Cheiloneurus dirce, 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 : 446-448

Cheiloneurus dirce sp.nov.

(Figs 1132-1138; Hab. E 163)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.4mm): body mostly orange with some brown areas with a weak to moderate metallic sheen on head, mesoscutum and gaster; mouth margin narrowly dark brown; temple with a distinct diagonal, brown streak to gena; antenna (Fig. 1132) with scape mostly pale orange with ventral margin brown; pedicel pale orange with a dark brown longitudinal streak; flagellum dark brown; posterior part of mesoscutum with dense silvery setae; coxae white; legs mostly white to pale orange with some dark brown areas; fore wing (Fig. 1138) mostly infuscate with basal cell almost completely hyaline, a small hyaline area at apex of venation and an opposite hyaline area on posterior wing margin, apex hyaline; head (Fig. 1137) about 10X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view very slightly longer than broad, subcircular with genae converging and weakly curved, more strongly curved inwards near mouth margin; frontovertex with two setae medially above scrobes; eye separated from scrobe by about 1.5X diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe completely smooth, scrobal margin sharp; interantennal prominence with about 15 inconspicuous setae and with a dorsal, median ridge; mandible more or less tridentate; antenna (Fig. 1132) with scape about 2.5X as long as broad; funicle with segments subquadrate; head width a little less than 0.9X flagellum length; linear sensilla on F4-F6; clava 3-segmented, very slightly longer than F3-F6 combined; sensory area enlarged and forming an oblique truncation, extending about 0.4X along ventral margin; mesoscutum (Fig. 1135) anteriorly with coarse, longitudinally elongate, striate to striate-reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 1138) about 2.7X as long as broad; parastigma slightly downcurved; costal cell dorsally naked, with a line of setae ventrally that is broadly interrupted above parastigma; area below proximal part of parastigma with a line of about four to six pale setae these continued along cubital vein track toward wing base, two or three setae outside these; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that clearly curves someway into disc (Fig. 1136); apical bristle of postmarginal vein about 0.5X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur very slightly longer than basitarsus; propodeum (Fig. 1135) with a single seta adjacent to spiracle, side naked; syntergum about 0.8X as long as mid tibia; ovipositor (Fig. 1134) about 3.5X gonostylus or about 1.1X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 0.9X as long as mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.35mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.31mm (CPD).

Head mostly pale orange; frontovertex slightly dusky with a blue, purple and brassy sheen, strongly metallic blue and purple between posterior ocelli; temple and upper gena with a weak pale blue, purple and brassy, lower gena much less shiny with a weak purple sheen, area between eye and scrobe with a slightly stronger green and purple sheen; scrobal area with a weak brassy and purple sheen; occiput with a small, triangular, dark brown mark above foramen; scrobes delimited dorsally by an interrupted, weak, pale brown line; lower face with a curved, brown line between toruli and mouth margin; temple with a diagonal brown streak from temple behind eye towards torulus; frontovertex clothed with inconspicuous, pale brown setae, a line of fine, translucent setae between eye and scrobe; maxillary palpus white; antenna (Fig. 1132) with radicle orange-brown, apex narrowly ringed dark brown; scape pale orange, distinctly margined brown ventrally, widely so towards base internally so that basal quarter or so is completely brown; pedicel mostly pale orange-brown with a dark brown streak internally along its length; flagellum entirely dark brown; pronotum mostly orange, neck with a dark brown spot, area above coxa dark brown; prosternum dark brown outside coxa; mesoscutum anteriorly orange, posterior half with a dark metallic blue band with purple reflections, behind this narrowly orange with a purple sheen, posterior margin mostly purple-brown, anterior half of mesoscutum clothed in relatively sparse golden brown to dark brown setae, posterior half clothed in relatively dense, translucent, silvery setae mixed with a few dark brown setae; tegula orange with apex orange-brown; axilla and scutellum orange, axilla and anterior part of scutellum clothed with golden brown setae, otherwise setae on scutellum dark brown, subapical tuft black; metanotum orange; mesopleuron pale orange, orange-brown posteriorly, anterior part with a very weak brassy sheen, posterior part with a weak brassy, coppery and purple sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur concolourous with coxa basally, apex pale orange, a little dusky along margins distally, tibia and tarsus pale orange; mid coxa white; mid femur white with an incomplete, narrow, subapical brown band, tibia narrowly white proximally, mostly pale orange but with dorsal margin brown along much of its length with an incomplete subbasal brown band, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa white, femur concolourous proximally and very pale orange apically, knee brown, tibia and tarsus pale orange; fore wing (Fig. 1138) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base and at apex; submarginal vein brown, venation otherwise dark brown; propodeum medially orange, laterally and on side dark brown with a metallic blue and purple sheen, a white seta anterior to spiracle; gaster entirely dark brown to black with a coppery and purple sheen, basal tergite largely metallic green dorsally, other tergites largely metallic green laterally, outer plate of ovipositor with a mixed blue, green, coppery and purple sheen; gonostylus very pale orange.

