Cheiloneurus leone, 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 : 399-401

Cheiloneurus leone sp.nov.

(Figs 1019-1024)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.8mm): body mostly orange, generally with a weak metallic sheen; mesoscutum, metanotum and mesopleuron brown, gaster brown mixed orange, darker areas with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; antenna (Fig. 1023) with scape pale orange; pedicel pale orange-brown; funicle and clava dark brown; mesoscutum with evenly distributed dense silvery setae; fore coxa orange, mid coxa dark brown, hind coxa dark orange-brown; fore and mid legs otherwise orange, hind legs largely dark brown; fore wing (Fig. 1020) mostly infuscate with basal cell almost completely hyaline, small area at apex of venation and apex narrowly hyaline; head (Fig. 1024) about 3.5X as wide as frontovertex, in facial view clearly longer than broad, genae straight and converging, curved inwards near mouth; frontovertex with about 30 inconspicuous setae medially between anterior ocellus and scrobes; eye separated from scrobe by about 2X diameter of anterior ocellus, area between eye and scrobe with distinct sculpture, scrobes shallow with rounded margins; interantennal prominence with about 40 conspicuous setae and dorsally rounded; mandible tridentate; antenna (Fig. 1023) wioth scape about 8X as long as broad; funicle flattened, F1-F3 longer than broad, F4-F6 transverse; head width about equal to length of F1-F5 combined; linear sensilla on F3-F6; clava 3-segmented, slightly longer than F5-F6 combined, apex broadly rounded but sensory area extending about one-third along clava; mesoscutum (Fig. 1021) with very uniform, shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scutellum with a distinct, apical tuft of setae; wings fully developed; fore wing (Fig. 1020) about 3.3X as long as broad; parastigma strongly downcurved; costal cell dorsally naked, ventrally with virtually a complete line of very fine setae; area below proximal part of parastigma with a group of about 60 fine setae; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked hyaline area that hardly continues into disc (Fig. 1022); apical bristle of postmarginal vein missing, but probably about 0.4X as long as marginal vein; mid tibial spur about as long as basitarsus; propodeum (Fig. 1021) with about 35 setae adjacent to spiracle extending part way down side; syntergum about 0.8X as long as mid tibia; ovipositor (Fig. 12019) about 4.5X gonostylus or about 1.5X as long as mid tibia; gonostylus about 0.9X as long as mid tibial spur; exserted part of ovipositor about 0.3X as long as mid tibial spur. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.77mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.71mm ( CPD) .

Head with occiput pale orange, otherwise generally slightly dusky orange to pale orange-brown, ocellar area, temple and gena slightly darker; frontovertex and scrobal area with weak brassy, blue and purple reflections; a weak, narrow, metallic blue line between eye and torulus, outside this a broader metallic, coppery purple line; temple and gena with a metallic green and coppery purple sheen; frontovertex clothed with very short, inconspicuous, translucent, pale brown setae along inner eye margins, gena and interantennal prominence with similar, but more widely scattered setae; maxillary palpus dark brown, virtually black; antenna (Fig. 1023) with radicle pale orange-brown; scape pale orange; pedicel pale orange-brown; funicle and clava dark brown, almost black; pronotum largely orange-brown with a weak, brassy and purple sheen, neck and side orange; prosternum orange; mesoscutum dark brown with a strong coppery and brassy sheen, clothed with dense, translucent, silvery setae; tegula orange with apex orange-brown; axilla orange; scutellum with anterior three-fifths yellow, posterior part orange, clothed with golden brown to dark brown setae, subapical tuft black; metanotum dark brown; mesopleuron chestnut brown, anteriorly with a weak green and brassy sheen, posteriorly with a mixed blue, purple, coppery and brassy sheen; mesosternum orange-brown; fore leg orange, apex of tarsus dark brown; mid coxa brown, mid leg otherwise orange, mid tibial spur pale orange, apex of tarsus dark brown; hind coxa, femur and tibia dark orange-brown to dark brown, hind tarsus pale orange, apex dark brown; fore wing (Fig. 1020) mostly infuscate, hyaline towards base; submarginal vein pale yellow, venation otherwise pale brown; propodeum dark brown with a moderate purple and coppery sheen mixed metallic blue and brassy laterally; about 20 translucent, silvery setae outside spiracle that extend nearly to posterior margin of propodeum; gaster largely brown, but pale orange dorsally distad of cercal plates, apex of syntergum brown, basal tergites with a moderately strong, mixed, blue, purple, coppery and green sheen, side and venter predominantly brassy weakly mixed with purple and blue; gonostylus pale orange, apex brownish.

