Ooencyrtus seronis Hayat

Hayat, Mohammad, Ahmad, Zubair & Khan, Farmanur Rehman, 2014, Encyrtidae (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Zootaxa 3793 (1), pp. 1-59 : 47-49

Ooencyrtus seronis Hayat , sp. nov.

( Figs 116–121 )

Female. Holotype. Length, 0.88 mm (Paratype, length, 1.0 mm). Head dark brown. Antenna with radicle dark brown; scape yellow, becoming brown in about distal two-fifths; pedicel and flagellum brown. Mesosoma dark brown. Wings hyaline; fore wing veins yellow brown, but marginal vein brown. Legs with all coxae dark brown; fore and mid femora, except white apices, dark brown; fore tibia white with upper surface light brownish yellow; fore tarsus pale brown; mid tibia white, with a pale brown sub-basal band; mid tarsus pale yellow, fifth segment brown; hind femur light brown, white apically; hind tibia pale yellow; hind tarsus with segments 1–3 yellow, distal two segments brown. Gaster up to cercal plates pale yellow, distal to cercal plates dark brown.

Head. Occipital margin narrowly rounded; head dorsum 2× as broad as long; frontovertex width 0.28× head width; ocellar triangle with apical angle very slightly acute; posterior ocellus about half ocellus diameter to margin of eye; POL 2× OCL; head, in frontal view ( Fig. 118 ), slightly broader than high; scrobes inverted U-shaped with margins rounded; antennal torulus situated below level of lower margin of eye, and removed from mouth margin by a distance equal to torulus height; eye height 1.46× malar space; frontovertex with raised, polygonal reticulate sculpture; malar space with elongate reticulate sculpture; setae on head silvery white; eye with fine, sparse setae, each shorter than a facet. Mandible with two teeth and a broad minutely denticulate truncation ( Fig. 119 ). Antenna ( Figs 116 ; paratype, 117) with scape at least about 7× as long as broad, and 1.28× as long as clava; pedicel shorter than F1 and F2 combined; F1 slightly shorter (about 0.94×) than F2; funicle segments all longer than broad–1.6× (F1, F2, F3, F5), 1.58× (F4), and 1.52× (F6) as long as broad; clava about 3.6× as long as broad, and as long as preceding 3 funicle segments combined; funicle segments all with longitudinal sensilla. Relative measurements— head dorsal width, 32; head dorsal length, 15; frontovertex width, 9; head frontal height, 30; eye height, 19; malar space, 13.

Mesosoma ( Fig. 120 ) subequal in length to metasoma; mesoscutum with raised, elongate reticulate to lineolate reticulate sculpture; axilla with polygonal, transversely elongate cells; scutellum with raised, polygonal reticulate sculpture, the cells elongated on sides; sides and apex narrowly smooth; sculpture on scutellum slightly deeper than on mesoscutum; setae largely white; scutellum with 3 + 2 (paratype, 4 + 3) setae; sides of propodeum distal to spiracles with 2–3 long, silvery white setae. Fore wing ( Fig. 121 ) 2.44× as long as broad; costal cell with a line of setae in distal third of dorsal surface, and two lines of setae on ventral surface which become one line in distal third; marginal vein punctiform, and about 3× as long as postmarginal vein; linea calva posteriorly closed by two lines of setae, and basal triangle largely bare. Relative measurements —mesosoma length, 31; mesoscutum length (width), 15 (25); scutellum length (width), 13 (15.5). (Holotype, slide)—mid tibia length, 37; mid basitarsus length, 13; mid tibial spur length, 11. (Paratype, slide: mid tibia length, 44).

Metasoma ( Fig. 120 ). Ovipositor, as seen through the derm, originates from TII of gaster. Relative measurements (holotype, slide)—TVII length, 25; ovipositor length, 33; third valvula length, 5.75; ovipositor stylets length, 31. (Paratype, slide)—ovipositor length, 34.5; third valvula length, 6; ovipositor stylets length, 32.5).

Male. Unknown.

Material examined. Holotype ( ZDAMU, registration No. HYM. CH.692), ♀ (on slide under 4 coverslips, slide No. EH.1484), labelled “ KSA: ASIR: Abha, Raidah, vi.2011, (MT), Coll. Z. Ahmad”.

Paratype. 1 ♀ (on slide, EH.1485), with same data as holotype ( NPC, registration No. 13/6/157/11).

Distribution. Saudi Arabia : Asir.

Etymology. The species name is derived from an arbitrary combination of letters, and may be taken as a noun in apposition.

Comments. The new species belongs to a small group of species of Ooencyrtus Ashmead characterized by having all coxae and largely the femora dark brown; all funicle segments longer than broad; clava about as long as preceding 3 funicle segments combined; mandible with one or two teeth and a broad truncation; and gaster basally (at least TI) yellow and distally dark brown. To this group belong the following species: O. telenomicida (Vassiliev) (see Huang & Noyes 1994), O. nigerrimus Ferrière & Voegele (1961) , O. fecundus Ferrière & Voegele (1961) , and O. exallus Prinsloo (1987) . The new species is very similar to O. exallus in having similar sculpture of the mesoscutum and the scutellum, and body and leg colour, but differs as follows: antennal torulus with upper margin well below level of lower margin of eye; F1 0.94× F2 length; F1 with longitudinal sensilla present; fore wing with the linea calva closed posteriorly by two lines of setae; ovipositor stylets distinctly shorter than mid tibia (0.83× in holotype, 0.73× in paratype), and extending from basal fifth to basal third (in paratype) of gaster; ovipositor stylets at most 5.4× as long as third valvula. In O. exallus : antennal torulus with upper margin in line with lower margin of eye; F1 distinctly shorter (about, 0.75×) than F2; F1 without longitudinal sensilla; fore wing with the linea calva open posteriorly; ovipositor stylets subequal in length to mid tibia, and extending from onehalf the length of gaster; ovipositor stylets about 6× as long as third valvula. [It may be noted that Prinsloo measures the first and second valvulae for ovipositor, which Hayat calls ‘ovipositor stylets’; whereas, Hayat measures the combined lengths of the second valvifer and third valvula for ovipositor.]

Figures

FIGURES 116 – 121. Ooencyrtus seronis Hayat, sp. nov. Female: 116, antenna, holotype; 117, antenna, paratype; 118, head, frontal view; 119, mandible; 120, mesosoma and metasoma; 121, fore wing.