020 , P1021 , P1267 ), Tripura: Agartala, Tripura University ( TU), 23.7628°N, 91.2633°E, 17 m, YPT, 03 .III .2016, KV; 10 females ( ICAR / NBAIR / P1022 , P1225 , P1226 , P1227 , P1228 , P1229 , P1230 , P1231 , P1232 , P1233 ), Great Nicobar: Campbell Bay , 7.0077°N, 93.9147°E, 13 m, SN, 20 .III .2016, KV; 1 female ( ICAR / NBAIR / P1023 ), Meghalaya: Umiam, Central Agricultural University ( CAU), MT, 22 .XII .2013; 5 males ( ICAR / NBAIR / P1024 , P1025 , P1026 , P1027 , P1028 ), same data as P1016, KV; 4 males ( ICAR / NBAIR/1234 , P1235, P1236, P1237), same data as P1022, KV .

Etymology

This species is named ‘ mahaviraii’ in honour of Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. The name is treated as noun in the genitive sense.

Diagnosis

This species is distinct from others because of the following combination of character states: the entire body is black, with gena smooth with weak reticulations; frontal depression anteriorly narrow and posteriorly wide; lateral propodeal areas on either side closer to each other medially; T1 the longest of all tergites, followed by T4; T2 with elongate basal foveae followed by a transverse row of short foveae and a postero-medial smooth patch.

Figures

Figure 13. Bright field images of Cremastobaeus mahaviraii sp. nov. (female) (a) Habitus (dorsal view); (b) frons; (c) head and mesosoma; (d) meso- and metascutellum; (e) pleuron; (f) antenna; (g) metasoma; (h) wings.

Figure 14. Bright field images of Cremastobaeus mahaviraii sp. nov. (male) (a) Habitus (dorsal view); (b) antenna.