Encarsia sophia (Girault and Dodd)

Schmidt, Stefan & Polaszek, Andrew, 2007, The Australian species of Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae), parasitoids of whiteflies (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae) and armoured scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccoidea: Diaspididae), Journal of Natural History 41 (33 - 36), pp. 2099-2265 : 2236-2238

82. Encarsia sophia (Girault and Dodd)

( Figures 263–265 )

Coccophagus sophia Girault and Dodd 1915 [238], p 49, 56. Syntypes ♀, Australia, Cairns (QM, Brisbane, type no. Hy. 2926, examined).

Prospaltella transvena Timberlake 1926, p 312 –315. Holotype ♀, USA, Hawaii, Oahu, reared from Trialeurodes [as Aleyrodes ] vaporariorum on tomato (BPBM, type no. 5690, examined). Synonymy by Heraty and Polaszek 2000, p 163.

Prospaltella sophia (Girault and Dodd) : Compere 1931, p 11. Change of combination.

Prospaltella sublutea Silvestri 1931a, p 20 –22. Syntypes ♀, Somalia, Duca [?] (DEUN, examined). Synonymy by Gerling and Rivnay in Viggiani 1985b, p 90.

Prospaltella bemisiae Ishii 1938, p 30 . Syntypes ♀, Japan, Ikawa-cho, Mei-Ken, 25 August 1932 (Iino), ex Parabemisia [as Bemisia ] myricae Kuwana (NIAT, examined). Synonymy with transvena by Polaszek et al. 1992, p 388–389.

Prospaltella flava Shafee 1973, p 254 . Holotype ♀, India, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh. Synonymy by Hayat 1989a, p 72. Preoccupied by flavus Compere 1936, p 300. Synonymy questionable ( Viggiani 1985c) because type material apparently reared from coccid.

Encarsia sophia (Girault and Dodd) : Viggiani 1985c, p 249. Change of combination.

Encarsia transvena (Timberlake) : Gerling and Rivnay in Viggiani 1985b, p 90 –92. Change of combination.

Coccophagus sophia Girault and Dodd : Dahms 1986, p 546.

Encarsia shafeei Hayat 1986, p 163 . Replacement name for E. flava (Shafee) .

Encarsia transvena (Timberlake) : Hayat 1989a, p 71 –73; 1998, p 205–207; Polaszek et al.

1992, p 388–389; Schauff et al. 1996, p 31–33; Huang and Polaszek 1998, p 1954–1956. Encarsia sophia (Girault and Dodd) : Schmidt et al. 2001, p 383.

Diagnosis

Female. Colour: head and body yellow, pronotum and axillae anteriorly and gaster occasionally slightly darkened. Antenna yellow with apex slightly darkened (sometimes faint). Fore wing hyaline. Legs yellow.

Morphology: stemmaticum with transversely strigose surface sculpture. Antennal formula 1,1,3,3. Pedicel 0.87–1.18 as long as F1. F1 2.90 times as long as its maximum width, 0.86–1.07 times as long as F2, and 0.85–1.10 times as long as F3. F2 subequal in length to F3. Flagellomeres with the following numbers of sensilla: F1: 0, F2: 1, F3: 1, F4: 1–2, F5: 2–3, F6: 2. Midlobe of mesoscutum with 8–10 setae, arranged symmetrically, side lobes with three setae each. Scutellar sensilla close together, separated by a distance of about the width of a sensillum or less. Distance between anterior pair of scutellar setae distinctly smaller than between posterior pair. Fore wing with patch of long setae near posterior margin. Marginal fringe 0.32–0.43 times as long as width of disc. Basal cell with five to six setae, costal cell distally with two setae. Submarginal vein with two setae, marginal vein anteriorly with six to nine setae. Tarsal formula 5-5-5. Apical spur of midtibia longer than half the length of the corresponding basitarsus (0.62–0.66). Tergites laterally with the following numbers of setae: T1: 0, T2: 1, T3: 1, T4: 1, T5: 2, T6: 2, T7 with four setae. T6 with two setae between cercal plates. Ovipositor longer than midtibia (1.13–1.23) and 1.56–2.08 times as long as clava. Third valvula 0.24–0.33 times as long as second valvifer.

