Prochiloneurus zunigai, Noyes, 2023

Noyes, John Stuart, 2023, ENCYRTIDAE OF COSTA RICA (HYMENOPTERA: CHALCIDOIDEA), 4 Subfamily Encyrtinae: tribes Arrhenophagini, Habrolepidini, Cerapterocerini, Cheiloneurini, Trechnitini, Cercobelini, Polaszekiini, Protyndarichoidini, Gahaniellini and Syrphophagini (part), mainly primary parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of Coccoidea and Psylloidea (Hemiptera), Taxonomic Monographs on Neotropical Hymenoptera (Oxford, England) 2 (11), pp. 1-921 : 488-490

Prochiloneurus zunigai sp.nov.

(Figs. 1221-1227; Hab. E 176)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 0.9-2.1mm): head orange, temple and gena with a dark brown streak; antenna (Figs 1221, 1222) with flagellum dark brown, occasionally F1-F5 partially pale orange or orange-brown; thorax mostly orange, posterior two-fifths of mesoscutum (Fig. 1223) dark brown with a strong metallic blue and purple sheen and clothed with translucent silvery setae; mesopleuron uniform orange; fore wing (Fig. 1226) with a line or group of 3 to 5 setae below proximal half of parastigma but without a group of pale setae below distal half; hyaline apex of fore wing nearly 2X as wide as length of marginal vein; fore wing with a subapical band of slightly paler setae; propodeum medially orange, laterally slightly dusky and with a weak metallic sheen around spiracle and with about 9 or 10 silvery setae surrounding spiracle; gaster largely dusky orange with a metallic sheen, at least syntergum pale orange; head about 0.96-1.10X as long as broad and about 4.1-7.9X as wide as frontovertex, head relatively longer and frontovertex narrower in larger individuals; antennal scrobes sharply margined, carinate dorsally and laterally; scape (Figs 1221, 1222) about 5.0-6.6X as long as broad, virtually parallel-sided; sculpture on paler parts of mesoscutum (Fig. 1223) generally obliquely elongate striate-reticulate, that on posterior, darker part of mesoscutum more regular, rounded, polygonally reticulate sculpture; apical scutellar tuft about 0.3X as long as scutellum; fore wing (Fig. 1226) about 2.8-3.1X as long as broad; line of setae on ventral surface of costal cell interrupted above parastigma; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.6X as long as gaster. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.82mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.50mm (CPD).

Head generally orange; occiput pale orange with hypostomal area bordered dark brown from foramen to mandibular base; temple and gena with a strong, dark brown streak from occipital margin to scrobal margin near torulus; ocellar area orange; most of frontovertex with a weak brassy sheen, with eye margins weakly purple; area above scrobes with a weak mixed blue and purple sheen, this continuing laterally to area between eye and scrobe and to temple, darker parts of temple with additional green, coppery and brassy reflections, gena similar but with more blue and purple; interantennal prominence with a weak brassy, coppery and purple sheen, rest of scrobal area mainly pale orange with a very weak brassy sheen; frontovertex with inconspicuous, translucent, pale brown setae along inner eye margins, these continued as a line of slightly more conspicuous setae below eye; gena and interantennal prominence with numerous, scattered setae; maxillary palpus white, terminal segment slightly dusky; antenna (Fig. 1221) with radicle orange proximally, apex narrowly dark brown; scape very pale orange, apex white, proximal 0.75X of ventral margins narrowly dark brown, partly interrupted, extreme apex dark brown; pedicel mostly pale orange, dusky externally and with a dark brown streak along its length internally; funicle brown, F6 dark brown; clava dark brown; pronotum orange with weak purple and brassy reflections, neck dark brown; propleuron pale orange; prosternum pale orange; anterior 0.6X of mesoscutum (Fig. 1223) matt orange with weak purple, blue and brassy reflections, anterior half of which is clothed with relatively sparse, translucent, brown setae, posterior half with conspicuous, dark brown setae, posterior 0.4X dark brown but with a strong blue, and purple sheen clothed in dense, translucent, silvery setae, posterior margin slightly shiny, purple-brown with 4 or 5 longer, dark brown setae; tegula orange with apex translucent orange-brown; axilla orange with very weak purple reflections, with dark brown setae; scutellum orange with weak purple and brassy reflections, anteriorly with translucent pale brown setae, posteriorly with black setae, sub apical tuft black, apical setae translucent and off-white; metanotum orange-brown; mesopleuron uniform orange, generally with a weak brassy and purple lustre; mesosternum orange; fore coxa white; femur white, tibia pale orange, margined dorsally and ventrally dark brown, tarsus pale orange; mid coxa white, inner surface dark brown; mid femur white, brown at extreme apex, tibia pale orange with an external brown stripe for most of its length, spur and tarsus pale orange; hind coxa white; femur pale orange, tibia largely dusky orange with a dark brown stripe externally and internally, tarsus pale orange; fore wing (Fig. 1226) mostly infuscate but hyaline towards base and at apex, venation pale orange, no group of pale setae below distal half of parastigma; propodeum orange, very slightly dusky around spiracle, this area with a slight metallic purple and dark blue sheen, only about 9 or 10 inconspicuous setae anteriorly to, and outside, spiracle; gaster generally dusky orange with purple, green and brassy reflections, Gt1 dorsally largely dark brown; apex of outer plate of ovipositor dark brown; gonostylus very pale orange.