Head (Fig. 1137) about 10X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.6X as high as deep, anteriorly quite straight below top of scrobes, interantennal prominence hardly protuberant level with torulus; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 40°; frontovertex quite shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh conspicuously smaller than diameter of eye facet; area between eye and scrobe about 1.5X diameter of anterior ocellus, smooth; scrobes shallow, broadly ∩-shaped, not sharply margined; interantennal prominence with similar sculpture to frontovertex, dorsally acute with a distinct median ridge connects with the frontovertex, thus separating toruli; temple virtually smooth with very shallow, irregular, elongate sculpture, gena with slightly deeper, irregular, reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1132; scape broadened and flattened, about 2.5X as long as broad; funicle with segments quadrate to slightly longer than broad, proximal segments longer than broad, distal segments quadrate, gradually increasing in size and width; clava broadened about as long as F2-F6 combined, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about half-way along clava, giving it an obliquely truncate appearance; eye reaching occipital margin, clothed with very inconspicuous short setae, each much shorter than diameter of facet; inner eye margins clearly converging anteriorly, diverging a little way above scrobes; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin very weakly convex medially; mandible with 2 acute teeth and a truncation, virtually tridentate; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, hardly longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 61.5, HH 62, FV 6, POL 4, OOL 0, OCL 6, AOL 10, EL 49, EW 35, MS 30, SL 33, SW 13.

Thorax (Fig. 1135) with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is conspicuously deeper than that on frontovertex; mesoscutum with polygonally reticulate sculpture in posterior two-fifths that is a little deeper than that on frontovertex, anterior three-fifths with coarse, longitudinally elongate, striate to striate-reticulate sculpture; axilla mostly with fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is conspicuously deeper and coarser than that on frontovertex, scutellum with similar polygonally-reticulate sculpture medially, sides with longitudinally striate-reticulate sculpture that is much coarser than that on anterior part of mesoscutum; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.7X as broad as long; scutellum very slightly longer than broad with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly a little less than one-third as long as scutellum; mid tibia with a distinct, subbasal, external carina for about half its length; hind femur about 4.9X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1136, 1138; costal cell dorsally naked at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak (Fig. 1136); propodeum (Fig. 1135) with side completely smooth, medially about 0.13X as long as scutellum and with some shallow, irregular, reticulate sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 63.5, FWW 23.5; HWL 52, HWW 12.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about half-way to apex; syntergum about 0.8X long as mid tibia, with apex weakly angular; ovipositor slightly exserted, the exserted part about one-third as long as mid tibial spur or about 0.1X mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present only on F4-F6; gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; hypopygium Fi,. 1133; ovipositor Fig. 1134. Relative measurements: OL 43.5, GL 12.5 [MT 38].

Variation. Very little in material examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Maritza ( ACG), 700m, MT/YPT, 20.i-24. ii.1996 (J.S. Noyes) . Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, same data as holotype . Holotype in MZUCR, paratype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Although generally similar to janzeni and alopes in having a narrow frontovertex, dirce differs from these other species in having relatively coarse elongate polygonally reticulate sculpture on the anterior part of the mesoscutum and the parastigma only weakly downcurved. In janzeni and alopes the sculpture on the anterior part of the mesoscutum is fine striate to lineolate-reticulate and the parastigma is quite strongly downcurved. Cheiloneurus dirce also differs from the other two species in having a dark, entirely metallic gaster whereas in janzeni and alopes the gaster is largely pale orange and only weakly metallic.

See also comments under cero (p. 415) and finator (p. 417).