Scelio obscuripennis Johnson

Yoder, Matthew J., Valerio, Alejandro A., Polaszek, Andrew, Noort, Simon van, Masner, Lubomir & Johnson, Norman F., 2014, Monograph of the Afrotropical species of Scelio Latreille (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae), egg parasitoids of acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera, Acrididae), ZooKeys 380, pp. 1-188 : 128-132

Scelio obscuripennis Johnson nom. nov. Figures 287-292; Morphbank 65

Lepidoscelio fuscipennis Kieffer, 1905: 130 (original description); Kieffer 1926: 348 (description); Masner 1976: 16 (type information).

Scelio obscuripennis http://zoobank.org/F9066C7F-A437-4FD2-85EF-B2A2DEE21AD2

Description.

Female body length: 3.08-5.00 mm (n=39). Male body length: 2.74-4.58 mm (n=33). Sculpture of posterior vertex: transversely carinate. Sculpture of frons in female: reticulate in upper half. Arcuate carinae of lower frons: “closed”, arcuate carinae terminating at ventrolateral corner of anteclypeus. Form of RSS on A5 in male: carinate. Sculpture of medial mesonotum: reticulate throughout; longitudinally striate in posterior half, otherwise reticulate. Surface of propodeal shelf in females: uniformly reticulate throughout. Surface of meso- and metapleural depressions: sculptured throughout. Fore wing length: shorter than apex of metasoma; meeting apex of metasoma.

Diagnosis.

Scelio obscuripennis may be distinguished from all other species of the irwini-group by the completely sculptured mesopleural and metapleural depressions (all other irwini-group species with a smooth patch).

Link to distribution map.

http://hol.osu.edu/map-large.html?id=4728

Material examined.

Holotype, female: MADAGASCAR: Antsiranana Auto. Prov., Antsiranana ( Diégo-Suarez), 1893, C. Alluaud (deposited in MNHN). Other material: MADAGASCAR: 149 females, 139 males, CASENT 2042010, 2042028, 2042042, 2042044, 2042046, 2042050-2042051, 2042053, 2042108, 2042116-2042117, 2042123-2042124, 2042256, 2042263, 2042265, 2042703-2042710, 2042712-2042713, 2042715, 2042978-2042980, 2042982, 2043066, 2043251, 2043304, 2043332, 2043348, 2043394-2043395, 2043398-2043400, 2043403, 2043419, 2043422, 2043424-2043425, 2043466, 2043569, 2043571, 2043589, 2043616, 2043630, 2043959, 2132015, 2132022, 2132118, 2132151, 2132553, 2132565, 2132710, 2132712, 2132784, 2133069, 2133075, 2133128, 2133134, 2133138, 2133190, 2133211, 2133330, 2133341, 2133423, 2133923, 2133957, 2134127-2134134, 2134221, 2134229-2134230, 2134243, 2134246-2134248, 2134254, 2134263, 2134274, 2134530, 2134569, 2134578, 2134851, 2134869, 2134884, 2135113, 2135115-2135117, 2135120-2135121, 2135123, 2135125, 2135683, 2135924, 8106193-8106208, 8106210-8106213, 8106276-8106278, 8106286-8106287, 8106296, 8106348-8106349, 8106392-8106393, 8106400-8106401, 8106403-8106406, 8106408, 8106410-8106414, 8106417-8106418, 8106420-8106427, 8106430-8106439, 8106441, 8106505, 8106516, 8106522, 8106563, 8106631, 8106986-8106987, 8106997 (CASC); OSUC 212529, 212534, 212537 (CNCI); CASENT 2042005, 2042016, 2042047, 2042049, 2042058, 2042104-2042105, 2042111, 2042114, 2042130, 2042266, 2042277, 2042626 -2042627, 2042711, 2042714, 2043001, 2043056, 2043165, 2043254, 2043280, 2043282, 2043285, 2043345, 2043420-2043421, 2043426, 2043493-2043495, 2043574, 2043617, 2118395, 2132100-2132103, 2132402, 2132418, 2132554-2132557, 2132566, 2132762-2132763, 2132792, 2132830, 2133104, 2133127, 2133130, 2133167, 2133201, 2133212, 2133245, 2133276, 2133278, 2133291-2133292, 2133294, 2133466, 2133496, 2133926-2133928, 2134144, 2134597, 2134656, 2134692, 2134697, 2134787, 2134816, 2134850, 2134866-2134867, 2134874, 2135109, 2135114, 2135118-2135119, 2135122, 2135124, 2135126-2135127, 2135143, 2135912, 2135914, 2135916, 2135918, 2135926, 8106209, 8106280, 8106284, 8106315, 8106386, 8106402, 8106407, 8106409, 8106415, 8106419, 8106428-8106429, 8106440, 8106593, 8106817, OSUC 212038 (OSUC).

Comments.

Kieffer created the genus Lepidoscelio for Scelio -like species in which the metascutellum (which he referred to as the postscutellum in the original French description and later as the Metanotum in German in Das Tierreich) is upright and bilobed. This circumscription includes quite a number of species from the Old and New World. There is no additional evidence that these species are each others closest relatives. In fact, a number of apparently unrelated Neotropical species have such a metascutellum. We conclude that based solely on this character state, the genus Lepidoscelio is polyphyletic. Further, recognition of the concept in a more narrow sense to include only the irwini-group species would render Scelio paraphyletic. Therefore, we propose that Lepidoscelio is a junior synonym of Scelio (new synonymy). Transfer of the type species into Scelio necessitates a change in species name. The name Scelio fuscipennis is preoccupied, having been used by Ashmead (1887) for a Nearctic species. Therefore, we propose the name Scelio obscuripennis as a replacement name. Other than the type species, four other species are currently classified in Lepidoscelio . These are here formally transferred to Scelio (type material examined): Scelio cayennensis (Risbec), comb. n., Scelio insularis Ashmead, comb. r., Scelio luteus (Cameron), comb. n., and Scelio thoracicus Ashmead, comb. r.

Scelio obscuripennis is the most size variable and phenotypically plastic in the irwini species group. The sculpture of the mesonotum varies, though in most (particularly larger individuals) there is a stronger trend to more reticulate and less longitudinal sculpture medially. A series of individuals presently included, but excluded from the type series, were at one point considered to represent a separate species, however, given the general variation in size and the associated differences that accompany these differences we have elected to describe one rather polymorphic species. The second series (e.g. CASENT 2042111, 2042266, 2043254, 2043574, 2132100, 2132101) is composed of small individuals that have the submarginal vein obliterated prior to reaching the costal margin. Males in this series (e.g. CASENT 2043056, 2043494, 2042114, 8106280, 2132402, 2043282) have somewhat transverse flagellomeres following A5, and stockier legs. Most individuals in this series have a whitish stigma and broader, more compact habitus. These characters may be associated with allometric differences in size.