Axea Masner & Johnson

Yoder, Matthew J., Valerio, Alejandro A., Masner, Lubomír & Johnson, Norman F., 2009, Identity and synonymy of Dicroscelio Kieffer and description of Axea, a new genus from tropical Africa and Asia (Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea: Platygastridae), Zootaxa 2003, pp. 1-45 : 9-12

Axea Masner & Johnson , n.gen.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:67A4E007-110E-47A7-8A4E-75360B4D5861 urn:lsid:biosci.ohio-state.edu:osuc_concepts:197361 Figures 17–124; Morphbank21

Dicroscelio (misidentification): Masner, 1976: 7, keyed; Johnson, 1992: catalogued.

General habitus. Length: 1.5–3.4 mm. Color pattern variable, xanthic to rufous throughout; bicolored with black head, rufous body; or entirely dark brown. Body generally stocky, squat, head closely attached to http://purl.oclc.org/NET/hymenoptera/Platygastroidea

http://atbi.biosci.ohio-state.edu/HymOnline/map-large.html?id=471&view=all http://www.morphbank.net/?id=226922

prothorax; dorsum of head, mesosoma rather flat; head with cheek large, bulging. Body entirely sculptured, head and mesosoma with regular, fine granular-punctate sculpture.

Head transverse to subquadrate in dorsal view; hyperoccipital carina absent; occipital carina complete, crenulate, closely approximated to foramen magnum dorsally; lateral ocellus contiguous with inner orbit, OOL very short; eye glabrous or sparsely setose; frons nearly flat, antennal scrobe not developed; inner orbits distinctly diverging ventrally; central keel on frons absent; submedian carina absent; orbital carina absent; frontal depression shallow, unmargined; clypeus very small narrow, subquadrate, height greater than or equal to width, apical margin truncate or weakly emarginate, corners not produced laterally; malar sulcus indicated as fine, sharp carina, strongly arched, running from lower margin of eye to mandibular articulation; gena with carina parallel to malar sulcus; cheek with only short dorsoventral costae arising from anterior mandibular articulation; interantennal prominence moderately produced, torulus opening on anterofrontal surface of prominence; in lateral view malar region broad, strongly expanded below, behind eye; mandible broad, distinctly short, outer surface strongly convex, apex deeply tridentate, teeth subequal in length, acute, apical teeth arranged transversely; palpal formula 3-2; radicle inserted parallel to long axis of scape; antenna 12- merous in both sexes; length of female A3 subequal to length of A2; female antennal clava subcylindrical, 6- merous, A7 largest claval segment, distinctly larger than A6, length greater than length of each antennomere A7–A11; A6, A5 broadened, clava non-abrupt; claval formula A7–A12/2-2-2-2-2-1; male antenna with A5–A11 as long as wide, A5 with tyloid, otherwise not visibly modified.

Mesosoma depressed dorsally, height subequal to width, longer than high, longer than wide in dorsal view; transverse pronotal carina absent; pronotal shoulders strongly developed, rounded anteriorly; mesoscutum weakly convex; skaphion absent; admedian lines absent; notaulus present, usually deeply incised, crenulate, usually abbreviate anteriorly; parapsidal line indicated as smooth line; humeral, suprahumeral sulci distinctly crenulate; transscutal articulation deep, crenulate; mesoscutellum semiellipsoidal, weakly convex, unarmed, posterior rim crenulate; metascutellum produced into thick, irregular transverse plate, sometimes with weak notch or protruding medially; propodeum unarmed, in dorsal view reduced and deeply excavate medially, almost vertical between submedian carinae, concealed beneath metascutellum, median propodeal keels strongly diverging diagonally, inner propodeal projection short, truncate, fitting into shallow depression on T1, outer propodeal corners not projecting; lateral surface of pronotum broadly concave, with row of large foveolae along lower anterior margin; epomial carina not developed; netrion present, broad, closed ventrally, often concealed by sculpture; mesopleuron covered by dense, fine appressed pilosity; mesopleural depression deep; mesopleural carina not developed; mesopleural pit not clearly differentiated from coarse background sculpture; ventral portion of mesepisternum not protruding anteriorly between fore coxae; posterodorsal corner of mesopleuron rounded, epimeral hook absent; metapleuron entirely sculptured, with dense appressed fine pilosity; legs slender, setose, without strong spines; posterior surface of hind coxa smooth, setose; trochantellus present on all legs; tibial spur formula 1-1-1; macropterous, fore wings variable in length, extending to or beyond T5, appearing relatively short, broad, marginal cilia minute; fore wing (Fig. 17) with R distant from costal margin, especially from basal vein to origin of r-rs, strongly arched apically toward costal margin, without strong dark bristles, r-rs arising at or basad apex of R1; basal vein absent; pseudostigma absent; R terminating at costal margin or sometimes short and not attaining margin (i.e., marginalis punctate, postmarginalis absent); r-rs (stigmal vein) arising at or before R reaches costal margin of wing; R1 (postmarginal vein) usually absent, sometimes weakly indicated as marginal extension of bulbous apex of R; hind wing either with R short, truncate, terminating far from hamuli (Afrotropical species) or complete, extending to hamuli (Oriental species); hind wing with 3 hamuli.