Head about 7.9X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 2.0X as high as deep, anteriorly fairly evenly rounded from occipital margin to mouth margin with interantennal prominence fairly protuberant; occipital margin sharp, weakly carinate; vertex with a conspicuous, narrow, shiny bottomed groove along eye margin from posterior ocellus almost to occipital margin; ocelli forming an angle of about 35°; frontovertex quite shiny, with shallow, fairly regular, fine, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size a little smaller than diameter of facet, area immediately above scrobes with coarser, more irregular, transversely elongate sculpture; narrowest point between eye and scrobe about 0.17X length of scape and with obliquely elongate, polygonal sculpture; temple with irregular, transversely elongate, sculpture, gena with similar, but more longitudinally elongate sculpture; scrobes deep, very broadly ∩-shaped, meeting, dorsally very smooth, carinately margined dorsally and laterally; interantennal prominence without median ridge, broadly rounded dorsally, virtually smooth, but with shallow, regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1221; scape slightly broadened and flattened, slightly widest in proximal half at about 0.3X along its length, although virtually parallel-sided, about 6.0X as long as broad; F1 slightly longer than broad, F2-F3 quadrate, F4-F6 transverse, segments larger and broader distad; clava clearly broadened, slightly longer than funicle, sutures oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about 0.8X length of clava, apex strongly obliquely truncate; eye virtually reaching occipital margin, separated by much less than diameter of facet, clothed with inconspicuous setae that are slightly shorter than diameter of facet; inner eye margins clearly diverging in front of anterior ocellus; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave medially; mandible with three acute teeth; apical segment of maxillary palpus not enlarged, not longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 110, HH 117, FV 14, POL 5.5, OOL 0, OCL 10, AOL 15, EL 83, EW 60, MS 45, SL 66, SW 11.

Thorax (Fig. 1223) with polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum, mesoscutum, axilla and scutellum that is similar to that in ocellar area, but sculpture on paler parts of mesoscutum generally obliquely elongate striate-reticulate, that on posterior, darker part of mesoscutum perhaps a little shallower and sculpture on axilla and scutellum a little deeper; visible part of mesoscutum about 2X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.2X as broad as long, with a distinct subapical tuft, setae about 0.3X as long as scutellum; mid tibia with a strong external carina for about 0.7X its length; hind femur about 4.2X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1226, 1227; costal cell naked dorsally at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked, hyaline streak; propodeum (Fig. 1223) medially about 0.14X as long as scutellum, virtually smooth but with some shallow irregular sculpture. Relative measurements: FWL 106, FWW 34; HWL 82, HWW 22

Gaster with syntergum about 0.6X as long as mid tibia; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.6X length of gaster or about 0.6X mid tibia.

