Scelio habilis 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 : 78-81

Scelio habilis Nixon

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:E7ED88F0-7864-4F60-B388-DEF887FCC3E7 urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:5247

Figs 43–48; Morphbank 17

Scelio habilis Nixon, 1958: 306 , 316 (original description. keyed); Masner, 1965a: 94 (type information).

Description. Female body length: 3.66–3.81 mm (n=2). Color of antenna in female: concolorous, brown to dark brown throughout. Color of head in female: black. Color of mesosoma in female: dark brown to black. 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. Sculpture of ventrolateral frons in female: smooth, with some clearly defined fine umbilicate sculpture. Form of malar sulcus in female: sulcus percurrent, slit, groove or carina extremely narrow but course well defined. Sculpture of upper frons of female: irregular dorsoventral striae and fine umbilications, sculpture variously

Figures 43–48 .56 Scelio habilis Nixon , female (OSUC 180778). 43 Habitus, dorsal view 44 Habitus, lateral view 45 Head and mesosoma, dorsal view 46 Head and mesosoma, lateral view 47 Head, anterior view 48 Mesonotum, dorsal view. Scale bars in millimeters.

obliterated above anterior ocellus. Sculpture of dorsal head between and posterior to lateral ocelli in female: smooth, with only setigerous punctures, or predominantly obliterated, in some specimens with traces of rugulae medially. Mandible of female: upper tooth typically developed, lower tooth very short but clearly present, truncate to pointed.

Transverse pronotal carina in female: absent mesad, transition from dorsal shoul- der 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: slightly flattened reticulate-punctulate sculpture, with two elongate smooth bands anterolaterally. 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: absent, or with obliterated patch that covers at least 1/2 of area. Sculpture of mesoscutellum in female: predominantly irregular reticulate to rugulose, carinae slightly to strongly flattened, with or without slight longitudinal trend. Sculpture of lateral pronotum in female (excluding interstitial sculpture): with smooth to obliterated patch immediately below lateral epomial carina, otherwise reticulate with few to moderate longitudinal elements. Pronotal verricule in female: weakly developed ridge-like bump with 1–2 short appressed white setae arising from small pit at apex. Pronotal setal patch posteroventral to end of lateral epomial carina in female: sparse (around 2–5) scattered, shorter semidecumbent to erect setae. Sculpture of mesopleural depression in female: predominantly longitudinally striate. Pilosity of anteroventral metapleuron in female: glabrous, or sparsely setose. Dorsal surface of hind tibia in female: typical distribution and moderate length, setae appressed to loosely appressed, more or less straight. 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: anterior margin with slightly lighter smaller patch, posterior margin even fainter (less contrasting), broadly divided medially by coloration that gradually fades to apex of fore wing.

Sculpture of dorsal T 1 in female: polygonal-reticulate, interstices more or less smooth, 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: reticulate, with some longitudinal elements, interstices irregularly rough, fine parallel to slightly reticulate striae with minutely colliculate to transverse sculpture within interstices. Sculpture of anterior T2 through anterior depression in female: interrupted with by a smooth strip, majority of sculpture not contiguous with that of posterior T2. 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. Medial sculpture of T 5 in female: present. Sculpture of T2–T5 curved transition from dorsal to lateral terga in female: sculptured. Profile of female metasoma in lateral view: dorsal and ventral surfaces more or less evenly convex. Sculpture of lateral T2–T 6 in female: scattered variously obliterated faint fine irregular rugulae. Pilosity of laterotergites in female: present on T1–T4.

Diagnosis. Scelio habilis differs from all species in the group by the combination of the smooth dorsal head, absence of metallic coloration, and incomplete transverse pronotal carina.

Link to distribution map. [http://osuc.biosci.ohio-state.edu/HymOnline/maplarge.html?id=5247]

Material examined. Holotype female: SOUTH AFRICA: Western Cape Prov., Mossel Bay , II.1922, R.E. Turner, OSUC 254446 (deposited in BMNH) . Other material: SOUTH AFRICA: 5 females, 1 male, OSUC 254447–254450 ( BMNH) ; OSUC 211501 ( CNCI) ; OSUC 180778 ( SAMC) .

Comments. There is some variation in sculpture within S. habilis . For example, sculpture on a specimen from the Eastern Cape is more reticulated, while that on another from the Western Cape is more linear. Th is is particularly noticeable on the dorsomedial terga and lateral sterna. Given the relative similarity of sculpture of the head and mesoscutum we elected to not divide these morphs into separate species.