Male. Darker than female, gaster mostly, mesoscutal midlobe anteriorly and axillae brown. Flagellum six-segmented, apical segments not fused.

Species group placement. E. strenua group.

Distribution. Australia: Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia. Cosmopolitan.

Host. Aleyrodidae : Aleuroduplidens eucalyptifolia Martin , Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) , Chitonaleyrodes sp. , Dialeuropora decempuncta (Quaintance and Baker) , Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood) , Xenaleyrodes sp. The following additional hosts have been recorded ( Huang and Polaszek 1998): Aleurocybotus indicus David and Subramaniam , Aleurodicus dispersus Russell , Dialeurodes citri Russell , Parabemisia myricae (Kuwana) , Pealius longispinus Takahashi (with Bemisia afer (Priesner and Hosny)) .

Additional material examined

Northern Territory: 2♀, Keep River National Park, 3 May 2000 (S. and O. Schmidt), ex Dialeuropora decempuncta (ANIC, ZSMG) . Queensland: 1♀, Dalby, 17 April 1997, D. R. Lea), ex Trialeurodes vaporariorum on Xanthium occidentale Bertol. (Asteraceae) (ANIC); 2♀, Ayr, 13 November 1996 (P. De Barro), ex Bemisia tabaci on Sonchus oleraceus L. ( Asteraceae ) (ANIC); 2♀, Ayr, 21 March 1997 (P. De Barro), ex Bemisia tabaci on Sonchus oleraceus (ANIC) ; 1♀, Brisbane, Longpocket, September 1999 (P. De Barro), ex Chitonaleyrodes sp. on Eucalyptus leucoxylon F. Muell. (Myrtaceae) (ANIC); 2♀, Bundaberg, Kinkuna National Park, 4 November 1999 (P. De Barro) (ANIC); 1♀, Brisbane, Sherwood, 27 April 2000 (J. Goolsby), ex Bemisia tabaci , biotype B, on Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. ( Malvaceae ) (ANIC); 5♀, Cleveland, March 1999 (J. Hargreaves), ex Bemisia tabaci on sweet potato ( Solanaceae ) and cucumber ( Cucurbitaceae ) (ANIC); 1♀, Pt Douglas, 1 September 2001 (P. De Barro), ex Dialeuropora decempuncta (ANIC) ; 2♀, Goldsborough State Forest, Rd nr Gordonvale, 10 May 2003 (M. Coombs), ex Aleurocybotus indicus David and Subramaniam on sugarcane (ANIC, ZSMG); 1♀, Monkeywire, April 2003 (J. Goolsby), ex Dialeuropora decempuncta (ANIC) . Western Australia: 2♀, Wanneroo, 1 October 1996 (P. De Barro), ex Bemisia tabaci on Hibiscus sp. (Malvaceae) (ANIC); 2♀, Pemberton, 11 November 1999 (S. and O. Schmidt), ex whitefly on Hakea undulata R.Br. (ANIC, ZSMG) ; 2♀, Kununurra, N Carr Boyd Ranges, 6 May 2000 (S. and O. Schmidt), ex whitefly of Bemisia afer group (ANIC); 2♀, Kununurra, 5 May 2000 (S. and O. Schmidt) (ANIC, ZSMG); 1♀, Kununurra, ex Xenaleyrodes sp. on Eucalyptus grandifolia Benth. (Myrtaceae) (S. and O. Schmidt) (ANIC); 6♀, 2 „, Purnululu National Park, 9 May 2000 (S. and O. Schmidt, J. Martin), ex Dialeuropora decempuncta (ANIC, ZSMG) ; 1♀, Purnululu National Park, 8 May 2000 (S. and O. Schmidt), ex Aleuroduplidens eucalyptifolia on Eucalyptus sp. (Myrtaceae) (ANIC); 2♀, Kununurra, Mirima National Park, 3 May 2000 (S. and O. Schmidt), ex Dialeuropora decempuncta on Grevillea decurrens Ewart (Proteaceae) (ANIC, ZSMG).

Comments

The species is characterized by the presence of two setae between the cercal plates on T6, the patch of long setae near the hind margin of the fore wing, and by the strigose surface sculpture of the stemmaticum.

Figures

Figures 263–265. Encarsia sophia (Girault and Dodd), female. (263) Mesosoma and gaster. (264) Mesosoma. (265) Fore wing.