Paratype. Funicle with linear sensilla present only on F5-F6; hypopygium Fig. 1225; ovipositor Fig 1224. Relative measurements: OL 57, GL 23 [MT 35.5].

Variation. Females vary in overall length from 0.93-2.05mm, F1-F5 may be mixed pale orange or orange-brown (Fig. 1222), the mid coxa varies from completely white to very pale orange and may be pale brown basally; the head varies from about 4.1-7.9X as wide as the frontovertex, from 0.96-1.10X as high as wide in facial view and from 1.5-2.1X as high as deep with smaller specimens generally having a relatively broader frontovertex and deeper head, the scape varies from about 5.0-6.6X as long as broad, in larger specimens linear sensilla may be present on F4-F6 and the fore wing varies from about 2.8-3.1X as long as broad.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Puntarenas, Res. Priv. Karen Mogensen, 9°52’N 85°03’W, 305m, 14-15. ii.2005 (J.S. Noyes) ; Paratypes: COSTA RICA, 1E, Guanacaste, Santa Rosa NP, BH 110, 4-25.iv.1987 (D. Janzen, I.D. Gauld); 1E, Guanacaste, Maritza ( ACG), 700m, MT/YPT, 20.i-24.ii.1995 (J.S. Noyes); 1E, Guanacaste, Santa Cruz , Vista del Mar , Torre Cocesna , LN 357490 235430, 970m, xii.2000 - i.2001 (Y. Cárdenas); 1E , Alajuela, San Pedro de la Tigra, cacao, i-ii.1990 (R. Céspedes); 1E , Heredia, Santo Domingo, ex mealybugs on palm, vi.2015 (P. Hanson); 4E, Heredia, Santo Domingo, 1200m, ii-iii.2016 (P. Hanson); 1E, Heredia, Santo Domingo , INBio Parque , LN526250 217400, 1100m, #60665, 6.xi.-6.xii. 2000 (R. Zuñiga); 2E, Heredia, Santo Domingo , INBio Parque , LN526250 217400, 1100m, iii. 2002 (J.A. Azofeifa, J.S. Noyes); 2E, Heredia, Santo Domingo, INBio Parque, 9°59’N 84°06’W, 1100m, 14.ii.2015 (J.S. Noyes); 1E, San José, San Antonio de Escazu , creek bed, 1300m, 4-5.iii.1996 (L. Masner); 1E, San José, Zurqui de Moravia , 1600m, ii-iv.1993 (P. Hanson); 1E , Cartago, Dulce Nombre, Vivero Linda Vista , 1300m, viii-x.1993 (P. Hanson); 2E , Puntarenas, same data as holotype; 4E, Puntarenas, Res. Priv. Karen Mogensen , 9°52’N 85°03’W, 305m, 19-20.ii.2009 (J.S. Noyes); 1E, Puntarenas, Res. Priv. Karen Mogensen, 9°52’N 85°03’W, 305m, 23-24.ii.2013 (J.S. Noyes); 2E, Puntarenas, Res. Priv. Karen Mogensen, 9°52’N 85°03’W, 305m, 11-12.ii.2018 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype in MZUCR, paratypes in MZUCR, NHMUK, MLP, UCR, TAMU and USNM .

COMMENTS. Of the Costa Rican species of Prochiloneurus , zunigai is probably most similar to argentinensis (see Noyes & Triapitsyn, 2018) in general habitus. Prochiloneurus zunigai differs from argentinensis in having the funicle largely dark brown, the metallic band on the mesoscutum medially less than half as long as the exposed part of the mesoscutum (much less if the pronotum is flexed forwards) and the gaster orange-brown with the syntergum pale orange. In argentinensis the funicle has at least F4 and F5 completely pale yellow, the metallic band on the mesoscutum medially about two-thirds as long as the mesocutum and the gaster uniformly dark brown. In the above key to Costa Rica species argentinensis would fail at couplet 6 because the gaster is completely dark brown, but the propodeum is mostly orange. See also comments under thonus (p. 485).

This species is named in honour of my friend Ronald Zúñiga who collected some of the type material.