Head (Fig. 1024) about 3.5X as wide as frontovertex shallow in profile about 2.0X as high as deep, anteriorly more or less uniformly curved, interantennal prominence hardly protuberant above torulus; occipital margin sharp, not carinate; ocelli forming an angle of about 60°; frontovertex slightly shiny, with distinct, fairly regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture of mesh size hardly smaller than diameter of eye facet, deepest in ocellar area; narrowest area between eye and scrobe slightly more than 2X as wide as diameter of anterior ocellus, area immediately below lowest part of eye with distinct, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scrobes very shallow, meeting, narrowly ∩-shaped, not sharply margined; interantennal prominence with similar sculpture to frontovertex, dorsally rounded; temple with slightly shallower, irregular, elongate sculpture, gena with slightly deeper, more regular, polygonally reticulate sculpture; antenna as in Fig. 1023; scape subcylindrical, about 8X as long as broad; funicle with segments distinctly bilaterally flattened, F1-F3 slightly longer than broad, F4-F6 transverse, F4 and F5 widest; funicle with linear sensilla present only on F3-F6; clava not broadened, only slightly longer than F5-F6 combined, sutures hardly oblique, sensory area enlarged, extending ventrally about one-third along clava, but apex broadly rounded appearance; eye not reaching occipital margin, separated by a little more than 2X diameter of facet, clothed in numerous, inconspicuous, short setae, each a little shorter than diameter of facet; inner eye margins strongly diverging anteriorly; malar sulcus absent; clypeal margin weakly concave medially; mandible tridentate; apical segment of maxillary palpus relatively broad and conspicuous, but hardly longer than radicle. Relative measurements: HW 72, HH 89, FV 20.5, POL 11, OOL 1, OCL 9.5, AOL 12, EL 58, EW 34, MS 29, SL 55, SW 7.

Thorax (Fig. 1021) with pronotum medially exposed behind head, about as long as mesoscutum and with irregular, polygonally reticulate sculpture that is a little shallower than that on frontovertex; mesoscutum with similar sculpture to pronotum, but shallower and a little more regular; axilla with similar sculpture to that on frontovertex; scutellum with similar sculpture to that on axilla, but partly indistinct and more elongate on side; visible part of mesoscutum about 2.2X as broad as long; scutellum about as long as broad, with a distinct subapical tuft, setae mostly slightly more than half as long as scutellum; mid tibia without an external carina; hind femur about 6X as long as broad; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 1022, 1023; costal cell naked dorsally at apex; apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a distinct, naked, hyaline streak; propodeum (Fig. 1021) medially about 0.32X as long as scutellum, completely smooth. Relative measurements: FWL 78, FWW 24; HWL 69, HWW 14.

Gaster without “gland-like” structures on Gt1 or Gt5; hypopygium reaching about half-way to apex; syntergum about as long as mid tibia, with apex narrowly slightly angular; ovipositor (Fig. 1019) slightly exserted, the exserted part about one-third length of mid tibial spur or about 0.1X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 74.5, GL 16.5 [MT 50.5].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, Guanacaste NP (error for Santa Rosa NP ), near HQ, MT/YPT, 2-10.iii.1990 (J.S. Noyes) . Holotype in NHMUK .

COMMENTS. Cheiloneurus leone is very close to banksi ( Howard, 1898) and flaccus ( Walker, 1847) , both known from the southern USA.All three species have the flagellar segments broadened and flattened with F5 broadest and at least as wide as F6 or clava or a little wider and the apex of the clava symmetrically rounded. It is closer to flaccus in having slightly more slender funicle segments with F3 longer than broad, F4 subquadrate and F5 transverse whilst in banksi F3-F5 are all transverse. It differs from both flaccus and banksi in having F1 apically not more than 1.2X as wide as the pedicel whereas in both flaccus and banksi F1 is conspicuously broadened apically and very nearly 2X as wide as the pedicel. In general flaccus is darker in having the scape dark brown, the scutellum proximally dark brown and the hind basitarsus dark brown whereas in leone and banksi the scape, scutellum and hind basitarsus are yellow or pale orange.