Cheiloneurus elegans (Dalman, 1820)

Figs 52-57, 61-66, 67-72

Encyrtus elegans Dalman 1820: 151-152. Syntypes, NHRM, Sweden, lost.

Cheiloneurus elegans (Dalman); Westwood 1833: 343.

Cheiloneurus elegantissmus De Santis 1964: 343-345. Holotype ♀, MLP, Argentina, digital image examined, as subspecies of C. elegans (Dalman). Synonymized with C. elegans by Noyes (2023: 372-374).

Material examined.

China - Guangxi • 26♀; Qinzhou, Beibu Culf University; 21°53'53"N, 108°36'56"E; 24 m elev.; 09-22 Jun. 2019; Wen-Quan Zhen leg.; by Malaise trapping; TJAU-GX-CHE-027 to 052 - Yunnan • 1♀; Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture; 25°1'58"N, 101°32'45"E; 1773 m elev.; 15-31 Oct. 2020; Jia-Le Lv leg.; by Malaise trapping; TJAU-YN-CHE-003 - Tianjin • 20♀; Xiqing, Tianjin Agricultural University; 39°5'21"N, 117°5'38"E; 13 m elev.; 14-31 Jul. 2021; Guo-Hao Zu, Ze-Ning Yang leg.; by Malaise trapping; TJAU-TJ-CHE-005 to 024 .

Description.

Female. Length, excluding ovipositor, 1.30-1.89 mm. Head (Figs 61, 67) yellowish brown to brown, mandible with three acute teeth. Antenna (Figs 62, 68) brown to yellow, apex of clava relatively shallow. Mesosoma (Figs 63, 69) yellowish brown, apical half of mesoscutum brown, scutellum yellowish white; fore wing (Figs 64, 70) with apical two-thirds dark brown, basal third and hind wing hyaline (Figs 65, 71); leg yellow (Figs 66, 72), fore coxa, basal half of mid femora, basal third of mid tibial, hind coxa, and basal third of hind tibia white; frontovertex 0.26-0.33 × head width; eye height 1.67-2.38 × malar space; antennal scape 4.75-5 × as long as wide; pedicel 2.09-2.27 × as long as wide and longer than F1, funicle 6-segmented, clava 3-segmented, 2.72-2.96 × as long as width, longer than F4-F6 combined; fore wing 2.94-4.09 × as long as wide; linea calva not interrupted and open posteriorly; ovipositor 1.51-1.63 × as long as mid tibia, slightly exserted.

Variation.

There is significant variation in body color, size of F5-F6, and fore wings between specimens collected in the Palaearctic and in the Oriental realms. The specimens from the Palaearctic have a darker body, F5-F6 are longer than wide (Fig. 33), and the fore wing is 4.09 × as long as wide, while Oriental specimens have a relatively lighter body color, F5-F6 are wider than long (Fig. 34), and the fore wing is 2.94 × as long as wide.

Host.

Encyrtidae: Epidinocarsis lopezi; Platygastridae: Platygaster zosine; Cecidomyiidae: Mayetiola destructor, Phytophaga destructor; Aclerdidae: Aclerda subterranean; Coccidae: Anapulvinaria pistaciae, Eulecanium franconicum, Physokermes piceae, Pulvinaria vitis, Kermesidae: Kermes sp.; Pseudococcidae: Antonina purpurea, Phenacoccus hordei, Phenacoccus manihoti, Trionymus aberrans (Noyes 2019).

Distribution.

China (Tianjin, Guangxi, Yunnan), America, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.