Aximopsis balajasi Delvare, 2019

Delvare, G., Escolà, A. Ribes, Stojanova, A. M., Benoit, L., Lecomte, J. & Askew, R. R., 2019, Exploring insect biodiversity: the parasitic Hymenoptera, chiefly Chalcidoidea, associated with seeds of asphodels (Xanthorrhoeaceae), with the description of nine new species belonging to Eurytomidae and Torymidae, Zootaxa 4597 (1), pp. 1-90 : 61-65

Aximopsis balajasi Delvare sp. n.

( Figs 26 , 27 A–F; Tab. 4,5)

Type material. Holotype ♀: FRANCE: Corse, Aléria, Vaccaja, 20 m, 42.12861°N 9.46556°E, ex seed of A. ramosus , 22.ix.2011 adult emerged 28.iv 2012 (J. Balajas) (voucher GDEL1610 ♀, in BMNH) . Paratypes. Same data as holotype (vouchers GDEL1608 ♀ & GDEL1609 ♂, in CIRAD; 1 ♀ 2 ♂, in MNHN) ; Corse, Ventioseri, plage de Quercioni , 41.91111°N 9.41472°E, 08.ix.2001 (G. Delvare) (2 ♀, in GDPC) . ITALY: Sicilia, Vizzini, Monte Iblei, SE Lago Dirillo , contrado Rubalé , 350 m, 37.12103°N 14.72166°E, ex seeds of A. ramosus , 19.vi.2014, adults emerged 10–20.iv.2015 (G. Delvare) (1 ♀ 2 ♂, in GDPC) ; same locality and host plant, 350 m, 7.12103°N 14.72166°E, 21.vi.2014, adults emerged 10–20.iv.2015 (G. Delvare) (8 ♀ 4 ♂, including vouchers specimens GDEL1751 , GDEL1752 and GDEL1753 , in MNHN and GDPC) . SPAIN, Mallorca, Sòller , 50 m, 39.7961°N 2.68205°E, 10.ix.2011 adult emergence 26.v.2012 and 31.v.2012 (J. Bibiloni) (voucher specimens GDEL1463 ♀, GDEL1464 ♀, GDEL1465 ♀, GDEL1466 ♀, GDEL1467 ♀, GDEL1468 ♀, GDEL1469 ♀, GDEL1470 ♀ and GDEL1471 ♀ in CIRAD, 3 ♀ in GDPC, 2 ♀ 2 ♂ in RAPC) .

Etymology. The species is dedicated to Julien Balajas for his kind collaboration in collecting various plants for the rearing of chalcid wasps.

Condition of holotype. Specimen complete except for lack of a fore leg, glued on rectangular card, with left wings removed and glued on the same card.

Description of female holotype ( Fig. 26 ). Body size 3.2 mm. Body (including tegula) black as also are antenna and legs except knees, apices of tibiae and tarsi which are testaceous; wing veins brown; setation of body and membrane of wings white; mandible brown on disc; exserted part of ovipositor sheaths entirely dark.

Head 1.78× as wide as long in dorsal view ( Fig. 27B ); eyes separated by 1.21× their own height ( Fig. 27A ); POL almost 3× OOL and OOL 0.9× posterior ocellus diameter; temple 0.21× as long as eye length; anterior outline of frons distinctly convex; scrobal depression smooth, completely carinate laterally and dorsally, separated from anterior ocellus by a distance 0.5× its own diameter. Head 1.21× as wide as high in frontal view; frons and face with lanceolate setae, the setation oriented downwards on face, outwards on the punctured frons. Malar space 0.65× as long as height of eye and 0.73× width of oral fossa. Lower edge of antennal toruli closer to ventral margin of clypeus than to anterior ocellus. Mandible 3-toothed with a discal whorl of 8 setae. Clypeus smooth, not protruding ventrally; anterior tentorial pits not visible; lower face with radiatingly strigose sculpture, crests originating from sides of clypeus, the median ones reaching above lower edge of antennal toruli; the lateral carinulae shorter, face punctured sublaterally and laterally; malar sulcus a faint but complete groove. Lateral outline of gena hardly convex in frontal view; gena ventrally carinate, showing a coriaceous stripe behind sulcus and punctured beyond. Raised postgenal lamina present but postgenal depression absent.

Antenna ( Fig. 27C ). Scape linear. Pedicel plus flagellum as long as width of head. Pedicel 2.14× as long as wide. Funicle 5-segmented; F1 about as long as pedicel; F1 and F5 respectively 1.67× and 2× as long as wide; each funicular with two rows of MPS, imbricate on F3–F5; all setae subdecumbent. Clava effectively 1-segmented.

