Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos, 2024

Koutsoukos, Evangelos, Compton, Stephen G., Noort, Simon van, Avtzis, Dimitrios N. & Askew, Richard R., 2024, A new species of Ormyrus Westwood (Hymenoptera, Ormyridae) developing in figs of Ficus microcarpa in Europe, European Journal of Taxonomy 917, pp. 170-193 : 174-181

Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D3786F91-F4A6-4C7D-A7D9-A4FA3FD226F1

Figs 1–6

Diagnosis (both sexes)

Body length 1.4–1.7 mm. Colour dark metallic greenish blue, without testaceous colouration except about the wing bases ( Figs 3A–B , 5A–C ). Antennae placed higher than the lower level of eyes ( Figs 3C , 5E ). Flagellum with 2 anelli present, length of flagellum 1.16× height of eye, Fu1 at most 0.5× width of Fu6 ( Figs 3C , 5E ). Mouth margin metallic ( Fig. 3C ). Vertex without long setae ( Figs 1C–E , 5B–C ). Gt3 with two, Gt4 with three irregular transverse rows of exposed large foveae ( Fig. 3F ). In females, gaster with distinct mid-dorsal carina ( Fig. 3F ). Epipygium directed almost vertically upwards ( Fig. 3D ). In males, gaster dorsoventrally compressed ( Fig. 5F ).

Etymology

Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov. is named after the insect’s host plant, Ficus microcarpa .

Material examined

Holotype

GREECE • ♀; Attiki, Nea Peramos ; 38.003° N, 23.422° E; 8 Aug. 2021; V. Koutsoukos leg.; ex figs of Ficus microcarpa L.; Imaged WaspWeb LAS 4.9 SAMC 2023; NHMUK.

Paratypes

GREECE • 3 ♀♀, 3 ♂♂; same collection data as for holotype; 8 Aug. 2021; NHMUK • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; same collection data as for holotype; 8 Aug. 2021; RRA • 3 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; 25 Jul. 2021; NHMUK • 1 ♂ (dissected on card point); same collection data as for preceding; 25 Aug. 2021; Imaged WaspWeb LAS 4.9 SAMC 2023; NHMUK • 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂; Attiki, Perama ; 37.963° N, 23.576° E; 6 Aug. 2021; V. Koutsoukos leg.; ex fruit Ficus microcarpa L.; NHMUK • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; 6 Aug. 2021; RRA • 5 ♀♀, 5 ♂♂; Kyklades, Milos, Adamas ; 36.724° N, 24.444° E; 4 Sep. 2021; 2 m; V. Koutsoukos leg.; ex fruit Ficus microcarpa L.; NHMUK • 2 ♀♀, 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; ZMUA • 2 ♀♀, 2 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; MICO • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; RRA • 3 ♀♀, 3 ♂♂; same collection data as for preceding; Imaged WaspWeb LAS 4.9 SAMC 2023; SAM-HYM-P095396 to SAM-HYM-P095401 ; SAMC .

Additional material

GREECE • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; Attiki, Nea Peramos ; 38.003° N, 23.422° E; 8 Aug. 2021; V. Koutsoukos leg.; ex fig Ficus microcarpa L.; RRA • 1 ♂; same collection data as for preceding; 25 Aug. 2021; RRA • 1 ♀; same collection data as for preceding; 29 Aug. 2021; RRA • 1 ♀; Attiki, Perama ; 37.963° N, 23.576° E; 6 Aug. 2021; V. Koutsoukos leg.; ex fruit Ficus microcarpa L.; RRA • 7 ♀♀, 6 ♂♂; Kyklades, Milos, Adamas ; 4 Aug. 2021; V. Koutsoukos leg.; ex fruit Ficus microcarpa L.; RRA . CYPRUS • 1 ♀, 1 ♂; Limassol; 34.683° N, 33.029° E; 2 Apr. 2022; V. Koutsoukos leg.; ex fruit Ficus microcarpa L.; RRA .

Description

Female

COLOUR. Dark metallic greenish blue, scutellum posteriorly violet, face bluish green, anterior foveate parts of gastral tergites 2–4 purple; antenna light brown, scape and pedicel paler than flagellum; legs testaceous with metacoxa metallic dark green with purple tints and metafemur weakly metallic, front and middle femora darkened medially, tibiae testaceous with metatibia and apices of its spurs darkened, tarsi pale testaceous only terminally dark brown; wings hyaline, tegula and venation testaceous.

BODY LENGTH. 1.4–1.7 mm.

HEAD. In dorsal view 2.2× as broad as long, eye length 0.9× head length with temple dorsally only about 0.07× head length; ocelli in obtuse triangle of about 140°, POL 3.1× OOL, OOL about 1.4× diameter of posterior ocellus; vertex transversely striate, abruptly down-turned just behind posterior ocelli; occipital carina low and about 2× OD behind posterior ocelli. Head in front view 1.4× as broad as high, eye length almost 0.8× height of head; scrobal grooves narrow, smooth, upwardly divergent and extending to about an ocellar diameter below level of anterior ocellus, scrobal area triangular, depressed and transversely striate; parascrobal area with poorly defined, mostly vertical striation and rather dense piliferous punctures with short, white setae; eyes with inner margins very weakly divergent ventrally, their minimum separation 0.55× head width; toruli with lower margins just above lower eye margin; clypeus small, its anterior margin produced as two very small lobes; malar space about 0.6× width of oral fossa, malar sulcus straight; mandibles each with two small, acute teeth. Antenna with scape about 5× as long as broad and 0.62× height of eye, scape apex much below anterior ocellus; pedicel plus flagellum 0.6× width of head, pedicel about 1.5× as long as broad and as long as three basal flagellars; flagellum fusiform, short, only 1.16× height of eye; two discoid anelli, the second less than 0.3× width of pedicel; six transverse funicle segments, Fu1 about as broad as pedicel and 2× as broad as long, Fu6 about 1.5× as broad as Fu1 and about 2.5× as broad as long; linear sensilla in a single transverse row on each funicle segment; clava with 3 clavomeres, slightly shorter than the combined length of the three preceding funicle segments, C1 as broad as Fu6, clava thence tapering to blunt apex.

