Angebra, 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 : 185

Genus ANGEBRA gen.nov.

Type species: Angebra harpalyke sp.nov. Gender feminine.

Female. Length about 1.5-2.0mm.

Body generally orange to orange-brown, with a weak to moderate metallic sheen; mid tibial spur dark brown contrasting with orange md tibia and tarsus; fore wing infuscate from level of proximal part of parastigma towards apex, infuscate area delimited subapically by a darker curved area.

Head in profile with frontovertex weakly and evenly convex from occipital margin to top of scrobes then angled at about 100° at top of scrobes towards mouth and virtually straight; antenna with scape strongly broadened and flattened with dorsal margin distinctly convex; funicle 6-segmented; clava 3-segmented, apex rounded or with a weak, oblique apical truncation; malar sulcus absent; mandible with 3 acute teeth; palp formula 4-3.

Thorax with pronotum short, barely visible behind head; notaular lines absent; scutellum weakly convex, without scale-like setae or subapical tuft of setae; mesoscutum with imbricate-reticulate sculpture contrasting with longitudinally striate to striate-reticulate sculpture of scutellum; mid tibia with a weak dorsal carina along its length; fore wing with parastigma weakly downcurved and hardly broadened; marginal vein about 0.7X as long as broad, stigmal vein long, about 4-6X as long as marginal vein and 2-3X as long as postmarginal vein, lower margin of uncus obliquely truncate and straight, apices of postmarginal and stigmal veins connected by a naked, hyaline streak; filum spinosum present, composed of 2 or 3 peg-like setae; axillae hardly raised above level of scutellum.

Gaster with hypopygium reaching about two-thirds along gaster, about 2X as broad as long; ovipositor slightly exserted, longer than mid tibia, gonostylus free and shorter than mid tibial spur.

Male. Unknown.

DISTRIBUTION. Costa Rica.

HOSTS. Unknown, but probably primary parasitoids of soft scales ( Hemiptera : Coccidae ).

COMMENTS. Angebra belongs to a group of genera that can be characterised by having a strongly infuscate fore wing with the infuscation delimited by a darker, curved subapical brown band and the apices of the postmarginal and stigmal veins being connected by a naked, hyaline streak, viz. Anicetus Howard , Bolangera Hayat & Noyes , Anisophleps Fidalgo and Cheilopsis Prinsloo. It can be separated from these genera by the lack of a frontofacial carina (present in Anicetus , Anisophleps and Cheilopsis ), non-flattened flagellum (flattened in Anicetus and Cheilopsis ), scutellum lacking any scale-like setae or apical tuft (present in Anisophleps and Cheilopsis ), marginal vein being broader than long (about 3X as long as broad in Bolangera ) and sharply tridentate mandible (with 2 acute teeth and a truncation in Bolangera and Anicetus ). Angebra is undoubtedly very similar to Bolangera and initially the species included below were placed in that genus. However, the fundamental differences in the mandible, length of the marginal vein, shape of the uncus (apically rounded in Bolangera ) and sculpture of the scutellum (polygonally reticulate in Bolangera ) suggest that, although probably phylogenetically very close to Bolangera , Angebra is sufficiently different to warrant separate generic status.