Anisophleps aoedis, 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 : 190-192

Anisophleps aoedis sp.nov.

( Figs 482-487; Hab. E 76)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (overall length about 1.8mm): antenna ( Fig. 482) with scape very broad and flat, about 1.2X as long as broad, its outer margin very curved and strongly convex; funicle with F4-F6 strongly transverse; clava less than 2X as long as broad with a strong, oblique truncation, sensory area extending more than 0.5X along ventral margin; ovipositor clearly longer than mid tibia; gonostylus slightly longer than mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.75mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.69m ( CPD) .

Head largely dark brown with scrobes and lower part of interantennal prominence pale orange; temple with a broad, slightly dusky, pale orange stripe extending from occipital margin, alongside eye margin to transfacial carina a little above level of torulus, lower gena pale orange; a curved brown line between toruli a little above mouth margin; frontovertex metallic green between and behind ocelli, otherwise with a distinct coppery and brassy sheen, this continued between eye and transfacial carina; pale orange area on temple with a metallic green sheen, this becoming purple below lowest part of eye and weaker metallic green and brassy between lowest part of eye and transfacial carina; darker part of temple and upper gena with a distinct coppery, brassy and green sheen; dorsal part of interantennal prominence with a metallic green and purple sheen; mouth margin with a weak purple and brassy sheen; frontovertex with moderately conspicuous, scattered brown setae, also a line along inner eye margin; interantennal prominence with relatively dense, white, translucent setae; maxillary palpus white; antenna with radicle dark brown; ventral margin of scape narrowly dark brown from base to about 0.75X, this connected by a fainter, diffuse, diagonal brown line to about half way along dorsal margin of scape, these enclosing proximal orange area of scape, apical area white; pedicel white with a complete dark brown, dorso-lateral stripe; funicle largely pale orange, but ventrally mixed brown on outer surface; clava dark brown; pronotum largely orange, but posterior margin translucent and in some lights white and slightly silky in appearance, neck dark brown; prosternum orange-brown; mesoscutum orange in anterior two-thirds, but area below pronotum slightly dusky, posterior one-third slightly dusky laterally to dark brown medially with a strong metallic blue-green and purple sheen; tegula orange, apex orange-brown; axilla and scutellum orange; setae on mesoscutum, axilla and scutellum mainly black, but translucent pale brown or silvery on metallic area of mesoscutum; metanotum orange; mesopleuron orange with a weak brassy sheen, slightly dusky anteriorly and posteriorly with a distinct purple sheen; mesosternum dark brown; fore coxa white; fore leg with coxa white, femur mostly white but pale orange distally, tibia pale orange, tarsus orange; mid leg with coxa white, femur mostly white but orange at apex, tibia white with a slender, oblique dark brown basal/ subbasal band, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind leg with coxa white, femur white with apex orange, tibia mostly pale orange, but dark brown at extreme base with a narrow, subbasal white band and a diffuse brownish band distad of this, tarsus dusky orange; fore wing ( Fig. 486) mostly infuscate but hyaline towards base and at apex, venation brown; propodeum orange medially, brown laterally with a weak purple and brassy lustre, side brassy and metallic blue and green, a line of dense, conspicuous, silvery setae along antero-lateral margin (possibly originating from metapleuron) to base of hind coxa; gaster dark brown, dorsally with a coppery and purple sheen, Gt1 with a strong metallic green and brassy sheen, mixed coppery, especially along posterior margin, syntergum medially pale orange, side and venter largely with a distinct metallic green and coppery sheen; gonostylus pale orange.

Head about 4.4X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.3X as high as deep; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 75°; frontovertex very shiny, mostly completely smooth, but with shallow, irregular, imbricate reticulate sculpture between posterior ocelli and along occipital margin; temple and gena with shallow, longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate to imbricate reticulate sculpture; scrobes quite smooth; narrowest point between eye and transfacial carina about 2X diameter of anterior ocellus; transfacial carina medially quite strongly concave in dorsal view; scrobes deep, broadly ∩-shaped; interantennal prominence dorsally rounded, with very shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 482; scape strongly broadened and flattened, only about 1.3X as long as broad, dorsal margin strongly convex; F1-F2 more or less quadrate, F3-F6 transverse, segments larger and broader distad, linear sensilla present only on F5-6; clava strongly enlarged, about 2X as wide as F6 and slightly longer than funicle, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged about 0.9X as long as dorsal margin, apex obliquely truncate; eye not quite reaching occipital margin, separated by slightly less than diameter of facet, clothed in moderately conspicuous setae, each a little longer than diameter of facet; inner eye margins strongly converging anteriorly; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin slightly concave medially; mandible with 3 teeth, upper tooth rounded, lower teeth acute. Relative measurements: HW 71, HH 65, FVL 49, FV 16, POL 7, OOL 1, OCL 4, AOL 7, EL 45, EW 34, MS 35, SL 42, SW 34.

Thorax ( Fig. 483) with pronotum hardly exposed behind head, about 0.5X as long as mesoscutum; pronotum, mesoscutum, axilla and scutellum with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is slightly deeper and coarser than that between posterior ocelli; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.8X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.1X as broad as long, without a distinct subapical tuft, but with a subapical group of slightly flattened, elongate, slender, scale-like setae, subapical pair longest and about half as long as scutellum; mid tibia conspicuously swollen subbasally, basal carina extending about 0.4X along its length; hind femur about 4.1X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 484, 486; costal cell completely naked; propodeum ( Fig. 483) medially about 0.13X as long as scutellum, virtually smooth, but with some extremely shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 93, FWW 37; HWL 74, HWW 20.5.

Gaster with hypopygium ( Fig. 485) reaching about 0.7X to apex; last tergite about 0.7X as long as mid tibia, with apex more or less rounded; ovipositor ( Fig. 487) slightly exserted, the exserted part about 0.4X length of mid tibial spur or about 0.1X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 88.5, GL 24.5 [MT 74].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 1.75-1.84mm, otherwise little variation noted in material examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Cacao (ACG), 1100 m, MT/YPT, 26.i-24. ii.1996 (J.S. Noyes) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, same data as holotype . Holotype and paratype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Of the Costa Rica species, aoedis is probably more similar to alternata Fidalgo because the scape is less than 1.5X as long as broad and the dorsal margin is strongly convex. However, in alternata the clava has a weaker oblique apical truncation with the sensory area extending only about 0.3X along the ventral margin of the clava. Further to this, in alternata the triangular expansion of the parastigma is much less pronounced than in either aoedis or carpo and the frontovertex is completely pale orange.