Metasoma appearing broadly sessile, moderately short, broad, depressed, with 6 terga, 6 sterna visible externally, homonomously segmented, T2–T3 subequal in length, T2 slightly the longest; T1 with anterior carinate margin, sublaterally with shallow depressions, without horn in female, usually longitudinally costate; laterotergites well developed, narrow; T2 usually longitudinally ruguose; T3–T5 usually punctate; T6 subtriangular, often longer than T5, often apically produced into sharp, flat medial bladelike projection, with pair of subapical spines, appearing subtridentate; S1 laterally compressed, not projecting anteriorly between insertions of hind coxae; S6 with bladelike margin, i.e., flattened, apically rounded or acute; Scelio - type ovipositor, gonoplacs relatively strongly sclerotized, straight.

FIGURES 17–22. 22 Characters of Axea . 17, Axea kalanoro , fore wing, paratype female (CASENT 2042985); 18, A. atai , anterolateral mesosoma, dorsal view, paratype female (OSUC 211601); 19, A. atriceps , posterior mesosoma, dorsal view, female (OSUC 167058); 20, A. yama , posterior mesosoma, dorsal view, holotype female (OSUC 56308); 21, A. yasigi , anterior metasoma, dorsal view, holotype female, (OSUC 211772); 22, A. kilen , anterior metasoma, dorsal view, holotype female, (OSUC 167051). nt, notaulus; pn, pronotum. Scale bars in millimeters.

http://www.morphbank.net/?id=226901 Diagnosis. The African and most Malagasy species may be distinguished from other genera with the reduced R in the hind wing ( Heptascelio , Nixonia , Oreiscelio , Scelio , Sparasion ) by the 1-1-1 tibial spur formula, the short, broad metascutellum, the lower frons with at most very short and fine striae arising from the mandible, and the unarmed mesoscutellum. The Asian and one Malagasy species, in which the hind wing R extends to the costal margin and hamuli, may be distinguished by the short tridentate mandibles, the armature of T6, and the punctiform marginal vein. The genus Oxyscelio Kieffer also has the fore wing radial vein (submarginal) remote from the costal margin of the wing, the “punctiform” marginal vein, and the Scelio - type ovipositor. Axea may be distinguished by the granular to punctate microsculpture, in Oxyscelio usually coarsely rugulose to areolate; 3-2 palpal formula, Oxyscelio 4-2; the lack of epomial carina; lack of a carina surrounding the antennal scrobe. Oreiscelio is similar to Afrotropical Axea in having similar fore wing venation, a reduced R in the hind wing and 12-merous male antenna. Axea is distinguished by the reduction of the medial portion of the pronotum such that there is no dorsal component, tridentate mandibles, expanded cheeks, and posteriorly rounded scutellum.

Type. Axea dorothae Valerio & Yoder , n.sp.

Etymology. The name Axea is an arbitrary combination of letters, inspired by an Ontario license plate. The name is to be treated as feminine gender.

Link to Distribution Map.23 Axea is found throughout the Old World tropics (excluding Australia), in continental Africa from Guinea-Bissau east to Somalia and south to South Africa; in Asia from Yemen, India, and Southeast Asia east to the Philippines and Sulawesi.

Comments. Axea is similar to genera of the tribe Scelionini s.str. in that it has the so-called punctiform marginal vein, that is, the stigmal vein (r-rs) arises from R before the latter merges with the costal margin of the fore wing, and many species have the radial vein in the hind wing vestigial. Both of these character states are shared also with other scelionine genera. For example, the punctiform marginalis is found also in Oxyscelio Kieffer and Chromoteleia Ashmead ; and the abbreviate hind wing radius is characteristic in Sparasion Latreille , Sceliomorpha Ashmead and Nixonia Masner. The discovery that the three Asian and a Malagasy species have the hind wing radius completely developed is inconsistent with the placement of Axea within Scelionini. This group of species does not appear to be closely related to any other genus in the subfamily; details of its relationships are currently part of a larger combined morphological and molecular analysis of platygastroid phylogeny. Therefore, we are proposing a new genus for this group.