Synopeas luli Awad sp. nov.

Description.

Body length 1.1-1.3 mm. Body color: black; dark brown. Color of legs: coxae brown, otherwise yellow to brown. Color of mesoscutellar spine: concolorous with mesoscutellar disc.

Head. Shape of head in anterior view: slightly ovoid. Central keel: absent; partial; impressed. Sculpture on frons: reticulate microsculpture. Epitorular sculpture: minute rugulae; reticulate microsculpture. Number of clypeal setae: 4. Length of median pair of clypeal setae: equal to lateral pair. Arrangement of clypeal setae: evenly spaced; medial setae closer to each other than to lateral setae. Shape of mandible: bidentate. Distance between lateral ocellus and compound eye (OOL): approximately 1 ocellar diameter. Hyperoccipital carina: complete. Hyperoccipital carina strength: uniformly weak. Distance between lateral ocellus and hyperoccipital carina: less than 1 ocellar diameter; approximately 1 ocellar diameter.

Mesosoma. Epomial carina: present, complete or nearly so. Microsculpture of lateral pronotum: present dorsally, absent ventrally, smooth band anterior to tegula. Lateral pronotal sculpture coverage: 1/4 to 1/2. Mesoscutellar spine: short and pointed. Mesoscutellar spine in lateral view: angled posterodorsally. Posterior margin of lateral propodeal carina in lateral view: pointed dorsally and ventrally. Mesosomal dorsum in lateral view: convex. Notauli: unmarked or faintly suggested. Parapsidal lines: very faint; marked by absence of sculpture. Setation of mesoscutum: sparse. Mesoscutal lamella: broad and rounded; roughly triangular. Setation of mesoscutellum: laterally dense, medially sparse.

Metasoma. Microsculpture of S2: narrow band at posterior margin. Sculpture of T2: absent. Length of T2: shorter than mesosoma.

Wing. Length of setae on disc of forewing: longer than distance between setal bases. Density of setae on disc of forewing: moderately dense. Arrangement of setae on disc of forewing: setose distally, glabrous proximally; densely setose distally, sparsely setose proximally. Forewing marginal setae: approximately uniform in length on anterior and posterior margins.

Diagnosis.

Synopeas luli has a short, pointed mesoscutellar spine that is angled upward, and a weak but complete hyperoccipital carina. It resembles S. kiki and may be distinguished by the presence of a partial central keel on the frons and by the mesoscutellar spine, which is posterodorsally angled in S. luli and posteriorly angled in S. kiki . The forewing of S. luli has setae of approximately equal length around the wing margin, while in S. kiki, the setae are distinctly longer on the posterior margin (Fig. 8).

Comments.

The central keel is variable in this species. It can be absent, or present ventrally within a shallow longitudinal depression.

Etymology.

The epithet " Synopeas luli " is Numbani for “thorn” (Evans 2008) and refers to the shape of the mesoscutellar spine. The name is to be treated as a noun in apposition.

Plant associations.

Reared from galls on Neuburgia corynocarpa ( Apocynaceae) [GALL236] and Piper macropiper ( Piperaceae) [GALL307].

Specimens examined.

Holotype: Papua New Guinea: ♀, Morobe, Yawan, 6.14141°S, 146.87415°E, 22.X.2012, Philip Butterill leg., Neuburgia corynocarpa (FSCA 00090412) . Paratypes: Papua New Guinea: 5♀ 3♂, Morobe, Yawan, 22.IX.2010, Neuburgia corynocarpa (FSCA 00090427, 00090437-00090438, 00094466-00094470) ; 3♀ 2♂, Morobe, Yawan, 03.XI.2010, Piper macropiper (FSCA 00090426, 00090429, 00094482-00094484) ; ♀, Morobe, Yawan, 30.III.2012, Neuburgia corynocarpa (FSCA 00090440) ; ♂, Morobe, Yawan, 14.VI.2012, Neuburgia corynocarpa (FSCA 00090439) ; 7♀ 4♂, Morobe, Yawan, 22.X.2012, Neuburgia corynocarpa (FSCA 00094524-00094528, 00094548-00094549, 00000332-00000335) .