MESOSOMA. Mesosoma dorsally convex, in dorsal view 1.28× as long as wide; pronotum transversely striate, its anterior near-vertical face descending abruptly from the broad collar but lacking a distinct pronotal carina, laterally with two irregular vertical rows, reduced to a single row dorsally, of rather long, white setae; mesoscutum twice as broad as long, transversely striate with notauli shallow but evident at least near transscutal suture (traceable throughout in one paratype), mid-lobe with about 20 irregularly arranged setae, each seta arising from a quite large puncture, the setae longest towards transscutal suture; scutellum 1.25× length of mesoscutum, concentrically striate, smooth and shining between the striae, with five or six setae on each side, apical rim of scutellum protruding over the vertical metanotum and most of the propodeum which slopes at an angle of about 60° to the plane of the scutellum. Propodeum smooth medially, weakly striate laterally, callus abundantly pilose, spiracle round and separated from metanotum by less than half its diameter. Hind leg coxa enlarged, about 2× as long as broad with flat, reticulate outer face; metafemur 2.8× as long as wide; metatibia slightly curved, its posterior edge with about 12 spines (stout setae) which are longest on distal half and almost 0.5× tibial width, the longer tibial spur about 1.5× apical width of tibia and slightly shorter than 0.9× length of metabasitarsus. Fore wing with lengths costal cell: marginal vein: stigmal vein: postmarginal vein as 69:41:7:17; short stigmal vein bent at base of stigma which is 2× as long as the base of the vein; submarginal vein with 8 to 10 long setae which mostly are longer than width of costal cell; costal cell upper surface bare, lower surface with a sparse row of short setae in distal half; basal cell bare except 0 to 3 setae near junction of basal and cubital folds; speculum large, open below and extending behind marginal vein almost or quite to stigmal vein, pilosity of disc sparse beyond this bare area.

METASOMA. Gaster about 1.3× as long as mesosoma, laterally compressed, in profile rectangular and truncate, upturned epipygium forming 90° angle to dorsal surface, median dorsal longitudinal carina on all gastral tergites except Gt1; Gt3–5 each basally with one to three exposed transverse rows of large foveae with additional foveae partly concealed by preceding tergites, the non-foveate apical areas finely punctured.

Male

Body length 1.4–1.6 mm. Bluish green, brighter than female and lacking purplish tints on mesosoma; antennae and legs a little paler than in female; gaster bluish green with foveate areas of Gt3 and Gt4 dull purple. Head (including antenna) and mesosoma much as in female. Gaster dorsoventrally compressed, as long as head and mesosoma together, in dorsal view 1.7× as long as wide, widest at Gt1 thence tapering to rounded apex; Gt1 transversely striate, Gt2 short and shallowly punctured, Gt3 and Gt4 long, each with two irregular transverse rows of large and deep foveae on their anterior halves, remaining tergites vaguely sculptured, partly smooth and shining.

Hosts

Reared from figs of Ficus microcarpa that contained galls produced by Meselatus bicolor Chen, 1999 ( Hymenoptera , Epichrysomallidae ). Meselatus bicolor prevents pollination and seed production by creating conspicuously large ovule galls ( Wang et al. 2015b). All individuals of Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov. were found inside these galls. As such, we consider O. microcarpae a parasitoid of M. bicolor . Ficus microcarpa and M. bicolor are introduced species in Greece and Cyprus, and almost certainly O. microcarpae as well.

Distribution

Cyprus, Greece.

Figures

Fig. 1. Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov., holotype, ♀ (NHMUK). A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Habitus, dorso-lateral view. C. Head and mesosoma, anterio-lateral view. D. Body, lateral view. E. Head and mesosoma dorsal view. F. Body, dorsal view.

Fig. 2. Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov., holotype, ♀ (NHMUK). A. Head and mesosoma, anterio-lateral view. B. Metasoma, dorsal view. C. Fore wing. D. Labels.

Fig. 3. Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov., paratype, ♀, SAM-HYM-P095397 (SAMC). A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head and mesosoma, dorsal view. C. Head anterior view. D. Body, lateral view. E. Scutellum, propodeum and metasoma, dorsal view. F. Metasoma, dorsal view.

Fig. 4. Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov., paratype, ♀, SAM-HYM-P095397 (SAMC). A. Hind leg, lateral view. B. Terminal metasomal segments and ovipositor valves, lateral view. C. Fore wing. D. Labels.

Fig. 5.Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov., paratype, ♂, SAM-HYM-P095400 (SAMC). A. Habitus, lateral view. B. Head and mesosoma, lateral view. C. Head and mesosoma, dorsal view. D. Scutellum, propodeum and metasoma, dorsal view. E. Head, anterior view. F. Metasoma, lateral view.

Fig. 6. Ormyrus microcarpae Askew & Koutsoukos sp. nov., paratype, ♂, SAM-HYM-P095400 (SAMC). A. Genitalia, dorsal view. B. Wings, dorsal view. C. Labels. Paratype, ♂ (NHMUK). D. Dissected specimen on card point. E. Head, ventral view. F. Labels.