Dalek thanatos, 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 : 639-640

Dalek thanatos sp.nov.

(Figs 1744-1747)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.7mm): scape (Fig. 1744) pale orange; mesoscutum dull metallic dark green; all coxae black; clypeal margin medially weakly convex; OOL slightly more than OCL; antenna (Fig. 1744) with scape about 6.5X as long as broad; funicle segments with F1 about 2X as long as broad, F6 slightly longer than broad; linear sensilla on all segments; mesoscutum with sculpture about as deep as on main part of scutellum; scutellum with apex and side smooth and shiny; mid tibial spur shorter than basitarsus; fore wing (Fig. 1747) about 2.5X as long as broad; propodeum with about 30 setae around spiracle, side with rough reticulate sculpture; apex of syntergum angular; ovipositor longer than mid tibia, exserted part about 0.5X as long as mid tibial spur; gonostylus longer than mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.74mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.67mm ( CPD) .

Head mainly black; frontovertex generally with a weak, dark green and purple sheen, occipital margin slightly coppery; lower scrobal area, temple and gena with a distinct coppery purple sheen, temple and gena very shiny; frontovertex, gena and interantennal prominence with fairly inconspicuous brown setae; antenna (Fig. 1744) with radicle orange-brown, scape pale orange, pedicel and flagellum dark brown; maxillary palpus pale orange; pronotum black generally with a brassy sheen and some weak green, coppery and purple reflections; propleuron and prosternum black; mesoscutum overall dull, metallic, dark green, anteriorly coppery purple; tegula dark brown with a slight brassy and purple sheen; axilla black with coppery, brassy and green reflections; scutellum much duller than mesoscutum, dorsally with a weak dark metallic green and coppery sheen, apical 0.3X and side strongly metallic, shining coppery, this coppery area extending medially about 0.2X into duller dark green area on dorsum; mesoscutum clothed with inconspicuous, translucent pale brown setae, axilla and scutellum with dark brown setae; metanotum black, with a weak brassy and purple sheen; mesopleuron black with a brassy sheen; mesosternum black; fore coxa black; fore femur dark brown with apices pale orange, tibia pale orange with a subbasal pale brown ring, tarsus orange-brown, apical tarsomere brown; mid coxa black; mid femur pale orange at base, mostly black, tibia brown in proximal half with a dark brown subbasal ring, apical half pale orange, spur and tarsus pale orange, apical tarsomere brown; hind coxa black; femur black, apices pale orange, tibia dark brown, extreme apices pale orange, tarsus orange-brown, apical tarsomere brown; wings (Fig. 1747) hyaline, venation brown; propodeum black with a weak brassy sheen, side dorsally with a brassy and blue-green sheen, about 30 conspicuous, long, silvery setae behind and outside spiracle extending most of the way to posterior margin; gaster dark brown, with a distinct coppery purple sheen, dorsal part of Gt1 with a strong metallic blue-green sheen in proximal two-thirds, side of gaster anteriorly purple, otherwise with a mixed metallic green, brassy and coppery sheen; gonostylus dark brown.

Head about 2.6X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.8X as high as deep; occipital margin sharp, strongly carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 110°; frontovertex slightly shiny, with irregular, moderately deep, rounded to transversely elongate polygonally reticulate to imbricate-reticulate sculpture of mesh size generally subequal to eye facet; frontovertex with piliferous punctures very shallow, 3 pairs of setae in front of anterior ocellus, a line of sparse setae along inner eye margin continued along lower eye margin; interantennal prominence with two submedian lines of conspicuous long setae; temple and gena much more shiny than frontovertex, anterior part of temple and upper part of gena completely smooth, posterior part of temple and lower and posterior part of gena with shallow longitudinally elongate, strigose to striate-reticulate sculpture; eye not quite reaching occipital margin, separated by about diameter of facet, with sparse, conspicuous setae that are a little longer than diameter of facet, eye separated from scrobal margin by about 0.4X diameter of ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with shallow sculpture; scrobes very shallow, narrowly ∩-shaped, more or less meeting, fairly smooth but with shallow, transversely elongate, imbricate-reticulate sculpture, extremely weakly margined dorsally and laterally; interantennal prominence weak, dorsally moderately acute, virtually smooth; antenna as in Fig. 1744; scape subcylindrical, about 6.7X as long as broad; all funicle segments clearly longer than broad, subequal in length, segments slightly broader distad, linear sensilla present and conspicuous on all segments; clava hardly broader than F6, slightly shorter than F4-F6 combined, sutures not oblique, sensory area slightly enlarged, extending ventrally about 0.15X length of clava, apex appearing rounded; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly convex medially; mandible with two acute teeth and a truncate upper tooth. Relative measurements: HW 120, HH 100, FV 45.5, POL 21, OOL 5.5, OCL 5, AOL 10, EL 72, EW 55, MS 31, SL 60, SW 9.

Thorax in dorsal view with pronotum short, mostly hidden by head; pronotum dorsally with imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture that is about as deep as that on frontovertex above scrobes; mesoscutum with coarse, regular polygonally reticulate sculpture that is slightly deeper than sculpture on pronotum, ridges delimiting cells relatively wide and very smooth; axilla with polygonally reticulate sculpture that is finer and slightly shallower than that on mesoscutum; dorsal part of scutellum with very similar sculpture to mesoscutum, vertical apex (approximately apical 0.3X) and side completely smooth and shiny, the smooth area extending medially about 0.2X into dorsal, sculptured part; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.4X as broad as long; scutellum convex, about as broad as long; fore wing with venation and distribution of setae as in Figs 1745, 1747; costal cell with a single line of setae dorsally in apical 0.35X; mid tibial spur shorter than corresponding basitarsus; propodeum medially about 0.24X as long as scutellum and strongly sculptured, with at least 5 carinae and some shallow, reticulate sculpture medially, side with rough reticulate sculpture; side of propodeum posteriorly sharp and carinate posteriorly above hind coxa and with a short, triangular tooth about half way to spiracle. Relative measurements: FWL 121, FWW 49; HWL 88, HWW 22.5.

Gaster with hypopygium (Fig. 1746) reaching about 0.8X to apex; syntergum about 0.75X as long as mid tibia, with apex angular, but not acute; ovipositor slightly exserted, the exserted part about 0.5X as long as mid tibial spur or about 0.13X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 117, GL 33.5 [MT 81, MTS 18].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Heredia, 16km SSE La Virgen , 10°16’N 85°05’W, 1050- 1150m, 11/M/NOTN, 9.ii-21.iv.2001 ( INBio / OET-ALAS) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. At a quick glance, females of Dalek thanatos may be confused with those of pomona , both being generally similar in colouration and proportions of the funicle segments. Apart from the relatively more slender scape (see key), thanatos can be separated from pomona by the colour of scape and funicle and sculpture of the scutellum. In thanatos , the scape is pale orange, F1-F3 are orange or orange-brown and paler than F4-F6, the scutellum has sculpture of similar depth to the mesoscutum with the smooth, shiny area extending only about 0.2X into sculptured part. In pomona the scape is mostly dark brown, the flagellum is unicolourous dark brown, the scutellum has slightly deeper sculpture than mesoscutum with the smooth, shiny area extending about 0.4X into sculptured part.