Mesosoma 1.7× as long as wide and 1.47× as long as high. Pronotum, and mesoscutum respectively 3.26× and 1.96× as wide as long; mesoscutellum 1.11× as long as wide. Dorsal surface of mesosoma nearly regularly arched; propodeum sloping almost at a right angle to main axis of mesosoma. Pro- and mesonotum densely punctured with narrow interspaces; setation subdecumbent, the setae longer than diameter of punctures on pronotum and on mesoscutellum. Sides of pronotum convex; lateral panel with longitudinal depression delimited by faint ridges. Notauli not much impressed and obliterated by sculpture of mesoscutum. Axillar grooves separated by a shorter distance on transscutal line than are the notauli, deeply impressed posteriorly but vestigial anteriorly; hind margin of mesoscutellum regularly arched. Postscutellum with inverted V-like raised stripe. Propodeum with incompletely delimited, areolate rugose, median groove; surface regularly areolate outside the groove ( Fig. 27D ). Lateral panel of prepectus with rugulae ventrally; deep pit present below the panel; ventral prepectal belt with sharp median tooth. Epicnemial carina complete and entirely delimiting the epicnemium which is distinctly protruding mesally and elbowed with the short ventral shelf ( Fig. 26 ); adscrobal surface of mesespisternum areolate and bearing long setae; femoral depression variously areolate, rugose ventrally; lower and upper mesepimeron respectively reticulate and areolate. Metepimeron coarsely areolate and bearing long lanceolate setae.

Legs. Procoxa with deep oblique depression laterally delimited by raised carina, hence separating front surface from side. Mesocoxa without lamella. Metacoxa bare basidorsally.

Fore wing 2.28× as long as wide, costal cell as long as wing width; stigmal and postmarginal vein respectively 1.23× and 1.68× as long as marginal vein. Stigmal vein almost straight; parastigma with 2 sensilla placodea, uncus with 2 narrowly separated pairs of placodea. Membrane of wing with short setation everywhere.

Metasoma ( Fig. 26 ). Petiole longer than wide, with reticulate dorsal surface and a pair of sub-basal teeth laterally (as in Figs 28 D–E). Gaster acute but ovate, about as wide as and 1.32× as long as mesosoma, 1.76× as long as high. GT4 1.24× as long as GT3 on median line. GT2–GT5 punctulate laterally, GT3–GT5 with short subdorsal lines of setae; GT5 and GT6 entirely but sparsely setose. Syntergum short and upturned. Apex of ovipositor sheaths sharp.

Male. Differs from female mostly by the short scrobal depression, somewhat wider than high; and by the sculpture of the propodeum which is less coarse on the wide mesal depression. Scape with vestigial apicoventral swelling ( Fig. 27F ); pedicel short with basidorsal constriction; funicle 5-segmented, the funiculars elongate with dorsally depressed but progressively attenuate expansions and long apical bottle-necks; clava 1-segmented.

Variation. The scrobal depression may be acarinate dorsally. The petiole in most specimens exhibits a special, elongate, areola which is sometimes lacking; the length of gaster varies somewhat but is often correlated with the storage medium.

Diagnosis. Both sexes. Species of Aximopsis can be separated from other eurytomids by the presence of a completely delimited epicnemium ( Figs 26 , 28A ), a deep pit below the lateral panel of the prepectus with a median tooth on its ventral belt, a raised carina on the procoxa that delimits laterally a deep oblique depression on the front side of the coxa ( Fig. 27E ), and by an elongate petiole that lacks a dorsal tooth ( Fig. 26 ).

Female. Gaster distinctly longer than the mesosoma.

Male. Antenna as described above ( Fig. 27F )

Recognition. The species is extremely close to A. collina . A search for morphological differences between the two species produced only the relative lengths of the gasters.

Distribution ( Fig. 37 ). The species is presently known only from three islands: Mallorca, Corse and Sicilia.

Biology. Host plant. Reared only from A. ramosus ( Fig. 42 ).

Phenology. All specimens hibernated and emerged from seeds only in the year following their collection. Hence the species is apparently univoltine.

Figures

FIGURE 26. Aximopsis balajasi Delvare sp. n., ♀ ex A. ramosus from Sòller, Mallorca, Spain.

FIGURES 27A–F. Aximopsis balajasi. A–E, ♀. F, ♂. A, head in frontal view. B, same in dorsal view. C, antenna. D, propodeum. E, procoxa in anterior view. F, antenna. A, D & E, ex A. ramosus, Vizzini, Monte Iblei, Sicilia, Italy. B & C, holotype ♀, ex A. ramosus, Aléria, Vaccaja, Corse, France [voucher GDEL1610]. F, ex A. ramosus, Sòller, Mallorca, Spain.

FIGURES 28A–E. Aximopsis collina (Zerova), ♀. A, habitus. B, head in posterior view [SEM photograph], C, clava [SEM photograph]. D, petiole in lateral view [SEM photograph], E, same in ventral view. A & E, ex A. ramosus, Banyuls-sur-Mer, Pyrénées-Orientales, France. B–D, female collected by sweeping at Cébazan, Hérault, France.

FIGURE 37. Distribution map of Aximopsis balajasi and A. collina (only reared from asphodels)

FIGURE 42. Trophic web of A. ramosus. Horizontal scale bars proportional to the numbers of reared specimens examined that are indicated in the bars. Arrows pointing out the direction of the trophic relationships: from phytophagous Bruchophagus spp. to the asphodel and from parasitoids to chalcid hosts. The estimated number of Bruchophagus abscedus parasitized by P. depilata was estimated considering that a mean of 10 Puklina emerge from a larva of Bruchophagus.