Encarsia longivalvula Viggiani, 1985

Schmidt, Stefan & Polaszek, Andrew, 2007, The Australian species of Encarsia Förster (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae), parasitoids of whiteflies (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae) and armoured scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccoidea: Diaspididae), Journal of Natural History 41 (33 - 36), pp. 2099-2265 : 2186-2187

50. Encarsia longivalvula Viggiani

( Figures 159–161 ) Encarsia longivalvula Viggiani 1985b, p 85 –86. Holotype ♀, Pakistan, Peshawar, October 1981, ex Dialeuropora decempuncta on Rosa indica (Rosaceae) (DEUN, examined). Encarsia longivalvula Viggiani : Hayat 1989a, p 74. Huang and Polaszek 1998, p 1907–1909.

Diagnosis

Female. Colour: head and body completely yellow except ocellar triangle with brown spot and antenna brown towards apex. Fore wing hyaline. Legs yellow.

Morphology: stemmaticum with indiscernible surface sculpture. Antennal formula 1,1,4,2. Pedicel subequal in length to F1. F1 2.17 times as long as its maximum width, subequal in length to F2 and F3. Flagellomeres with the following numbers of sensilla: F1: 0, F2: 0, F3: 1, F4: 1, F5: 2, F6: 2. Midlobe of mesoscutum with six setae, four near anterior and two near posterior margin, setae with very distinct bases of equal diameter, side lobes with two setae each, placed in the centre of the anterior third of the axilla. Scutellar sensilla close together, separated by a distance of about half the width of a sensillum. Distance between anterior pair of scutellar setae distinctly smaller than between posterior pair. Fore wing 2.4 times as long as width of disc. Marginal fringe 0.31 times as long as width of disc. Submarginal vein with two setae, marginal vein anteriorly with six setae. Basal cell with three or four setae. Tarsal formula 5-5-5. Apical spur of midtibia subequal in length to the corresponding basitarsus. Tergites laterally with the following numbers of setae: T1: 0, T2: 1, T3: 1, T4: 1, T5: 3, T6: 3, T7 with four setae. Ovipositor longer than middle tibia (1.45) and 2.85 times as long as clava. Third valvula 0.6 times as long as second valvifer. Basal seta of third valvula removed from base about 0.4 along the length of the valvula.

Male. Unknown.

Species group placement. E. strenua group (placed in coryli group by Viggiani (1985b), and in the strenua group by Hayat (1989a, 1998)).

Distribution. Australia: Western Australia. Pakistan, Taiwan.

Host. Not reared in the study area, but elsewhere the species has been reared from the following hosts ( Viggiani 1985b; Huang and Polaszek 1998): Aleyrodidae : Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) , Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead) , D. tetrastigmae Takahashi , Dialeuropora decempuncta (Quaintance and Baker) .

Additional material examined

Western Australia: Holotype: ♀, Purnululu National Park , 8 May 2000 (S. and O. Schmidt) ( ZSMG).

Figures

Figures 159–161. Encarsia longivalvula Viggiani, female. (159) Mesosoma and gaster. (160) Antenna. (161) Fore wing.