Caldencyrtus meresmo, 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 : 629-631

Caldencyrtus meresmo sp.nov.

(Figs 1708-1714)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 2.3mm): antennal scape (Fig. 1708) pale orange with some pale brown dorsally; scutellum uniformly dull blue-green with some copper and violet; fore tibia pale orange with a weak, pale brown subbasal band; mid femur dark brown proximally, apex pale orange, tibia orange-brown, apex pale orange hind tibia dark brown, slightly paler at apices; frontovertex (Fig. 1709) with numerous, deep, conspicuous piliferous punctures; antenna (Fig. 1708) with flagellum about 1.1X head width; F1 1.8X as long as wide and as long as pedicel; F6 about 1.3X as long as wide; mid tibia about 1.4X as long as syntergum, with mid tibial spur a little shorter than basitarsus; mesopleuron not extending past posterior margin of propodeum; posterolateral angle of propodeum (Fig 1714) with a short, finger-like process; ovipositor (Fig. 1710) about 2.5X as long as syntergum and a little more than 3X as long as gonostylus; hypopygium (Fig. 1713) with depth of posterior invagination about 0.3X length of mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 2.34mm; excluding ovipositor, 2.13mm ( CPD) .

Head with occiput black with a generally dull brassy and purple sheen; frontovertex, scrobal area and anterior part of gena fairly bright, metallic blue-green with an additional purple sheen, piliferous punctures with a purple hue; temple and posterior part of gena coppery and slightly brassy; setae on frontovertex, interantennal prominence and gena, white, translucent and slightly silvery; antenna (Fig. 1708) with radicle pale orange; scape pale orange, marked pale brown dorsally and internally; pedicel dark brown, pale orange at extreme apex and ventrally; flagellum dark brown; thorax generally dark brown to black; pronotum with a weak metallic dark green sheen with some brassy reflections, posterior margin coppery purple; mesoscutum with very dull dark blue and violet sheen; tegula brown with a weak coppery purple sheen; axilla with a weak coppery purple and metallic green sheen; scutellum with a relatively dull metallic blue-green sheen with some coppery purple and violet reflections; metanotum with a weak brassy sheen; mesopleuron slightly brassy and coppery purple; coxae dark brown; fore femur dark brown in proximal 0.7X, apex pale orange, tibia pale orange with a very weak, pale brown, subbasal band, tarsus pale orange, orange-brown distally; mid femur dark brown in proximal 0.7X, apex pale orange, tibia orange-brown in proximal 0.5X or so, apex pale orange, spur pale orange, extreme apex dark brown, tarsus very pale orange, slightly dusky apically; hind femur dark brown, extreme apex pale orange-brown, tibia mostly dark brown, slightly paler at extreme base and apex, tarsus very pale orange, apical tarsomere slightly dusky; wings basically hyaline but fore wing (Fig. 1712) weakly infuscate below marginal vein and apically distad of apex of venation; propodeum dark purple-brown, with a slight brassy sheen, side with a relatively bright metallic dark blue, green and coppery sheen, at least about 40 dense, conspicuous, silvery setae outside spiracle descending to just above hind coxa; gaster dark purple-brown with a slight coppery and brassy sheen with some green and purple reflections, Gt1 anteriorly with a bright dark blue and violet sheen, side and venter of gaster with mixed green, coppery, and purple reflections; gonostylus brown, extreme apex pale orange.

Head (Fig. 1709) submenisciform, about 2.2X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.9X as high as deep, evenly curved from occipital margin to top of scrobes and fairly straight from top of scrobes to mouth margin with interantennal prominence hardly protuberant; occipital margin acute, sharp and carinate; a slender, shallow, shiny-bottomed groove adjacent to eye margin extending from level with anterior margin of posterior ocellus nearly to occipital margi; ocelli forming an angle of about 110°n; frontovertex (Fig. 1709) with irregular, shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture of generally much smaller mesh size than eye facet, piliferous punctures large and conspicuous, about 0.5X size of ocellus, some almost as large, almost touching, frontovertex with 15 pairs of setae in front of anterior ocellus and at least 3 lines descending between eye and scrobal area on to gena; temple and posterior part of gena with similar sculpture to frontovertex, but slightly longitudinally elongate; eye virtually reaching occipital margin, separated by much less than 0.5X diameter of facet, with sparse, inconspicuous, pale setae, each much shorter than diameter of facet; scrobes shallow, short, very broadly ∩-shaped, meeting shallowly, carinately margined medially above, otherwise weakly margined dorsally and laterally, bottoms of scrobes smooth and shiny; interantennal prominence hardly prominent, truncate dorsally, with finer and much shallower polygonally reticulate sculpture than on frontovertex, but with conspicuous piliferous punctures that are only slightly smaller and shallower than those on frontovertex; mid-line of torulus about level with lower eye margin; antenna as in Fig. 1708; scape very slightly broadened and flattened, about 4.4X as long as broad; all funicle segments clearly longer than broad, slightly broader and shorter distad, linear sensilla on all segments but present in at least 2 rows only on F3-F6; clava about as long as F5-F6 combined, sensory area at apex only; malar sulcus present, distinct; mouth margin about 0.9X as wide as frontovertex, with a broadly truncate median lobe; mandible (Fig. 1709) with two long, acute teeth and a truncate upper tooth, lowest tooth long. Relative measurements: HW 115, HH 94, FV 51.5, POL 23, OOL 6.5, OCL 6, AOL 11.5, EL 59, EW 50.5, MS 37, SL 46, SW 10.5.

Thorax (Fig. 1714) in dorsal view with pronotum largely hidden by head, with similar sculpture to that on frontovertex above scrobes but of larger mesh; mesoscutum and axilla with similar sculpture to that on frontovertex; scutellum with similar sculpture to mesoscutum, but slightly deeper; visible part of mesoscutum about 2.1X as broad as long, notaular lines absent; scutellum about 1.1X as long as broad, a short carina between axillae; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1711, 1712, costal cell with only one line of dorsal submarginal setae in distal 0.5X; mesopleuron not quite reaching level with posterior margin of propodeum; propodeum (Fig. 1714) medially about 0.15X as long as scutellum, with about 10 longitudinal carinae in middle one-third or so, otherwise with irregular, shallow sculpture and virtually smooth, side with a conspicuous, finger-like tooth posteriorly (Fig. 1714) above hind coxa, area between this and spiracle not depressed, more or less convex. Relative measurements: FWL 71, FWW 28.5; HWL 47.5, HWW 13.5.

Gaster about as long as thorax with hypopygium (Fig. 1713) reaching about 0.5X to apex; last tergite about 0.75X as long as mid tibia, with apex slightly acute; ovipositor (Fig. 1710) slightly exserted, the exserted part about 1.3X as long as mid tibial spur or about 0.3X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 95, GL 30 [MT 54].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Reared from leaf galls of Gryopsylla clypeata Brown & Hodkinson ( Hemiptera : Psyllidae ) on Ilex lamprophylla Standl. ( Aquifoliales : Aquifoliaceae ) (P. Hanson, pers. comm.).

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, San José, 1km SE Casa Mata , 1900m, ex psyllid leaf galls on Ilex , 26.ii.1994 (P. Hanson) . Holotype in NHMUK .