Scelio antorides Nixon, 1958

Yoder, Matthew, Polaszek, Andrew, Masner, Lubomir, Johnson, Norman & Valerio, Alejandro, 2009, Revision of Scelio pulchripennis - group species (Hymenoptera, Platygastroidea, Platygastridae), ZooKeys 20 (20), pp. 53-118 : 64-67

Scelio antorides Nixon

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:B99930DE-213B-4ED1-9137-2D3C60206DF1 urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:5170

Figs 4, 8, 13–18; Morphbank 12

Scelio antorides Nixon, 1958: 305 , 317 (original description. keyed); Masner, 1965a: 92 (type information).

Description. Female body length: 2.61–3.85 mm (n=8). Color of antenna in female: concolorous, brown to dark brown throughout. Color of head in female: black with subtle dark blue sheen, or black with subtle dark green sheen. Color of mesosoma in female: brown to dark brown with subtle dark blue to teal sheen, sheen visible dorsally and in some specimens laterally. Color of coxae in female: brown to dark brown. Color of leg past coxa in female: brown to dark brown. Color of metasoma in female: brown to dark brown.

Sculpture of lower frons in female: predominantly transverse to slightly arcuate striae, or predominantly fine irregular rugulae. Sculpture of ventrolateral frons in female: dense fine rugulae. Form of malar sulcus in female: sulcus percurrent, slit, groove or carina extremely narrow but course well defined, or not percurrent, with some sections variously obliterated. Sculpture of upper frons of female: rugulose, sculpture between lateral ocelli and immediately below obliterated to varying degrees. Sculpture of dorsal head between and posterior to lateral ocelli in female: rugulose, obliterated in spots or not. Mandible of female: upper tooth typically developed, lower tooth very short but clearly present, truncate to pointed.

Transverse pronotal carina in female: well developed, linear or with extremely slight deviations, contiguous with mesoscutum or interrupted by a single subpolygo-

Figures Ι3–Ι8 .5 Ι Scelio antorides Nixon , female (OSUC 214234). Ι3 Habitus, dorsal view Ι4 Habitus, lateral view Ι5 Head and mesosoma, dorsal view Ι6 Head and mesosoma, lateral view Ι7 Head, anterior view Ι8 Mesonotum, dorsal view. Scale bars in millimeters.

nal cell, anterior shoulder relatively abruptly transitioned to anterior pronotum, or absent mesad, transition from dorsal shoulder to anterior pronotum not sharply delimited but rather slightly curved, if appearing slightly present then either obliterated medially or composed of adjacent subpolygonal sculpture. Sculpture of medial mesoscutum in female: rugulose to roundly reticulate, rugulae rarely fine, typically slightly flattened, a longitudinal trend visible in some specimens, within anterior half some obliteration or at least slight polish. Sculpture of notaular course in female: more or less undifferentiated to slightly more robust and coarse relative to medial sculpture. Sculpture of lateral mesoscutum in female: present. Sculpture of mesoscutellum in female: rugulose, rugulae obliterated and flattened in some specimens, particularly posteriorly, therein appearing roundly reticulate to punctulate. Sculpture of lateral pronotum in female (excluding interstitial sculpture): reticulate sculpture throughout (smooth patch below lateral epomial carina absent). Pronotal verricule in female: small bump with 1–2 very short setae at center. Pronotal setal patch posteroventral to end of lateral epomial carina in female: very sparse (around 1–3), long, erect setae. Sculpture of mesopleural depression in female: predominantly longitudinally striate. Pilosity of anteroventral metapleuron in female: dense patch of semi-decumbent to erect setae. Dorsal surface of hind tibia in female: sparse, elongate, erect and slightly curved. Shape of hind femur in female: narrow, dorsal and ventral surfaces relatively symmetrical. Basal pigmented spot of fore wing in female: percurrent from submarginal vein to posterior margin, striplike (a band), divided only by hyaline course of M+Cu. Basal fascia of fore wing in female: subrectangular, striplike, percurrent from anterior to posterior margin. Apical fascia of fore wing in female: broad, hyaline, percurrent from anterior to posterior fore wing margin, apex of fore wing past fascia concolorous with distal patch.

Sculpture of dorsal T 1 in female: longitudinally striate, with few to no transverse divisions or reticulations, interstices smooth or with very slight irregular microsculpture. Sculpture of dorsal T 2 in female: fine parallel to slightly reticulate striae with minutely colliculate to transverse sculpture within interstices. Sculpture of anterior T2 through anterior depression in female: percurrent. Sculpture of dorsal T 3 in female: fine parallel to irregular longitudinal striae, with reticulation absent to moderately present. Medial sculpture of T 4 in female: present, obliterated to smooth. Medial sculpture of T 5 in female: obliterated to smooth. Sculpture of T2–T5 curved transition from dorsal to lateral terga in female: sculptured. Profile of female metasoma in lateral view: ventral surface more or less flat, dorsal surface weakly to strongly arched from T2–T6 highest point between T4–T5, evenly curved to T6. Sculpture of lateral T2–T 6 in female: T2 striate-obliterated, T3–T6 with dense striae throughout. Pilosity of laterotergites in female: glabrous, or apparently so.

Diagnosis. Scelio antorides can be distinguished from most species by the presence of metallic coloration on the mesosoma, a state it shares with S. ememeye and S. marbis . The species is diagnosable from S. ememeye by the completely sculptured lateral mesoscutum (largely smooth in S. ememeye ), and from S. marbis by the obliterated smooth patches on the dorsal head (finely reticulate-rugulose throughout in S. marbis ).

Link to distribution map. [http://osuc.biosci.ohio-state.edu/HymOnline/maplarge.html?id=5170]

Material examined. Holotype female: SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa, Western Cape Prov., Mossel Bay , V.1921, R.E. Turner, OSUC 254459 (deposited in BMNH) . Other material: SOUTH AFRICA: 16 females, 17 males, OSUC 254460–254465 , 254467–254484 ( BMNH) ; OSUC 211458 , 211510 , 211517 , 211550 , 212555 ( CNCI) ; OSUC 214234 , 223241–223242 ( SAMC) ; OSUC 250705 ( SANC) .

Comments. Several character states in S. antorides are relatively variable. The sculpture of the head is predominantly rugulose, though the regularity, and to a lesser degree thickness, varies somewhat. In some specimens the sculpture forms somewhat regular and more elongate channels that tend to arch around the orbit of the eye. The degree of obliteration of sculpture on the head and mesonotum is also variable, though there is an overall trend to have some obliteration present, particularly surrounding the lateral ocelli. The intensity and color of the metallic sheen varies: most species exhibit a dark blue sheen, with a few species having a brighter, more green to teal tint. The pilosity surrounding the pronotal verricule in S. antorides is more or less absent, which is notable for pulchripennis -group species. Th ree specimens are included here tentatively (OSUC 212555, 211458, 211510); they differ slightly in tint, size and sculpture of the mesoscutum and in future revisions should be compared with newly collected material.