Cheiloneurus sophocles, 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 : 219-220

Cheiloneurus sophocles sp.nov.

( Figs 526-532)

DIAGNOSIS. Female (length about 1.3mm): body generally dark brown with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; mesoscutum with dark brown setae in anterior one-third and silvery setae in posterior two-thirds; fore wing ( Fig. 526) hyaline; fore coxa white; head about 4.5X as wide as frontovertex; antenna ( Fig. 528) with pedicel slightly longer than F1-F2 combined; F1 and F5- F6 a little longer than broad, F2-F4 quadrate or transverse; linear sensilla on F5-F6; clava about as long as funicle, apex narrowly rounded; mandible with 3 acute teeth; mesoscutum ( Fig. 530) with longitudinally elongate, lineolate sculpture, some polygonally reticulate sculpture medially and near posterior margin; scutellum with longitudinally elongate, lineolate sculpture, some polygonally reticulate sculpture medially; scutellum without a tuft of setae medially; fore wing ( Fig. 526) about 2.5X as long as broad; parastigma slightly swollen, not downcurved; stigmal vein ( Fig. 527) with 3 campaniform sensilla at apex; gaster ( Fig. 532) with “glands” on Gt1 and Gt5, those on Gt1 separated by about 1.5X their own lengths, those on Gt5 separated by less than 0.2X their own lengths; syntergum about 1.3X as long as broad. Male: unknown.

Female (holotype): length, including ovipositor, 1.32mm; excluding ovipositor, 1.27mm ( CPD) .

Head dark brown to black with a moderate metallic lustre; frontovertex coppery purple behind posterior ocelli, area around anterior ocellus dull, metallic dark green and blue-green, area above scrobes coppery purple, this delimited above by a narrow dark blue area; temple and gena with a mixed metallic dark green, blue-green and coppery purple sheen; scrobal area coppery purple, lower part of interantennal prominence and area below torulus metallic dark green, dorsally margined dark blue, mouth margin medially coppery purple; a line of inconspicuous, brown setae along inner eye margin continuing below eye to gena and along position of malar sulcus; radicle brown; scape largely pale orange, but margined dark brown and proximally brown internally; pedicel brown with venter and apex narrowly dusky pale yellow; F1-F4 brown, F5- F6 pale orange; clava mostly orange-brown, basal segment partially brown, terminal segment brown; thorax dark brown to black; pronotum with a weak, coppery purple and brassy sheen; mesoscutum virtually matt, but with a very weak coppery purple and brassy sheen, anterior one-third with dark brown setae, posterior two-thirds with silvery setae; tegula dark brown; axilla similarly coloured to mesoscutum; scutellum virtually matt, but with a weak coppery purple sheen and some very weak dark green reflections, extreme apex and side shining, metallic dark green and coppery; mesopleuron with a weak, metallic blue, purple and brassy sheen; fore coxa white; fore femur white with a fairly broad, incomplete, brown, subapical band, tibia pale yellow with a broad, incomplete, subbasal brown band, tarsus dusky pale yellow, apical tarsomere pale brown; mid coxa dark brown; mid femur white with a narrow, subapical brown band tibia white with a narrow, subbasal brown band, spur and tarsus white; hind coxa dark brown; hind femur dark brown, narrowly white basally, tibia mostly dark brown with apices white, tarsus white with apical tarsomere brown; wings hyaline, venation pale yellow, marginal vein a little dusky; propodeum dark brown with a weak brassy and purple sheen, a little coppery laterally, side with metallic green sheen mixed coppery and brassy, outside spiracle with about 10 conspicuous silvery setae; gaster dark purple-brown, dorsally with a coppery purple sheen, Gt1 proximally mixed with a green and blue-green sheen, side and venter with coppery, blue, brassy and green reflections; gonostylus dark brown, apex dusky pale orange.

Head about 4.3X as wide as frontovertex, in profile about 1.5X as high as deep, tangent to frontovertex above scrobes forming an angle of about 90° with face below top of scrobes; an inconspicuous, very small, oval depression adjacent to eye very near occipital margin; ocelli forming an angle of about 60°; frontovertex narrowest a little behind posterior ocelli and a little in front of anterior ocellus, quite shiny, with relatively deep, polygonally reticulate to imbricate-reticulate sculpture, in ocellar area of mesh size slightly smaller than eye facet, subequal elsewhere; temple and gena with sculpture of similar depth to anterior part of frontovertex, but more longitudinally elongate imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate; area immediately below lowest part of eye with similar sculpture; scrobes with relatively shallow, irregular, elongate sculpture; interantennal prominence and mouth margin with shallow, polygonally reticulate sculpture; scrobes shallow, indistinctly margined, narrowly ∩-shaped; interantennal prominence dorsally indistinctly acute; antenna as in Fig. 528; scape hardly broadened and flattened, about 4.1X as long as broad; all funicle segments slightly longer than broad except F4 which is quadrate, segments increasing in width distad, linear sensilla present only on F5-F6; clava about as long as funicle, sutures parallel, sensory area small, at apex only giving it a pointed or slightly rounded appearance; eye more or less reaching occipital margin, with very inconspicuous, sparse setae that each much shorter than diameter of facet; malar sulcus absent; mandible with 3 acute teeth. Relative measurements: HW 58, HH 49.5, FV 13.5, POL 6, OOL 1, OCL 5.5, AOL 6, EL 33, EW 31, MS 22, SL 24, SW 5.8.

Thorax ( Fig. 530)with imbricate-reticulate to polygonally reticulate sculpture on pronotum that is about as deep as that in ocellar area; mesoscutum with fine, longitudinally elongate, polygonally reticulate to striate-reticulate sculpture that is perhaps a little deeper than sculpture on pronotum; scutellum with slightly finer, deeper, polygonally reticulate sculpture composed of rounded or very slightly longitudinally elongate cells, extreme side and apex completely smooth and shiny; setae on anterior part of mesoscutum about as dense as those on posterior part; scutellum with a sparse, subapical tuft of longer setae; visible part of mesoscutum about 1.8X as broad as long; scutellum about 1.2X as broad as long; fore wing with venation and setation as in Figs 526, 527; costal cell with 5 or 6 dorsal setae at apex. Relative measurements: FWL 73.5, FWW 29.5; HWL 55, HWW 13.

Gaster with hypopygium ( Fig. 529) reaching about 0.4X towards apex; syntergum about 1.3X as long as broad and about 1.2X as long as mid tibia, with apex acute; “glands” ( Fig. 532) present on Gt1 and Gt5, those on Gt1 separated by about 1.5X their own lengths, those on Gt5 separated by less than 0.2X their own lengths; ovipositor ( Fig. 531) slightly exserted, the exserted part about 0.3X length of mid tibial spur or about 0.1X mid tibia. Relative measurements: OL 56, GL 14.5 [MT 31].

Variation. Only holotype examined.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown.

MATERIAL EXAMINED.

Type material. Holotype E: COSTA RICA, Guanacaste, BN Diriá, Ret. Alr. Torre Control de Incendio , LN 238550 358650, 600-700m, #66659, xii.2001 - i.2002 (I. Jiménez) . Holotype in NHMUK .