Dichoteleas Kieffer, 1907

Schwartz, Johanna, Van Noort, Simon & Johnson, Norman F., 2023, A taxonomic revision of the Old World genus Dichoteleas Kieffer (Hymenoptera, Scelionidae), ZooKeys 1182, pp. 183-205 : 183

Dichoteleas Kieffer

Dichoteleas Kieffer: 1907: 297: (original description. Type: Dichoteleas rugosus Kieffer, by monotypy); Brues: 1908: 28, 44: (diagnosis, list of species, keyed); Kieffer: 1908: 113: (keyed); Kieffer: 1910: 62: (keyed); Dodd: 1913: 131: (keyed); Kieffer: 1913: 23: (description); Dodd: 1926: 369: (description, key to species); Kieffer: 1926: 266, 351: (description, keyed); Muesebeck & Walkley: 1956: 346: (citation of type species); Masner: 1976: 30: (description); Mani & Sharma: 1982: 173: (description); Galloway & Austin: 1984: 7, 16: (diagnosis, list of species described from Australia, keyed); Johnson: 1992: 367: (cataloged, catalog of world species); Rajmohana: 2006: 116, 123: (description, keyed).

Description.

Head. Head shape in dorsal view: transverse. Vertex: smooth or rugose. Hyperoccipital carina: present or absent. Occipital carina: present, complete. OOL: lateral ocellus nearly contiguous with inner orbits, OOL <0.5 OD. Upper frons: convex or with a slight concavity; smooth, striate, or areolate. Frontal depression: undifferentiated. Submedian carina: present or absent. Orbital carina: present. Inner orbits: diverging ventrally. IOS/EH: IOS less than EH. Interantennal process: short, often excavate medially. Central keel: present or absent. Antennal foramen: oriented laterally on interantennal process. Facial striae: present or absent. Malar sulcus: present. Malar striae: present or absent. Setation of compound eye: present or absent. Gena: narrows dorsally behind eye, convex. Clypeus shape: narrow, rectangular, lateral corners not produced. Anterior (or ventral) margin of clypeus: straight. Labrum: narrow, trapezoidal, ventral margin convex or straight. Number of mandibular teeth: 2 or 3. Arrangement of mandibular teeth: transverse. Number of maxillary palpomeres: 4. Shape of maxillary palpomeres: cylindrical. Number of labial palpomeres: 2.

Antenna. Number of antennomeres in female: 12. Number of antennomeres in male: 12. Insertion of radicle into A1: parallel to longitudinal axis of A1. Shape of A1: cylindrical, not flattened. Length of A3 of female: distinctly longer than A2. Number of antennomeres with papillary sensilla in female: 7. Arrangement of sensilla on female clava: in longitudinal pairs. Claval formula: A12-A6:1-2-2-2-2-2-2. Shape of male flagellum: filiform. Sex segment of male antenna: A5.

Mesosoma. Posterior apex of pronotum in dorsal view: bifid apically to articulate with tegula. Epomial carina: absent. Cervical pronotal area: oblique, visible dorsally, short. Lateral face of pronotum: weakly concave ventrally around the pronotal cervical sulcus. Netrion: present. Netrion shape: moderately wide, open ventrally. Anterior portion of mesoscutum: vertical, flexed ventrally to meet pronotum. Mesoscutum shape: pentagonal, excavate at base of wings. Skaphion: absent. Notauli: present, percurrent. Parapsidal lines: present. Antero-admedian lines: absent. Transscutal articulation: well-developed. Mesoscutal suprahumeral sulcus: present or absent. Mesoscutal humeral sulcus: present as an uninterrupted groove or foveolate. Shape of mesoscutellum: trapezoidal. Lateral mesoscutellar spines: present. Median mesoscutellar spine: absent. Axillular spines: present. Surface of mesoscutellum: convex throughout. Median longitudinal furrow on mesoscutellum: absent. Metascutellum: clearly differentiated. Shape of metascutellum: flattened laterally into a medially spine; flattened dorsoventrally into a triangular plate. Setation of metascutellum: absent. Metapostnotum: fused to propodeum. Lateral propodeal projection: absent. Medial propodeal projection: absent. Mesopleural carina: present. Mesal course of acetabular carina: not separating fore coxae. Mesopleural pit: present. Posterodorsal corner of mesopleuron: rounded.

Legs. Number of mesotibial spurs: 1. Number of metatibial spurs: 1. Dorsal surface of metacoxa: smooth. Shape of metacoxa: cylindrical, ecarinate. Trochantellus: indicated by transverse sulcus on femur.

Wings. Wing development of female: macropterous. Wing development of male: macropterous. Tubular veins in fore wing: present. Bulla of fore wing R: absent. Length of marginal vein of fore wing: punctiform, R terminating at costal margin. Origin of r-rs in fore wing: arises at the point where R meets costal margin. Development of R in hind wing: complete.

Metasoma. Number of external metasomal tergites in female: 7. Number of external metasomal sternites in female: 7. Number of external metasomal tergites in male: 8. Number of external metasomal sternites in male: 7. Shape of metasoma: lanceolate. Laterotergites: present, narrow. Laterosternites: present. T1 of female: flat; produced anteriorly as a small hump. Relative size of metasomal segments: T2-T3 subequal in length, remaining terga shorter. Metasomal tergites with basal crenulae: T2. Sublateral carinae on tergites: present. Median longitudinal carina on metasomal terga: absent; present on T1-T4. Shape of female T6: slightly convex. Anterior margin of S1: not produced anteriorly, straight. Felt fields on S2: present; obscured by setation. Felt fields on S3: present; obscured by setation. Ovipositor: Scelio -type ( Austin and Field 1997).

Generic diagnosis.

Dichoteleas can be identified by its elongate maxillary palpi, lateral spines on the mesoscutellum, medial spine on the metascutellum, and well-developed postmarginal vein on the forewing. This taxon can be distinguished from Neoscelio by the short (or absent) setation on the eyes and the well-developed postmarginal vein. It may be distinguished from Oxyteleia and Oreiscelio since in Dichoteleas the metascutellum only has a single median spine. The New World genus Pseudoheptascelio may also be interpreted to have a bidentate mesoscutellum. In that group the stigmal vein (r-rs) arises from the submarginal vein before it reaches the costal margin of the fore wing. In Dichoteleas , the stigma vein arises from the costal margin.

Distribution.

Dichoteleas species are known from Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, northeastern South Africa, Madagascar, southern India, New Guinea and Far North Queensland in Australia (Figs 1-8 ). No specimens have yet been collected in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, or regions to the east of Papua New Guinea.

Figures

Figures 1 - 8. Distribution of Dichoteleas species 1 D. rubyae 2 D. ambositrae 3 D. striatus 4 D. hamatus 5 D. fulgidus 6 D. fuscus 7 D. rugosus 8 D. subcoeruleus.